themselves by the shoulders of the two in
front, so that they could see me better. They
were charming up there, huddled together in
the cart and peering down at me like curious
deer when they come out of the thicket to
drink. I found bottom near the bridge and
stood up, waving to them.

"How pretty you look!" I called.

"So do you!" they shouted altogether, and
broke into peals of laughter. Anna Hansen
shook the reins and they drove on, while I
zigzagged back to my inlet and clambered
up behind an overhanging elm. I dried my-
self in the sun, and dressed slowly, reluctant
to leave that green enclosure where the sun-
light flickered so bright through the grapevine
leaves and the woodpecker hammered away
in the crooked elm that trailed out over the
water. As I went along the road back to the
bridge I kept picking off little pieces of scaly
chalk from the dried water gullies, and break-
ing them up in my hands.

When I came upon the Marshalls' delivery
horse, tied in the shade, the girls had already
taken their baskets and gone down the east
road which wound through the sand and scrub.
I could hear them calling to each other. The

[[267]]

p266 _ -chap- _ toc-1 _ p267w _ toc-2 _ +chap+ _ p268

v?