after Mollie, and an afternoon's
rest will be much better for the child than a long, fatiguing excursion."

Mollie walked to the edge of the hill to see Miss Sallie and her charges
start off on their excursion to Mr. Latham's. Then she thankfully crept
home to the little cabin and stretched herself out on her cot, with the
eider down comfort drawn up to her head. The child, who was not so
vigorous as Bab, was worn out from her fright and exposure. An hour later
she awakened, feeling bright and rested as though she had never been lost
in a strange woods.

It was a lovely, bright afternoon. Mollie could hear the leaves rustling
outside, as the wind stirred them and they fluttered to the ground. The
little girl had read that a swan sings a wonderful song just as he is
about to die. She walked out on the porch with an odd fancy in her head.
She stopped and listened again to the sound the autumn leaves made, as
they swirled from the trees to the earth.

"I believe," Mollie smiled to herself, "that the autumn leaves sing their
swan song, too." She pointed to a beautiful, golden maple leaf, that was
fluttering in the air. "See, there is a leaf! It is singing its good-bye
song to the tree, which has borne it all summer! The little leaf is
traveling to an unknown land down under the ground."

Mollie laughed at her own idea. It was difficult for her to keep her eyes
turned away from her ravine. She glanced up the hill. Surely she saw a
figure moving there. It was a slight young creature, no larger than
Mollie herself. Was it a boy or girl? It was impossible to tell, though
the figure was drawing toward her.

The little girl watched with fascinated eyes. Down the ravine crept a
thin, brown body. Now it looked this way, then that. Hardly touching the
earth, it flew from one high rock to the other. Then it dipped into the
hollow between the two hills and was gone.

This time Mollie did not stir from her veranda, but through her brain
flashed the thought--the ghost at last!

In another moment she saw a black head rise up on a level with her eyes.
Mollie gave a gasp of surprise, then was silent. A thin, brown creature
moved softly toward her on velvet feet. Mollie hardly breathed. Never in
her life had she beheld so odd, so exquisite a figure.

A girl about her own age stood before her. Her hair hung over her
shoulders, black and straight. Her cheeks were a deep carmine. Her
complexion was too dark to be olive, yet it was neit