started to
cross from the opposite end. Then she stopped and in a moment the two
met.

"Where are you going?" asked Mary Louise, laying a hand on the child's
arm as she attempted to pass her.

"None o' yer business," was the curt reply.

"Oh, it is, indeed," said Mary Louise, panting a little from her run.
"I saw you throw things, a minute ago, so I guess you mean to run
away."

The girl turned and stared at her.

"I don't know ye," said she. "Never saw ye before. Where'd ye come from
anyway?"

"Why, my grandfather and I have taken the Kenton house for the summer,
so we're to be your neighbors. Of course, you know, we must get
acquainted."

"Ye kin be neighbors to my Gran'dad, if ye like, but not to me. Not by
a ginger cookie! I've done wi' this place fer good an' all, I hev, and
if ye ever see me here ag'in my name ain't Ingua Scammel!"

"Here; let's sit down on the bridge and talk it over," proposed Mary
Louise. "There's plenty of time for you to run away, if you think you'd
better. Is Mr. Cragg your grandfather, then?"

"Yes, Ol' Swallertail is. 'Ol' Humbug' is what _I_ calls him."

"Not to his face, do you?"

"I ain't so foolish. He's got a grip on him like a lobster, an' when
he's mad at me he grips my arm an' twists it till I holler. When
Gran'dad's aroun' you bet I hev to knuckle down, er I gits the worst of
it."

"So he's cruel, is he?"

"Uh-huh. Thet is, he's cruel when I riles him, as I got a habit o'
doin'. When things runs smooth, Gran'dad ain't so bad; but I ain't
goin' to stand that slave life no longer, I ain't. I've quit fer good."

"Wherever you go," said Mary Louise gently, "you will have to work for
someone. Someone, perhaps, who treats you worse than your grandfather
does. No one else is obliged to care for you in any way, so perhaps
you're not making a wise change."

"I ain't, eh?"

"Perhaps not. Have you any other relatives to go to?"

"No."

"Or any money?"

"Not a red cent."

"Then you'll have to hire out as a servant. You're not big enough or
strong enough to do much, so you'll search a long time before you find
work, and that means being hungry and without shelter. I know more of
the world than you do, Ingua--what an odd name you have!--and I
honestly think you are making a mistake to run away from your own
grandfather."

The girl stared into the water in sullen silence for a time. Mary
Louise got a good look at her now and saw that her freckled face might
be pre