id
she to herself, with a tilt of the saucy head; but as the moments passed
by, the perfection of the imitation began to disturb her equanimity; the
last breath, for example, approaching perilously near a snore! She
turned cautiously, inch by inch, until a glimpse of the bath-chair could
be obtained, with a fair head drooping upon the cushions. Jack was
asleep! Actually, and in very truth he had calmly slumbered off in
defiance of her displeasure.

Mollie arose in her wrath, and stood over the unconscious figure,
meditating upon the next step. If Jack Melland imagined for one moment
that she was going to mount guard over his slumbers, he would find
himself vastly mistaken; yet she dared not leave him unprotected, for
the ground sloped away from the tree, and a violent movement on the part
of its occupant would be enough to send the chair racing down the
incline. She stood and pondered, then, drawing a handkerchief from her
pocket, crept on tip-toe to the back of the chair and tied the handle to
a convenient bough. It would be almost impossible for Jack, crippled as
he was, to raise himself and turn round sufficiently to undo the knots;
so, after testing their firmness a second time, Mollie took a circuitous
path to the house, there to amuse herself for an hour or more, until Mr
Jack had time to awake and repent himself of his audacity.

The awaking came unexpectedly quickly. Perhaps Jack's slumbers had been
disturbed by Mollie's movements, quiet though they had been; certain it
is that she was hardly out of sight before he stirred uneasily, blinked
once or twice, and finally sat erect in a spasm of remembrance. He had
fallen asleep, not in pretence but in actual fact; for how long he had
slept he had no idea, but meantime the bird had flown, no doubt with
feathers much ruffled by wounded pride.

Jack did not believe that Mollie had gone out of sight; he pictured her
standing a few feet away, squeezed up against the branches of a tree,
with blue skirts held tightly together lest a fold should betray her
presence. Anxiety for his safety would soon bring her rushing to his
side; so he threw himself back in the chair to set it a-going; failed to
make it move, jolted forward, and again found it immovable. Then he
grew suspicious, and craning over his shoulder beheld the tell-tale
handkerchief with the tight little knots twisted purposely well out of
reach.

So this was Mollie's revenge, to leave him stranded in