this bold
step of hers, and what would follow, were so terrible that the mere
thought of them made her turn off the high road at a run, and dash
into the nearest lane she came to. She had the sense to choose one
on the opposite side of the road, lest she should find herself back
on the moor again. A moor was so treacherous, there was no shelter,
and one never knew when one would be pounced on. There was no
shelter either, no food, no house, no safe hiding-place, and of
course there was no chance of finding a friend there, who might take
pity on her.

The lane she dashed into so blindly was a steep one, it led up, and
up, and up, but the hedges were so high she could not see anything
beyond them. They shut out all the air too, and the heat was quite
stifling, her poor thin little face grew scarlet, the perspiration
ran off her brow in heavy drops. She picked up her apron at last, to
wipe them away, and then it was she found the bundle of raffia and
the two or three baskets she had brought out to sell, when the
thought had come to her that she would never go back any more--that
here was the chance she had longed for. Now, when she noticed the
baskets for the first time, her heart beat faster than ever, for she
could well picture the rage there would be, when it was discovered
that not only had she run away, but had taken with her two baskets
ready for sale!

"They are mine! I made them," she gasped, nervously, "and I left some
behind!" but her alarm put fresh energy into her tired feet, and, in
spite of the heat and her weariness, she ran, and ran madly, she did
not know or care whither, as long as she got lost. Wherever she saw
a way, she took it; the more winding it was the better. Anything
rather than keep to a straight, direct road that they could trace.

At one moment she thought of hiding away her baskets and raffia, but
she was very, very hungry by this time, and with the baskets lay her
only chance of being able to buy food, and oh, she needed food badly.
She needed it so much that at last, from sheer exhaustion, she had to
stop and lie down on the ground to recover herself.

It was then that Huldah first caught sight of Dick. All the way she
had gone, he had followed her at a distance, careful never to get too
close, cautiously keeping well out of sight, running when she ran,
drawing back and half-concealing himself when she slackened her pace,
and there was a likelihood of her looking around. Now