fixed upon infinity she went buoyantly forward; for this
time she was not lost. The sun, already high when she arose, was
blazing somewhere in the regions above, and the strong light, flaring
in her face and shining on the broad reaches ahead, was very trying to
her eyes. After peering against it ineffectually for a while she took
off the three-cornered hat and proceeded to undo her work of the day
before, removing the pins and letting down the rim.

The wearing of a man's hat was one of those things which she herself
would "never have thought of." But just at a time when she had been
having experience with the tribulations of a big leghorn on horseback,
she saw a woman with a man's hat turned up at the side; and the next
day she had procured one like it, which she turned up in the same
manner with a breastpin. And the leghorn, unsuited to trials of wind
and weather, was left at home.

The woman--Raymond her name was--was passing the school on horseback,
and she stopped in to get a drink. Janet noticed the hat more
particularly because of its contrast with the woman's hair, which was
light like her own; although, as she observed to herself, of quite a
different shade. As it was almost noon she stopped for lunch, and
Janet found her very good company if not quite to her fancy. She
smelled horribly of perfume.

With the brim shading her eyes, Janet could now look forward with a
degree of comfort. Presently she was brought to a stop by a small
stream. It was a mere brook--probably the water from a single spring
such as the one which issued from the knoll; but at this point it
spread out and took the form of a wide patch of marsh grass. Farther
down it gathered its laggard waters together and became a brook again.
Janet, keeping clear of the bog, went down here intending to jump
across. Finding it too wide for her, she followed it along, its
varying width promising to let her pass. She skirted round other
patches of marsh grass and black boggy places only to find it too wide
again. At last she removed her shoes and stockings and waded it.

For some time she had been ignoring the troubles of her left foot, the
instep of which felt as if some one had been heaping coals of fire on
it. It was such a relief to step out of the hot grip of leather into
the well-fitting water that she loitered a while in the current; then
it occurred to her that here was the place to stop for dinner. With
her slicker spread out o