"I wonder
none of you asked about them before."

"I never thought of it," said Margery. "I haven't had time for lounging,
and as for Aunt Harriet, she would not get into one for five dollars."

"Where shall I hang it?" he asked.

"Not anywhere about here. Couldn't you find some nice place in the woods,
not far away, but where I would not be seen, and might have a little time
to myself? If you can, come and tell me quietly where it is."

"I know what she means," said Martin to himself. "It's a shame that she
should be annoyed. I can find you just such a place," he said to Margery.
"I will hang the hammock there, and I will take care that nobody else
shall know where it is." And away he went, bounding heart and foot.

In less than a quarter of an hour he returned. "It's all ready, Miss
Dearborn," he said. "I think I have found a place you will like. It's
generally very close in the woods on a day like this, but there is a
little bluff back of us, and at the end of it the woods are open, so that
there is a good deal of air there."

"That is charming," said Margery, and with a book in her hand she
accompanied Martin.

They were each so interested in the hammock business that they walked side
by side, instead of one following the other, as had been their custom
heretofore.

"Oh, this is a delightful place!" cried Margery. "I can lie here and look
down into the very heart of the woods; it is a solitude like Robinson
Crusoe's island."

"I am glad you like it," said Martin. "I thought you would. I have put up
the hammock strongly, so that you need not be afraid of it; but if there
is any other way you want it I can change it. There is not a thing here
that can hurt you, and if a little snake should happen along it would be
glad to get away from you if you give it a chance. But if you should be
frightened or should want anything you have only to call for me. I shall
hear you, for I shall be out in the open just at the edge of the woods."

"Thank you very much," said Margery; "nothing could be nicer than this,
and you did it so quickly."

He smiled with pleasure as he answered that he could have done it more
quickly if it had been necessary; and then he retired slowly, that she
might call him back if she thought of anything she wanted.

Margery lay in the hammock, gazing out over the edge of the bluff into the
heart of the woods; her closed book was in her hand, and the gentle breeze
that shook the leaves around he