So Lucy took her satchel and walked along, while Royal sat down upon a stone by the roadside, to watch her progress.
There was a little gate next to the street, which Lucy would have to pass through in going up to the door. There were two large lilac bushes hanging over the gate, one on each side. When she came to it, she found it fastened by a kind of wooden latch; and at first she did not know how to open it. She turned around, and beckoned to Royal to come and help her; but Royal sat still. He thought that she might have climbed over, if she couldn’t open the gate.
There was another large gate beyond the house, which seemed to lead from the street into a yard, where the little barns and sheds were; and Lucy had a great mind to go in there, for the large gate was open. But she was afraid that there might be some cows in there; and besides, she did not know that there was any door leading into the house around that way; so she tried once more to open the gate. This time she succeeded; the gate came open, and Lucy, much relieved, went through, and shut it after her.
She walked along the path, toward the door. Before the door there was a large stone step, of irregular form, but smooth upon the top. There was a rose-bush on each side of the step. One of the rose-bushes was very large. There were apple-trees in the garden, and Lucy thought she saw a bird’s nest on one of them.
Lucy knocked gently and timidly at the door; but nobody heard her. Then she knocked again, a little louder. She listened, and presently she thought she heard somebody coming. A moment after, the door opened, and a little girl, who yet seemed to be considerably older than she was herself, appeared. She smiled when she saw Lucy, as if she knew her, but did not speak. She opened the door wide, and Lucy went in.
Then Royal, who had been all this time sitting upon the stone by the roadside, watching Lucy’s motions, as soon as he saw that Lucy had gone in, and that the door was shut, and that there was nothing more for him to do, got up from his seat, and walked away towards home.
The girl who had opened the door for Lucy, conducted her along through a kind of sitting-room, into a little bed-room, where Lucy found Mary Jay sitting at a window at work.
“Ah! Lucy,” said Mary Jay, “I am glad to see you; how did you find your way?”
“Royal showed me,” said Lucy.
“I expected that Royal would show you the way; but where is he?”