["He seemed to be leaping over great fields fully a mile at a stride"]

["The children stopped to look back upon the spot from which they had just come"]

["Looking upward they were amazed to behold the open sky filled with sweet-voiced angels"]

["He gave the old harp a nimble sweep with his dexterous fingers that filled the air with enchanting music"]

["Perhaps you have noticed by my long hair and studious demeanor that I am both a gentleman and a scholar"]

THE VILLAGE OF HIDE AND SEEK

CHAPTER I
"HIS HIGHNESS," THE VAGABOND

On a bright sunny day in the middle of the month of August, a merry group of gaily dressed children were romping upon the green lawn of a country place, that, from its well kept and cleanly surroundings, could not have been mistaken for any other than the home of some prosperous and perhaps retired gentleman of wealth and refinement.