“Look!” she exclaimed, pointing to the black flats-mud. “There is the clam’s nest—in that mud. Truly. They are not birds; they are shellfish. I was only fooling.”
“I don’t care,” answered Melvina. “I shall know now what clams really are.”
“And those birds are gulls, not partridges,” continued Anna, pointing to the flock of gulls near shore, “and come here and I will show you a real alder,” and the two girls climbed over a ledge to where a little thicket of alder bushes crept down close to the rocks.
“And those splendid tall trees are pines,” went on Anna, pointing to the group of tall trees on the bluff.
Melvina laughed delightedly. “Why, you know all about everything,” she exclaimed, “even if your hair is short like a boy’s.”
“I know all the trees in the forest,” declared Anna, “and I know where squirrels hide their nuts for winter, and where beavers make their houses in the river.”
The two girls were now beyond the ledge and out of sight of Luretta, and Anna was so eager to tell Melvina of the wonderful creatures of the forest, and Melvina, feeling as if she had discovered a new world, listened with such pleasure, that for the moment they both forgot all about Luretta.
At first Luretta had been well pleased to see that Melvina was no longer vexed and unhappy; but when both her companions disappeared, and she found herself alone with Melvina’s soiled and discarded skirts and the wet stockings, she began to feel that she was not fairly treated, and resolved to go home.
“Dan can play with Melvina Lyon if she likes her so much,” thought Luretta resentfully, and started off up the slope. Luretta was nearly as tidy as when she left home, so she would have no explanations to make on her return. As she went up the slope she turned now and then and looked back, but there was no sign of Anna or Melvina. “I don’t care,” thought the little girl unhappily. “Perhaps they will think I am drowned when they come back and don’t find me.” She had just reached the top of the slope and turned toward home when she saw London Atus hurrying along the path that led to the church.
“Perhaps he has been sent after Melvina, and can’t find her,” thought Luretta; and she was right; the colored man had been to Captain Horton’s house to walk home with his little mistress, and had been told that Melvina had not been there that afternoon; and he was now hurrying home with this alarming news.