d
Mrs. Stoddard, and went slowly out of the room. "I don't see what has
possessed the child," she said to Captain Enos on returning to the
kitchen.

"She has always been a truthful child, Martha," ventured the captain,
"so why not believe her now?"

"I would gladly, Enos; but Mrs. Cary came straight to me as soon as
Amanda reached home, and 'twas an hour later when Anne returned, and she
has no word of excuse. 'Twill do the child no harm to stay in her room
until she can tell me the reason for such behavior. And of course this
visit to the Freemans' must be given up. 'Twould not do to let her go
after such conduct."

"A pity," responded the captain. "'Twould have been a fine journey for
the little maid."

Anne could hear the murmur of their voices as she drank the milk and ate
the corn bread. "I wish I had some bread to take with me," she thought.
"I'll take my blue cape, and my shoes and white stockings, for I'm sure
I ought to wear them on the chaise," and Anne tiptoed about the room
gathering up her clothing. It did not make a very large bundle, even
when she decided to take the white muslin dress, and the coral beads.
She heard Captain Enos and Aunt Martha go to their chamber, and then,
holding "Martha Stoddard" and the bundle in her arms, crept down the
narrow stairway. The outer door stood ajar to admit the cool fragrant
air, and in a moment Anne was running along the sandy track that led
through the little settlement. It was still early, but there was not a
light to be seen in any of the small gray houses. The summer sky was
filled with stars, and as Anne ran she could see her shadow stretching
ahead of her, "as if I were running right over it all the time," she
whispered to "Martha Stoddard."

The beautiful harbor seemed like a shining mirror, it lay so calm and
still in the shadow of the land. But Anne did not stop to look at stars
or sea; she wanted to reach the pines at the end of the village. Then
she meant to go on as fast as she could toward Truro. "There will be
nice places to rest under the trees, where nobody will ever look for me;
perhaps no one will want to look," thought the little girl, with a choky
sensation in her throat as she remembered the strange happenings of the
afternoon.

The track grew more indistinct toward the end of the settlement, and
when Anne reached the woods the shadows were dark, and she was obliged
to go carefully in order not to lose her way. The border line between
Tr