"And didn't anyone catch her?"

"The man who caught her is a brute. He would have wanted to
tighten my girths for me, and that's why I dropped behind. I
felt it would be him, so I slid out of sight behind a hedge, and
when I saw it was him coming back with her, I didn't want his
smile, so I just ran into the woods and started to walk home."

"Did he see you?"

"No. He may be there still, for all I know."

"He must have been having a roaring time leading the mare about
all day."

"I hope it'll teach him not to pester a girl again."

I sighed. "Some of us are brutes, aren't we?"

"Yes."

A pause. Then:

"But some men have been very nice to me."

"The devil they have!" said I.

Here, as certain of our own writers say and have said, a gurgle
of delight escaped her. I leaned forward and grabbed at