'It's the girl I want--Ned's own!' he said. 'Come here to
me, Ned's own. I want you!' And he pinched me. He bit my hand. And--and
I--all of a sudden I was afraid.

"And I snatched myself loose. 'George!' I screamed. 'No!' I said--I
don't know why. I was very scared. I was wild. I kicked away--and
ran--ran, ran--away--I don't know where--to the woods. And oh, a long
time I heard George laugh at me. 'Just like the very old Ned!' I heard
him shout. But I ran, till I fell down tired. And there I sat and
thought.

"And all of a sudden I understood. All at once I knew many things. I
knew then what my mother had said about Ned sometimes. He was my father.
He was dead. Somebody had killed him, I knew--I knew it from what they
said. George knew my father, then, too. What did he know? That was it!
He--he was the man that killed my father. He was after my mother
then--he had been after her before, and made her breathe funny, made a
fool of her. That was why my beautiful mother was so strange to me
sometimes. That's why there was no more New York and Phil'delph. George
did that--spoiled everything. Now he was back--making a fool of her
again--my mother! And wanted to make a fool of me. Oh, then I knew! That
man! And I had liked him. His brown hair, his brown eyes! But oh, I
understood, I understood.

"I got up from the ground. Everything reeled and fell apart. There was
nothing more for me. Everything spoiled. Our pretty cottage--the
stories--all gone. Spoiled. So I ran back. Maybe I could bring my mother
back. Maybe I could save something. Oh, I was sick. The trees, they bent
and rolled the way George walked. The wind bent them double. They held
their stomachs, as if they were George, laughing at me. They seemed to
holler 'Ned's girl!' at me. I was dizzy, and the wind nearly blew me
over. But I had to hurry home.

"I got near. No one there. Not even George. But I had to find my
beautiful little mother. All round I ran. The brambles threw me down. I
fell over a stump and struck my face. I could feel the blood running
down over my cheeks. It was warmer than the rain. No matter, I had to
find my mother. My poor little mother.

"Bruce growled at me when I got to the house. He didn't know me. That's
how I looked! But there was a light in the house. Yes, my mother was
there! But George was there, too. That man! They had bundles all ready
to go away. They weren't glad to see me. I got there too soon. George
said, 'Damn her soul! Al