"Why did you not tell any one where you were going?" asked Mr. Benker, "or at least leave a note behind you explaining your absence?"
"I was afraid," said Tera, simply; "I did not wish to be followed and given to Misi Brand. I left the house when Mr. Johnson was away, and walked up to Farmer Carwell's field on my way to Poldew. There I met with a girl very like myself. She was a gipsy."
"Zara!" said Lee, with a sigh, but not loud enough to call for rebuke.
"She told me her name was Zara, and wanted to tell my fortune," resumed Tera. "Then I thought if I could change clothes with her I might escape the more easily from my guardian and Misi Brand. At first, Zara refused to change clothes, but I promised to give her one of my pearls if she would. Then she consented. We went behind a hedge and changed clothes. I gave her the pearl, and we parted. I never saw her again."
"In which direction did she go?" asked the magistrate, to whom Chard had sent up a note.
"Towards Grimleigh, by the road I had come."
"Did she say why she was going to Grimleigh?"
"Yes; she said she was seeking her husband."
"And his name--his name!" shouted Pharaoh, unable longer to keep silence.
"If you interrupt, I shall commit you for contempt of court," said the magistrate, angrily. "How dare you raise your voice here?"