t is, and the fire's still burning, Zara. It seems to me it's
brighter than ever. And listen--when it isn't thundering. Don't you hear
a noise as if someone was shouting back there?"

Zara listened intently.

"Yes," she said. "And it sounds as if they were chopping with axes, too.
I hope the fire hasn't spread and reached the house, Bessie."

Bessie shivered.

"I hope so, too, Zara. But it's not my fault, anyhow. You and I know
that, even if no one believes us. It was Jake Hoover who did it, and
he'll be punished for it some time, I guess, whether his maw ever finds
it out or not."

They waited a few minutes longer for the rain to stop, and then, as it
grew lighter, they began to move on. They could see a heavy cloud of
smoke from the direction of the farmhouse, but no more flames, and now,
as the thunder grew more and more distant, they could hear shouting more
plainly. Evidently help had come--Paw Hoover, probably, seeing the fire,
and rushing up from the fields with his hired men and the neighbors to
put it out.

"Zara," said Bessie, suddenly, "suppose Jake was telling the truth?
Suppose they have taken your father away? You know they have said things
about him, and lots of people believe he is a bad man. I never did. But
suppose they really have taken him, what will you do?"

"I don't know. Stay there, I suppose. But, Bessie, it can't be true!"

"Maybe they wouldn't let you stay. When Mary Morton's mother died last
year and left her alone, they took her to the poorhouse. Maybe they'd
make you go there, too."

"They shan't!" cried Zara, her eyes flashing through her tears. "I--I'll
run away--I'll do anything--"

"I'm going to run away, myself," said Bessie, quietly. She had been
doing a lot of thinking. "No one could make me work harder than Maw
Hoover, and they'd pay me for doing it. I'm going to get as far away as
I can and get a real job."

Zara looked at Bessie, usually so quiet and meek, in surprise. There
was a determined note in Bessie's voice that she had never heard there
before.

"We'll stick together, you and I, Zara," said Bessie. "I'm afraid
something _has_ happened to your father. And if that's so, we'd better
not go right up to your house. We'd better wait until it's dark, and go
there quietly, so that we can listen, and see if there's anyone around
looking for you."

"But we won't get any supper!" said poor Zara. "And I'm hungry already!"

"We'll find berries and nuts, and we can eas