questioningly at him.

"Well, Paul, what do you say?" he asked, wondering at the boy's silence.

"I--I should like to go very much," stammered Paul awkwardly, "but I've
hurt my foot. I hurt it jumping out of the cart."

This, to a certain extent, was true, but under ordinary circumstances Paul
would have been the last to allow such a trifle to keep him from anything
he desired. A series of questions followed, which he found very difficult
to answer, and finally Paul had to submit to having his ankle bound with a
wet cloth, while Mrs. Anketell decided to give up the afternoon's
excursion and stay at home with him. "And we will have tea in the
orchard," she said consolingly, "to make up for the loss of our tea at
Four Bridges; that will be pleasanter than having it indoors."
The kinder they were to him the more unhappy and uncomfortable Paul felt,
and the less chance he saw of carrying out his plan; but his lowness of
spirits stood him in good stead here, for his mother and father put it
down to the pain he was suffering, and no one questioned the truth of his
story about the injured foot.

But his impatience and his anxiety were such as he never forgot.
It seemed to him ages before the little party started off on their
expedition; first there was one hindrance and then another, until he could
have screamed with impatience and anxiety, and even when they were gone he
could not get away, for his mother sat with him and read to him, and he
watched with dread the hands of the clock go round, as the afternoon wore
quickly away. The boots must be cleaned before to-morrow morning, or the
traces of his escapade would betray him.

At last, however, Mrs. Anketell stopped reading, and said she must write a
letter. And Paul, without a moment's delay, seized the opportunity to
limp from the room. He really had to limp now, for the bandage was so
tight about his ankle that he could not bend it. Mrs. Anketell,
hearing his uneven steps, called to him not to use his foot too much.
"All right," he called back willingly, for he was only too thankful that
she did not prohibit him from using it altogether. Then he stumbled out
to the stairs, and clambering up them a good deal faster than he usually
moved, reached his room without further interruption. His heart was
beating furiously with excitement and fear, but he could not pause a
moment to steady himself, for he felt he had not a second to lose.
Dragging his play-box softly o