She went a little way off, but only a little way, for she could not help hoping that he might offer her some of the food. She sat down on the edge of the brook and flung clods of dirt into the water. She sang, too, because she wished Herbert to think that she did not care at all, but out of the corner of her eye she watched the chicken pasty and the cheese and the spice cakes till the last crumb was gone.
Then Merrylips lay down and drank from the brook, for she saw that a drink of water was all the luncheon that she was to have. As she leaned over the brook, the silver ring that hung about her neck slipped from the bosom of her gown and swung at the end of the cord on which she wore it.
"What's that?" said Herbert.
He too had come to the edge of the brook to drink, and he stood near Merrylips.
"Let me look upon it, Sybil."
"Go finish your dinner!" Merrylips answered as she put the ring back within her gown.
Her tone angered Herbert even more than her words.
"You show me that as I bid you!" he cried. "How dare you disobey me? You're going to be my wife some day—father saith so—and then I'll learn you! Now you show me that silver thing, mistress, or I'll beat you!"
"Try it!" flashed Merrylips.
But for all her brave words, she did not wish to fight with Herbert. She felt too tired and hungry to fight, and besides, if she beat Herbert, she knew that she should be punished for it by Mistress Lowry. So when Herbert put out his hand to seize her, she dodged him and took to her heels through the wood. She knew that she could outrun him.