streaks of gray in his long hair and beard.
His ruffled shirt of well-worn linen was met at the neck by a modest
ruff faded and torn like the shirt, and both sadly in need of washing.
On his head he wore a round black cap which, if it ever had a peak, had
lost it. The trousers of dark stuff came just below the knee, Puritan
fashion, and were met by coarse gray stockings. The feet were encased in
coarse shoes with steel buckles, and a sable blouse well worn was held
close to the body by a belt. His only visible weapon was a knotted
stick. Perspiration, heat, exhaustion from travelling on foot, with
dust, added something sordid to his general wretched appearance.

No less interesting than the man was the child he led at his side. Her
great, dark brown eyes and golden hair were indications of beauty,
despite the careworn look and dust-covered features. She wore a hood and
frock, stockings and thick English shoes of the period. Like the man,
the child had a haggard look, and her clothing was faded and worn. There
were leaves and dust in that golden hair, as if her pillow had been the
earth, and her beautiful brown eyes had a terrified look, as if some
dread possessed her mind.

The appearance of these two travel-stained strangers occasioned much
comment in Boston. No one knew them. Where did they come from? The
south, perhaps the seaboard, for they made their entrance from the
Plymouth and Rhode Island roads. But why had they come by land when
travel by water was so much easier? They must have been walking all
day, for the child seemed very tired. Some women, who had seen them
enter the old suburb at the lower part of the town, asserted that the
stranger was carrying the child in his arms when he came to the town.
They saw him halt under some trees by the big spring and both man and
child drink of the pure sweet waters. On reaching the corner of what is
now Washington Street he paused a moment and glanced toward the house of
the governor as if he would go there; but, after a few whispered words
with the child, he shook his head and turned his attention toward the
principal inn of the town.

The child evidently caused this change in his mind, for Mrs. Alice
Stevens, who from her window was watching the pair with no little
interest, thought the little girl looked hungry and tired. She was on
the point of going out to offer her some refreshments and ask the
wanderers to come in and rest, when they went on. The travellers mu