"I want to see Miss Amber, dear," he said. "Is she here?"
"Miss Madge?" the child shrilled. "Here's a gempleman for you!"
The girl appeared, her empty basket in her hand, and stared at him wonderingly. Apparently she was ready to return home.
"I've come to escort you, Miss Amber," he said. "I'll wait, if you're not ready—I'm not in any hurry, except to catch you before you start. That is to say, the hurry is over since you haven't gone."
"I was just going—how very kind of you, Mr. Green! But you ought not to have troubled—I can't possibly lose my way to the village."
"A worse thing than losing your way might have happened, if you'd gone alone," he said. "It was not that I had in mind."
She glanced down at the small girl, who stood listening. Then she stooped and kissed the child, and
