"About five miles."
"And how is the road?"
"As bad as a road can be."
"Could we reach the village on foot?"
"Better on foot than in a carriage, or on horseback; because the foot way is shorter. By the road it is five miles; by a foot-path that I know, which is almost a bee-line, it is not more than half that distance."
"We will go on foot, then," said Sybil, rising.
"When?" inquired the lad, following her example.
"Now. We will set out at once! No one notices our position now. If we were to return to the house, we might be observed and watched."
"I am ready," said the boy, closing his portfolio, and hiding it under a flat piece of rock, where he thought it would be equally safe from trespassers and from the elements.
"Let us go," said Sybil.