gs together, and each of them has something to
do at the same time that all the others are working, too."

"Why, I just loved washing the dishes this morning," said Bessie,
smiling at the thought. "I never felt like that before, when Maw Hoover
was always at me to do them, so that I could hurry up and do something
else when I got through. And I did them faster here, too--much faster.
Just because I enjoyed it, and it seemed like the most natural thing to
do."

"I always did feel that way, but then I only worked for myself and my
father," said Zara.

Then the walk through the cool, green woods began. The girls started
out in Indian file, but presently the trail broadened, so that they
could walk two or three abreast. It was not long before they came into
country that Bessie had never seen, well as she knew the woods near the
Hoover farmhouse.

Wanaka, careful lest too steady a walk should tire the girls, called a
halt at least once an hour, and, when the trail led up hill, oftener.
And at each halt one girl or another, who had been detailed at the last
stop, reported on the birds and wild animals she had seen since the last
check, and, when she had done, all the others were called on to tell if
they had seen any that she had missed.

"It's just like a game, isn't it?" said Zara. "I think it's great fun!"

The halt for lunch was made after they had come out of the woods, by the
side of a clear spring. They were on a bluff, high above a winding
country road, with a path worn by the feet of thirsty passersby who knew
of the spring, and some thoughtful person had piped the water down to a
big trough where horses could drink. But they could not, from the place
where the fire had been made, see the road or the carriages.

"I don't think anyone will come along looking for you," Wanaka told
Bessie, "but if we stay out of sight we'll surely be on the safe side."

Suddenly, as they were about to sit down, Zara cried out.

"My handkerchief!" she said. "It's gone--and I had it just before we
crossed the road. I must have dropped it there. I'll go back and see."

"I'll go with you," cried Bessie, jumping up. But before she could move,
Zara, laughing, had dashed off, and Bessie dropped back to her place
with a smile.

"She's as quick as a flash," she said. "She always could beat me in a
race. There's no use in my going after her."

But, even as she spoke, a wild cry of terror reached their ears--that
and the sound of a m