The Brass Bound Box

rough the wood to the spot wher

right away, quick. Is there a shorter way than we came, o

hance as she had, would have gone home till driven there; for the chestnuts had rattled out of their burrs at a

' by, to make a speck of fire in a safe place I know an' roast

peak of them, but-I must go home. Something has happened. Something so important, I

head a'ready. I only wish I could see a tramp, just to kn

't tel

Pep'mints are good for the stummick-ache, an' I always carry a few in my pocket. See?" said the

ts" and indignantly denied the stomach ache, declaring that

amount of resting. The forest was in a glory of color, the air was "mild as midsummer," and in his capacious pocket he had brought his "tackle." His axe would furnish a couple of rods, and Katharine should have her first lesson at angling in the near-by brook, where trout were plentiful, it matterin

ry more I mustn't. Good-by, I'm going. You can have the caraway cakes and

ining hand upon he

hat you've got u

out of harm's way. Yet here was the girl, hiding something beneath her long blue coat, and acting as if she had great ado to keep it there. It must have b

xasperating reply, as she wriggled he

n, was possessed of curiosity such as he attributed wholly to "silly women," yet it is certain that he suddenly

es. We could stand a siege an' not suffer, though Eunice never does feel content 'less she's got fuel enough ahead to last two years. Hm-m. It's gettin' too hot to chop, anyway. Must be Indian summer comin' on, though I claim 'tain't due till November. Susanna, now, she says October, an' Eunice, she calls that warm spell we always have the first the winter an Indian summer. Seems if there was as many Indian summers as

ised to see how the leaves at the foot of it had been scattered about, and that there was a hole in the ground itself. There was also in this hole the imprint of something square and soli

m nuts. Well, I guess I can store 'em in my pockets, an' I'll coax her secret,

had thought the ferns and fallen branches "mighty pretty," but going out they hindered her. The box, too, was heavy and difficult to hold, though as soon as she was out of sight of Moses she to

Oh, if it were diamonds-think! Oh, dear! there goes my shoe-string untied again, and it trips me up so. I must stop and tie it and see if I am going right. Seems as if I oug

g done, and finding her position restful, it was natural that her imagination should dwell upon the treasure she had found; and once

y! W-w-wh

vainly trying to hide with her short skirts th

way? Why-you might have frightened me

ou if you d-d-didn't se

ally screened it from view. "I thought you were sick, or-o

t slipping. Doubly difficult if one were perched upon a sharp-angled cube, and one's piqué skirt was stiffly starched. He comprehended the situation and mean

that to be tied up in a girl's pinafore and with bared arms set to washing dishes, peeling potatoes, and scrubbing floors was a disgrace. In vain did the stately old gentlewoman show him by her example that one could cook and clean and still be dignified; her grandson remained unconvinced and rebellious. He didn't believe that poor Alfaretta was sick. He knew she was shamming just to get out of her work

nished, and all dependent upon the unknown contents of a brass bound box. Under other circumstances she would have rejoiced to see Montgomery, as the only young creature of her own s

are you

n-now

good pla

nswered the lad, wit

harine, sweetly, yet inwardly long

is own, Katharine had leaned forward to inspect her second shoe-string, and afterward attempting to regain her former uprightness, felt, i

t his desire to "plague her" in his surprised curiosity. Bendin

eautifullest thing I ever

I didn't want a person should know anything about it till I could put it into her o

lattering remarks, and, li

. What you s-s-s-suppose is in it

asing had left the listener. He was even ashamed that he had forced the girl from the rock, though glad of

one way as another. The wood is as fine as satin and looks as if it had been polished to the last degree. Do you suppose it is brass or gold that trims it? And where, where did it come from? The earth on it was so fresh I don't believe that it had been buried but a lit

e building, and whether it be lad or lass who "dreams" there is but little difference. Poor Monty! Unable to put his soaring thoughts into speech as his companion so readily coul

Woman. The Wise Woman lives in the stone castle beyond the forest, and she will show us how to open the box and to use the key. Because the box was hers once, before she gave it to the fairy king to keep for us. She knew that one day we should come into the forest and that all would happen that has happened. That's what makes her the Wise Woman. She has lived a long, long time. So long that her hair is quite gray and there are wrinkles around her eyes. But the eyes are still clear and gentle and there is a pretty pink color in her cheek

nd his eyes had remained fixed in fascination upon the girl's radiant face as she spun this fairy-tale without stop or hesitation. It had been a

Wise Woman's nobody b

crashed through the underbrush, and