right hand in her pocket. Tightly
between her finger and thumb she held her purse which contained the
Magic Counter. Perhaps you wonder why she did not give it to Mrs.
Coppert and tell her to go away at once. It is quite true that Mary
believed that if she gave it to anybody, it would make her do whatever
she wished, and she certainly wished Mrs. Coppert to go away. But at the
same time Mary felt sure that Mrs. Coppert would keep whatever was given
to her, and put it in her large pocket; while she was a woman who never
did what she was asked to do. What Mary hoped was that some one else
might come along the road, and then she would take out the Magic Counter
at once and ask that Mrs. Coppert should be sent away.

'I'm not going to see them,' said Mary with tears in her eyes; 'I don't
want to see them.'

'There now!' cried Mrs. Coppert, 'there's ingratitude! And them like
brothers and sisters almost. You just get up off that grass and come
along of me.'

'I want to go home,' answered Mary. 'I must go home, I must,' she said,
and now she was crying as if her heart would break.

'Of course you must!' exclaimed Mrs. Coppert. 'Ain't I going to take you
home? Isn't William Street your home? Haven't you lived there all your
life? Haven't I been a mother to you?'

'But I--I can't go without saying good-bye to Sister Agatha and
Evangeline!' cried Mary, as she stood upright. 'I must say good-bye,'
she sobbed; 'they won't know where I am.'

'Oh yes they will,' was the answer. 'I'll see to that,' said Mrs.
Coppert, taking one of Mary's arms; 'never you fear. Wait till we get
back to William Street and I'll write a nice letter. So just you come
along and no nonsense!'

Mrs. Coppert held Mary's arm so tightly that it quite hurt, but
fortunately it was the left arm which she held, so that Mary could still
keep her right hand in her pocket. And she managed to put one of her
fingers inside the purse and to take out the Magic Counter.

She held it all ready to give to the first person she saw come along the
road, and although she felt more frightened than she had ever felt
before, Mary still hoped that something might happen to prevent her from
being taken back to William Street. But at present Mary saw nobody from
one end of the road to the other, nobody but Mrs. Coppert, whom she did
not want to see. She was dragged along the sunny road almost blind with
tears, but as they drew nearer the railway station Mrs. Coppert held her