e came to this section, and one day he came to this house. He
said he owned it, and that we were to live here. I saw that it was
deserted, and I made up my mind I would not stay. The very next day,
when he was making preparations to remain over night, I ran away. Oh, I
was so lonely. I did not care what became of me. Then I thought I saw
him coming down the road after me, and I went up in the tree.

"Perhaps I was foolish, but I scarcely knew what I was doing. I guess I
must have fallen asleep, for I was in a comfortable position, and I had
lost much rest of late. Then I heard an auto horn--I thought all sorts
of things--I awoke with a start, and fell out."

"Then our auto did not strike you?" asked Mollie.

"No, I was just stunned by the fall. When I woke up, and found myself in
that farm house bedroom, I did not know what to think. One idea
possessed me, that I must get away--that I would not go back to him--my
guardian. So I slipped away, and I have been wandering about ever since.
I managed to get enough office work to help support me, for I am a
business college graduate and I had a little money of my own with me.
Sometimes I stopped at hotels, and again at boarding houses. My one idea
was to keep away from that man."

"And you dropped part of a letter; did you not?" asked Grace. "The day
you ran from the farm house."

"Yes," Carrie admitted. "I had written one I intended leaving for--for
that man. Then I decided not to and I tore it up just before I got out
of the window. I suppose I must have dropped a piece. It was a letter
saying I would never come back to Shadow Valley."

"How did you happen to come back here?" asked Mollie. "We were certainly
puzzled at your sudden departure."

"A little while ago," resumed Carrie, "I read something in a paper
referring to my case. It was a legal notice asking for news of my
whereabouts, and saying I would hear of something to my advantage by
calling on certain lawyers with papers to prove my identity. At first I
feared this was a trap on the part of my guardian, but I inquired and
learned that the law firm was a reputable one. There is a Mr. Allen
Washburn connected with it."

"In Deepdale?" cried Betty, her cheeks flaming.

"Yes. But how did you know?" asked Carrie.

"Oh, I am--slightly acquainted with Mr. Washburn," said Betty,
hesitatingly.

"Slightly--is good," murmured Grace.

"So I decided I would go see those lawyers," went on Carrie. "But first
I wante