an ogre or giant, or a prince and princess--and I can't go back till I
find out. My adventures have come. But I'm very tired. I'll just sit
down for a little before I go on.'

A few moments after Betty's little body was lying full length on the
grassy path, and she was counting over a cluster of primroses with great
care and precision.

'Twenty-one, twenty-two, twenty-three--ah, what a pity! there is a little
odd one, just like me!'

'What are you doing, child?'

Betty started to her feet. Looking down upon her was a tall old lady,
dressed in a shady straw hat and black lace shawl; her black silk dress
rustled as she moved. One hand was resting on a stick, the other was
holding a sunshade. Her face was as still and cold-looking as some of
the figures on the monuments in the little village church, and her voice
stern and peremptory.

Wild thoughts flashed through Betty's brain. Was this a fairy godmother,
a queen, a princess? Or might it possibly be the old governess that Mr.
Roper loved so much?

Again the question was repeated, in the same stern tone, and Betty gazed
up in awe, as she answered simply,--

'I was counting the primroses, to see if they were even or odd.'

'And what business have you to be trespassing in my private grounds?'

'I didn't know this was trespassing,' Betty faltered; 'a wood belongs to
anybody in the country, and I haven't got inside your gate yet, though I
was going to try.'

'And pray what were you coming inside my gate to do?'

'I'm--I'm looking for adventures; I have to do something before I go
back.'

'I think you had better explain to me who you are.'

The voice was gentler, and Betty took courage. The lady listened to her
attentively, and seemed interested; she even smiled when Betty, looking
up, asked innocently, 'I suppose you are not a princess, are you?'

'No, I'm not a princess,' she said; 'but this is a private wood, and I
cannot allow children to run wild all over it.'

'And mustn't we ever come here again?' asked Betty, with a grave face.
'We should be ever so careful, and we won't pick a flower if you'll only
let us walk about. We've never seen a wood before, only read about one
in our story-books; and children always go through woods in books without
being stopped, unless it's an ogre or a giant that stops them.'

The lady did not speak for a minute, then she said,--

'How many are there of you?'

'Five with me; there's Molly and Douglas, and t