“Where are you going, Miss Sophia?” asked Letty, looking over the gate.
“I am going to walk,” answered Miss Sophia. “Would you like to come with me, Letty?”
“Oh yes!” cried Letty, “I should like to go very much indeed! Only wait, please, while I get my bonnet!”
And Letty danced into the house, and danced out again with her brown poke bonnet over her sunny hair.
“Here I am, Miss Sophia!” she cried. “Now, where shall we go?”
“Down the lane!” said Miss Sophia, “and through the orchard into the fields. Perhaps we may find some strawberries.”
So away they went, the young lady walking demurely along, while the little girl frolicked and skipped about, now in front, now behind. It was pretty in the green lane. The ferns were soft and plumy, and the moss firm and springy under their feet. The trees bent down and talked to the ferns, and told them stories about the birds that were building in their branches; and the ferns had stories, too, about the black velvet mole who lived under their roots, and who had a star on the end of his nose.
But Letty and Miss Sophia did not hear all this; they only heard a soft whispering, and never thought what it meant.
Presently they came out of the lane, and passed through the orchard, and then came out into the broad, sunny meadow.
“Now, Letty,” said Miss Sophia, “use your bright eyes, and see if you can find any strawberries! I will sit under a tree and rest a little.”