He had been
coming back from the village with some neighbours, when they saw the
poor little thing, crouched like a hare in her form under a bush. No
sooner did she hear them, than like a hare, she started up to run
away; but stumbling over the root of a tree, she fell and lay, too
much frightened even to scream till her brother picked her up.
Kind motherly arms were about the poor girls. Old Goody Grace, who
had been with them through their mother's illness, had hobbled up on
hearing the terrible news. She looked like a witch, with a tall hat,
short cloak, and nose and chin nearly meeting, but all Elmwood loved
and trusted her, and the feeling of utter terror and helplessness
almost vanished when she kissed and grieved over the orphans, and
took the direction of things. She straightened and composed poor
John Kenton's limbs, and gave what comfort she could by assuring the
children that the passage must have been well nigh without pain.
"And if ever there was a good man fit to be taken suddenly, it was
he," she added.
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