rush
myself, and try to mend my dress before she saw me, but the moment I
entered, her eye was upon me.

After one look of utter horror, she seized me by the shoulders, and
walked me into the sitting-room, where the family were gathered,--my
uncle who lived with my grandmother, and my three cousins, all older,
and not playmates for me.

She left me standing in the middle of the room, while all eyes were
turned in reproof upon me.

"There!" said my grandmother, in her most severe voice, "there's the
child who runs away! Look at her."

Then my uncle began to question me. Where had I been? where was my
shoe? how did I tear my dress? what did I do it for? what did I think
I deserved? and various other questions. Before long, I was weeping
bitterly, and feeling that imprisonment for life would be a fitting
punishment for my crimes.

Then came my sentence in the stern voice of my grandmother: "I think a
suitable punishment for a naughty girl will be to go to bed without
her supper." This was assented to by my uncle, and I was sent off in
disgrace, to go to bed.

Now I had a healthy young appetite, and the long tramp had made me
very hungry, so that the punishment--though very mild for my
offense--seemed to me almost worse than anything.

I was tired enough, however, to fall asleep, but after some hours I
awoke, ravenous with hunger. All was still in the house, and I knew
the family must have gone to bed. A long time I lay tossing and
tumbling and getting more restless and hungry every minute.

At last I could stand it no longer, and I crept out of bed and
carefully opened the door--my room was off the kitchen. The last
flickering remains of the fire on the hearth made it light enough to
see my way about.

Softly I crept to the pantry, hoping to find something left from
supper; but my grandmother's maid was well trained, and I found
nothing; the cookie jar, too, was empty, for tomorrow was baking-day.
I was about turning back in despair when my eyes fell on a row of milk
pans, which I knew were full of milk.

The shelf was too high for me to reach comfortably, but I thought I
could draw a pan down enough to drink a little from it, and not
disturb anything. So I raised myself on tiptoe and carefully drew it
towards me.

You can guess what happened; and if I had known more I should have
expected it. As soon as I got the pan over the edge the milk swayed
towards me, the pan escaped from my hands, and fell with ter