"Not much!" cried Sidney, and with the help of another boy, he dragged her, screaming and kicking, all the way, until they reached the rocky ledge.
"There, now! Hold on! You're showing too much temper!" cried a stout lad who was helping to bind her.
"I won't stay! You sha'n't tie me!" she screamed, but without replying, they drew the tough vines closer about her, lashing her into such a network of stems and stout vines that it would be impossible for her to escape.
"There!" cried Sidney, when he felt sure that she was securely made a little prisoner, "You can shout till you're tired, and if you want to mock any one, you can mock yourself! Good-afternoon, Miss Echo!"
He lifted his cap, with elaborate courtesy, and marched off whistling:
"The Girl I Left Behind Me."
They did not look back. Sidney marched boldly away, believing that he had done a very smart thing, but the other boys felt less comfortable.
They had been angry with her, and they had wished to see her punished, but they could not help thinking that she was a little girl, and they were leaving her alone in the woods!
Jack Tiverton was, by far, the most uneasy.
He was the smallest of the party, and, while he had asked Sidney to let Floretta go, he had known it was useless to do more.