reminded her that the child could hardly be considered quite alone, with good Mrs. Ellery, her son, and his wife, and their children, not to mention the horses, cows, pigs, chickens and lambs, with whom Mary was nearly as intimate and as happy. He suggested too, that while she was in the woods she was not near Philip Wentworth; and we rather think it was this crowning argument, which he wisely reserved for the last, that decided the point in Mary's favor.

CHAPTER VI.

The wild delight of flying about from morning till night palled somewhat, after a few days, and Mary found her chief pleasure in the grand old woods that skirted the ample farm of Mrs. Ellery. Here she would wander, half pensively, "thinking," of course "of nothing at all," or recline on some mossy bank, while the children wreathed her hair with the thousand wild flowers that bloomed in every spot to which the sun found access. So charming was the calm solitude, that she often remained with her young companions in some favorite spot, until the westering sun, and the voice of lowing herds returning to their milking, recalled her wandering thoughts.

It was on some such occasion, when a splendid sunset, such as one sees to perfection in the country of the great lakes, detained her later than usual, that she was alarmed by the bounds of what she thought might be a wild animal, which approached from the side next Mrs. Ellery's. In a moment it stood before her, and proved to be only a large spotted dog, very much like