his was his old tormentor, the hag; and with a gasp he
started back, and was about to run. But the other was too quick
for him, and David felt himself seized by his dreaded enemy. This
dreaded enemy then behaved in a frantic way, hugging him and uttering
inarticulate words. David struggled to get free from her, and
throwing a frightened glance at her face, which was but partly
visible, beneath a very shabby bonnet, he saw that she was quite
old, and that tears were streaming down from her eyes. This frightened
David all the more, for now he was sure that she was insane.

But now, to David's horror, he found himself surrounded by three
more women, in coarse dresses and horribly shabby bonnets. They
all made a simultaneous rush at him, seizing his hands and arms,
and seemed about to tear him to pieces. In vain he struggled. He
was helpless. A cold shudder passed through him, and a thrill of
horror tingled every nerve.

All this had been the work of an instant. So sudden had been the
onset, and so overwhelmed was David with utter horror, that he
could not even scream for help. But at last he got his month open,
and was just about to give one piercing yell for help, when the
words were taken out of his mouth, and his voice stopped, and a
new and greater surprise created within him.

"David! David! My boy! my boy!" moaned the first old woman.

"Dave! You rascal! What do you mean by this?" cried woman
Number Two.

"Dave! Old boy! What in the world is the meaning of this?" cried
woman Number Three.

"Dave! How did you find us?" cried woman Number Four.

"Where have you been?" "Where did you come from?" "When did you
get here?" "What made you go off?" "Did they seize you?" "Was it
the old woman that did it?" These questions, and scores of others,
came pouring forth into his astonished ears. As for David, he could
not utter one single word. At length the yearning affection of
Uncle Moses seemed to be satiated, and the boisterous greetings of
the boys exhausted, and one by one they released their grasp, and
allowed David to extricate himself.

Thereupon David stood off at a little distance, and gazed at them
in mute amazement. The sight which they presented to his astonished
eyes was one which might have excited strong emotions in the breast
of any beholder.

There stood Uncle Moses, his figure concealed under a tattered
gown, and his venerable head enfolded in a battered bonnet of
primeval style.

There stood Fran