"Why didn't you go in then?" asked Alcinda.
"Well, I was all by myself, and—and—I thought it would be nicer to have some one with me; it always is when you want to explore."
This seemed a perfectly reasonable answer, and the others were reassured, moreover, to a company of five, nothing was likely to happen, they thought, and the spirit of adventure was high in the breast of more than one.
"We'd better start right along," suggested Reliance, "for I have to be back, and Edna mustn't stay out after dark."
"Then, come along, all that want to go," cried Esther Ann, taking the lead.
Off they started down the wide street bordered by maples, now shorn of their leaves, but furnishing a carpet of yellow underfoot, past the church, the store, the schoolhouse and on to the old brown house sitting back behind an orchard of gnarled, crooked apple trees. The place was all grown up with weeds, though here and there were signs of a former garden. Up the rotting pillars of the porch a woodbine still clambered, and around the door, lilac bushes kept their green.
Though she had come thus far without mishap, Alcinda's courage suddenly failed her and she turned and ran.
"'Fraid cat! 'Fraid cat!" called Esther Ann after her.
This had the effect of arresting Alcinda in her flight and she stood still.
"Come on," cried Esther Ann.