here upon the ground."

As Grim approached and was about lifting her, Laura sprang up, and would
have run from him, but his arms were of an extraordinary length, and he
had her safely in them before she could get away; so she could only
scream and sob to no purpose.

Grim whispered to her not to fear, that his mistress was very kind and
good; and his own voice was so gentle, and she was so curious to see the
interior of so strange an abode, that in a little while she ceased
crying and looked about her.

They went in under the hidden doorway, which led to a winding path
through the rocks. Here and there the sky could be seen through the
foliage above, but the path was nearly all under a shelving mass of
stone. At last they came to a little cottage, not much more than a hut,
but it was neat and spotless; it looked as if it might be nothing but a
bird's-nest built of grape-vines; but within were a tiled floor, a
chimney-corner where hung a savory-smelling kettle of soup, and
curiously carved chairs and shelves were against the walls.

Grim mounted a ladder in one corner, still with Laura in his arms, and
placed her in a tidy upper room, where were one window, a little stool,
and a straw bed.

"There, child; now do be good, and don't trouble the Motherkin. She is
used to children, and they all learn to love her; and if there is
anything I can do for you, I am always ready; but no more of this angry
sobbing, I beg of you."

So saying, Grim went off down the ladder, leaving Laura alone.

The child was bewildered. What could she do alone? Never had she been
alone at home; the nurses were always beside her, except when she
purposely wandered away from them to frighten them.

She looked about her--at the hard but white little bed, at the few pegs
on the wall, at the strip of scarlet wool by the bedside, at the bare
boards of the floor, at the ebony cross over the head of the bed--and
she wondered if this humble little apartment was to be hers. Then she
heard the rushing voice of a brook, and she leaned out of the window to
see it tumbling over the rocks in merry sport. Tired, homesick, and
perplexed, she turned from the window and lay down upon the bed, still
listening to the brook, till sleep came and put an end to her
wonderings.

She slept heavily a long while, but was wakened by a rapping on the
floor beneath.

"Come, child, come; it is time you were hungry. Wash your face outside
in the brook, and we will have