IV
Of two ways to the Factor's Thora had taken the shortest and most frequented, yet she had gone through the streets unobserved. Coming near the house she had passed the Sheriff and the two strangers, but they were immersed in their conversation and did not see her as she stumbled by them with her head covered up in Anna's shawl.
Twice she had stopped to take breath, and once she had steadied herself by a lamp-post, for she was dizzy and her ankles ached. The little distance which had hitherto seemed so short was now a great journey, but it came to an end at length, and she approached her father's house from the front.
She had intended to creep up softly, enter by stealth, listen until she learned where the child was kept, watch until Aunt Margret left the little one alone for a moment and then steal into the room and take it.
With this purpose she ascended the stone steps to the front entrance and gently turned the handle, but as soon as she had given the door a noiseless push, there was the loud ringing of a bell which had not been there before.
At the next moment there was a sound of slippered feet coming hurriedly down-stairs and before her dizzy brain could tell what to do Aunt Margret was peering into her face.
"Mercy me, is it you?" cried Aunt Margret, and she looked as if she were ready to drop.
With a crushing sense of failure Thora stood silent and her heart fluttered like a captured bird.
"Good Lord! How did you get here alone? And what on earth was Anna doing to let you come?" said Aunt Margret.
Then with a convulsive little burst Thora said, "Anna knew nothing about it, Aunt Margret--she was asleep--I came to see baby." And then she broke down utterly, leaned against the doorpost and cried like a child.