264 JOE PYE-WEED 



it seemed strange that some one else had been doing 

 the very same thing. 



" Did you ask her how much she had found 

 out?" 



" She said she knew we were all friends and had 

 jolly times together, because she had seen us often 

 when we were out looking for wild flowers. She 

 didn't know why we always ran away so fast when- 

 ever we saw her, and then I told her it was be- 

 cause we thought her a spirit and not a real girl 

 at all." 



" She laughed a good deal, and said, ' Perhaps 

 I'm both.' " 



Philip said she was very pretty when she 

 laughed, 



"Where did you leave her? " Kate asked. 



" Over there in the field," Philip answered. " I 

 ran here to tell you and Tommy that I'd found 

 her." 



" Let's go back and see her now," I said. 

 " Tommy's not home to-day." 



We started then for the next field, and were 

 soon there, but Lucy was no longer in sight. 



" She's back in her brown house by this time," 

 Philip said, and he looked disappointed. " There's 

 no knowing now when we'll see her again." 



I looked all around, but there was no girl in the 

 field, nor even Joe Pye-weed. Here there was 

 only grass and Boneset and Milfoil. It all looked 

 white and misty, for the day was not quite clear. 



