thinks of it;" and Ruth said, "I
think it's a perfectly splendid plan."

Mark slept in the room with the wounded boy, whose name they had
learned to be Frank March, that night, and was roused several times
before morning to give him water, for he was very feverish. He talked
in his sleep too, as though he were having troubled dreams, and once
Mark heard him say,

"Fire quick! No, it's only powder; it won't hurt him. I didn't kill the
dog."

CHAPTER X.

A RUNAWAY'S STORY, AND ITS HAPPY ENDING.

During the three days that passed before Mr. Elmer's return, the large
field was made ready for ploughing, most of the post-holes were dug,
the soil being so light as to make that an easy matter, and Mark and
Jan had cut a number of cedar posts, and got them ready to be rafted
down the river.

During this time, also, Frank March had improved so rapidly that he was
able to sit up and take an interest in what was going on. He had become
much attached to Mrs. Elmer, and seemed very happy in her company.
Neither she nor the children had asked him any questions concerning his
past life, preferring to wait until he should tell the story of his own
accord.

On the third evening of his being with them he was helped into the
sitting-room, and lay on the sofa listening intently to Mrs. Elmer as
she read to Mark and Ruth a chapter from a book of travels that they
had begun on the schooner. As she finished and closed the book, the boy
raised himself on his elbow, and said,

"Mrs. Elmer, I want to tell you something, and I want Mark and Ruth to
hear too."

"Well, my boy," said Mrs. Elmer, kindly, "we shall be glad to hear
whatever you have to tell, if it won't tire and excite you too much."

"No, I don't think it will," replied Frank. "I feel as if I must tell
you what a bad boy I have been, and how sorry I am for it. More than a
month ago I stole father's gun and dog, and twenty dollars that I found
in his desk, and ran away from him. Ever since then I have been living
in the woods around here, hunting and fishing. When the weather was bad
I slept in the kitchen of this house, and when you folks moved in, it
seemed almost as if you were taking possession of what belonged to me.
The first night you were here I crept into the kitchen and stole a loaf
of bread and a duck."

"There!" interrupted Mark, "now I know where I saw you before. It was
you who looked into the window and frightened me that first night,
wasn't it?"