d slowly behind the money-lender pointing at him with her bony
forefinger. Her stern eyes watched him as the cat watches when its prey
is near it. She did not notice me. Silently, her feet wrapped in rags,
she walked behind the man, always pointing at him. When he stopped she
stopped. When he resumed his slow progress she followed. It thrilled
me, partly because I had begun to believe in the weird, mysterious power
of the Silent Woman. I had twenty minutes to spare and so I turned into
the main street, behind and close by them. I saw him stop and buy some
crackers and an apple and a piece of cheese. Meanwhile she stood
pointing at him. He saw, but gave no heed to her. He walked along the
street in front of the stores, she following as before. How patiently
she followed!

"Why does she follow him that way?" I asked the storekeeper when they
were gone.

"Oh, I dunno, boy!" he answered. "She's crazy an' I guess she dunno what
she's doin'."

The explanation did not satisfy me. I knew, or thought I knew, better
than he the meaning of that look in her eyes. I had seen it before.

I started for the big schoolhouse and a number of boys joined me with
pleasant words.

"I saw you lookin' at ol' Kate," one of them said to me. "Don't ye ever
make fun o' her. She's got the evil eye an' if she puts it on ye, why
ye'll git drownded er fall off a high place er somethin'."

The boys were of one accord about that.

Sally ran past us with that low-lived Wills boy, who carried her books
for her. His father had gone into the grocery business and Henry wore
boughten clothes. I couldn't tell Sally how mean he was. I was angry
and decided not to speak to her until she spoke to me. I got along
better in school, although there was some tittering when I recited,
probably because I had a broader dialect and bigger boots than the boys
of the village.

CHAPTER X

I MEET PRESIDENT VAN BUREN AND AM CROSS-EXAMINED BY MR. GRIMSHAW

The days went easier after that. The boys took me into their play and
some of them were most friendly. I had a swift foot and a good eye as
well as a strong arm, and could hold my own at three-old-cat--a kind of
baseball which we played in the school yard. Saturday came. As we were
sitting down at the table that morning the younger children clung to the
knees of Mr. Hacket and begged him to take them up the river in a boat.

"Good Lord! What wilt thou give me when I grow childless?" he exclaimed
with his