“How did I know?” The girl lifted her head proudly. “I know all things that take place in the woods,” she replied. “The woods are my home.”
Mollie looked thoughtful; then she spoke in a firm voice: “You know for other reasons, as well. You know I was lost because you led me away yesterday.”
The girl’s brown face crimsoned, her eyes flashed. Then she lifted her head proudly. “I led you nowhere!” she declared. “You would follow me. No one can run as I do, or capture me when they hunt.”
“Who are you?” Mollie asked her.
“I am nobody,” the young girl replied. It seemed to Mollie she spoke sadly. But she dropped down on the steps of the porch and waited until Mollie joined her there.
Mollie put out her own soft, white hand and took the other girl’s brown fingers in her own. The hands were slender and long, with hard muscles trained to the work of the woods.
“Well,” said Mollie gently, “if I would follow you, perhaps my getting lost was my own fault. But was it quite fair of you to come each morning to our windows, and then fly away again before anyone could see you?” Mollie was only guessing at this; but it was easy to see her guess had struck home.
Her visitor turned a deeper crimson and dropped her eyes.
“I am sure you meant no harm by your morning calls,” continued Mollie smilingly. “But, if you didn’t lead me away into the woods, there is one thing I feel very sure of; you did show my friends how to find me.”
“Hush, hush!” cried the wood nymph, rising to her feet and looking around in terror, her slender body poised for flight. “Promise me,” she pleaded, “that you will not tell you have seen me, nor that I ever came here to you.” The girl dropped on her knees at Mollie’s feet. “I am an Indian girl,” she explained. “I live on Lost Man’s Mountain, but I know no one, and no one knows me. Only Naki your guide has seen me. But he, too, has Indian blood. He will not betray me. My name is Eunice. I have no other name.”