THE CROSS MAN
"Come on! Come on!" whispered Tom to Bunny and Sue, as he led them still deeper back in among the bushes. "Don't let him hear you! Come on, and we'll hide!"
"Who is it? What's the matter?" Bunny wanted to know.
"Hush!" whispered Tom. "It's that man! He's after me, I guess. I'll tell you about it when we get away. He's coming! Hurry!"
Certainly someone, or something, was coming along the path from which Tom and the two children had just stepped to go in among the bushes. Tom was in such a hurry that he pulled Bunny and Sue along with him harder than he meant to. Finally Bunny said:
"Oh, Tom, I'm spilling the milk!"
Bunny was carrying the pail of milk they had bought at the farmhouse, and, though the pail had a cover on it, some of the milk had splashed out, and was running down Bunny's stocking.
"Set the pail down here, and we'll get it when we come back—after that man goes," Tom said, in a whisper.
Bunny put the pail down on the ground, near a big stone, so he would know where to look for it again. Then, to hide, they all squeezed as far back in the bushes as they could, and waited.
"Is he coming after us?" asked Sue in a whisper.