“Aren’t you ashamed of yourself?� he exclaimed.
“We were afraid to go home,� said Anne. “They are looking for me.�
“Of course we are looking for you,� Black Mayo said impatiently. “They are horribly uneasy about you.�
“I mean, Cæsar’s looking for me,� Anne explained in a hurried, scared undertone. “The deserter!�
“What!�
“They put her in the Old Sterling Mine. I found her,� said Dick.
“We thought we’d better tell you about it. I ran up on that deserter, and he’s afraid I’d tell. They’re looking for me, and—— Oh! what’s that?� Anne gave a stifled cry. The noise that she heard was only—as she realized on the instant—the crackling fall of a dead bough, but it left her white and quivering.
“Here, here!� said Black Mayo. “Let’s know what this is all about.�
He sprang from his horse, threw the bridle rein over the gatepost, and led Anne up the walk and into the house.
“Why, Mayo! I thought you were gone. Anne! Where did you find her, Mayo? And what is the matter?� asked Mrs. Osborne, as they hurried into the room where she was sitting.