with a row of boys under the
piercing eye of Nicholas Bond, the tything man, who kept strict order
with his rod and an occasional nod to the cage outside.

On this particular morning when Benjamin dropped into his seat at the end
of the row and near the door, he thought seriously of the whispered word
he had overheard outside.

"Little Jane is lost. There are several searching parties out!"

"This is the morning," thought Benjamin, "that little Jane was going to
bring me the gentians. I wonder if anyone would think of searching that
path for her!"

He glanced at the unusual number of wolves' heads hung on the door and
thought of those still living in the woods. The guns stacked by the
doorway suggested lurking Indians. His fear for little Jane's safety so
increased that he became restless and soon received a sharp rap on the
shins from the tything man.

It was during the long prayer when all heads were bowed that his fear for
Jane became greater than his fear of the cage. Could it be that Nicholas
Bond was nodding? Benjamin slipped from his seat, crept out the door, and
flew down the road outside. The risk was great, for if he should be
caught, the horror of the cage awaited him.

He was soon out of sight of the church and had turned down the gentian
path without meeting any one. He knew enough of woodcraft to break a
branch here and turn a stone there to mark his way. The gentians were
found, and some had been picked, but Jane answered none of his shouts. He
returned the same way until he found a branching path.

"She might have taken that by mistake," he thought.

It was a long search before Benjamin came upon the little girl asleep on
the ground, with her hands full of gentians. "Oh, Jane, Jane, wake up and
come quickly! The wolves or the Indians might find us!"

Together they ran down the path to the turn and up the right one to the
church, which they reached just as the people came out, troubled by the
disappearance of Benjamin. A searching party came from the opposite
direction, and Jane's father caught his little girl up in his arms, while
Benjamin told his part of the story. His father proudly patted him on
the back and swung him up on the saddle, but little Jane scrambled to her
feet and darting to his side reached up her plump little hand,
exclaiming, "I picked these gentians for you, Benjamin!"

THE CHURCH LAW

It was now 1675. Four years had passed since Jane Fryer gathered the
gentians