er end of the garden," said Tom. "Nobody
'ull see us. Besides, I don't care if they do; I'll run off home."

"But I couldn't run," said Lucy.

"Oh, never mind; they won't be cross with you," said Tom. "You say I
took you."

Tom walked along, and Lucy trotted by his side. Maggie saw them
leaving the garden, and could not resist the impulse to follow. She
kept a few yards behind them unseen by Tom, who was watching for the
pike--a highly interesting monster; he was said to be so very old, so
very large, and to have such a great appetite.

"Here, Lucy," he said in a loud whisper, "come here."

Lucy came carefully as she was bidden, and bent down to look at what
seemed a golden arrow-head darting through the water. It was a
water-snake, Tom told her; and Lucy at last could see the wave of its
body, wondering very much that a snake could swim.

Maggie had drawn nearer and nearer; she must see it too, though it was
bitter to her, like everything else, since Tom did not care about her
seeing it. At last she was close by Lucy, and Tom turned round and
said,--

"Now, get away, Maggie. There's no room for you on the grass here.
Nobody asked _you_ to come."

Then Maggie, with a fierce thrust of her small brown arm, pushed poor
little pink-and-white Lucy into the cow-trodden mud.

Tom could not restrain himself, and gave Maggie two smart slaps on the
arm as he ran to pick up Lucy, who lay crying helplessly. Maggie
retreated to the roots of a tree a few yards off, and looked on. Why
should she be sorry? Tom was very slow to forgive _her_, however sorry
she might have been.

"I shall tell mother, you know, Miss Mag," said Tom, as soon as Lucy
was up and ready to walk away. It was not Tom's practice to "tell,"
but here justice clearly demanded that Maggie should be visited with
the utmost punishment.

"Sally," said Tom, when they reached the kitchen door--"Sally, tell
mother it was Maggie pushed Lucy into the mud."

Sally, as we have seen, lost no time in presenting Lucy at the parlour
door.

"Goodness gracious!" Aunt Pullet exclaimed, after giving a scream;
"keep her at the door, Sally! Don't bring her off the oilcloth,
whatever you do."

"Why, she's tumbled into some nasty mud," said Mrs. Tulliver, going up
to Lucy.

"If you please, 'um, it was Miss Maggie as pushed her in," said Sally.
"Master Tom's been and said so; and they must ha' been to the pond, for
it's only there they could ha' got into su