'Don't touch it! don't taste it, Miss Anne!' he cried excitedly. 'Oh,
please to come out with me to the bent of the hill, and I'll tell you
why. But don't eat any of it!'
He darted out at the door before Martha could stop him, and ran down the
green path to a place where he was out of sight and hearing of his home,
waiting breathlessly for Miss Anne to overtake him. It was some minutes
before she came, and her face was overcast and troubled; but she listened
in silence, while, without concealment, but with many bitter and
passionate words against the gamekeeper, and excuses for his own conduct,
he confessed to her all the occurrences of the night before. Every moment
his agitation increased under her quiet, mournful look of reproach,
until, as he came to the close, he cried out in a sorrowful but defiant
tone, 'Oh, Miss Anne, I could not bear it!'
'Do you remember,' she asked, in a low and tender voice, 'how poor Snip
used to follow me down to this very spot, and sit here till I was out of
sight? I was very fond of poor old Snip, Stephen!' Yes, her voice
trembled, and tears were in her eyes.
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