The two little girls trudged silently along over the sandy path. Anne carried the kitten very carefully, and Amanda watched her companion anxiously.
“If Mistress Stoddard says that you may keep the kitten may I stay and play a little while?” she asked as they came near the Stoddard house.
“Yes,” answered Anne, “you may stay anyway, and I will show you my playhouse.”
Amanda’s thin freckled face brightened. “If she won’t let you keep the kitten you may come over to my house every day and play with mine,” she said; and almost hoped that Mistress Stoddard would not want the little white cat, for Amanda was anxious for a playmate, and Anne was nearer her age than any of the little girls of the settlement.
Mrs. Stoddard was nearly as much pleased with the kitten as Anne herself, and Amanda was told that she was a good little girl, her past unkindness was forgotten, and the two children, taking the kitten with them, went out to the playhouse under the pines. Amanda was allowed to hold the wooden doll, and they played very happily together until disturbed by a loud noise near the shore, then they ran down the little slope to see what was happening.
“It’s Brownie!” exclaimed Anne.
“And our cow and the Starkweathers’,” declared Amanda. “Where do you suppose they found them?”
Jimmie Starkweather drove Brownie up to the little barn, and Mrs. Stoddard came running out to welcome the wanderer.
“Where did they come from, Jimmie?” she questioned.
“A Truro man has just driven them over,” explained Jimmie; “he found them in his pasture, and thinks the Indians dared not kill them or drive them further.”