Page:Salem - a tale of the seventeenth century (IA taleseventeenth00derbrich).pdf/214

 "But, an' who were they, Allie?" asked her grandmother, as Alice paused.

"I do not know her name—I do not think I ever heard it, though she was pointed out to me as one of them; and the other, an elder woman, was her aunt—I have seen her with her before. When I looked round, the girl called to me, and beckoned with her hand: 'Alice Campbell! come over here; we want to speak to you.'

"But when I saw who it was, and remembered how those lying lips had falsely sworn away the life of my dear old friend, I could not bear to speak to them, or even look at them; I shook my head, and hurried on. In a moment they had crossed the street, and I heard their footsteps hurrying after me.

"'Stop, Alice Campbell,' says the girl; 'I want to speak to you.'

"'I can not stop,' says I; and I almost ran on.

"'Well,' says she, catching my sleeve, 'I must say you're civil; we will walk with you.'

"'I do not care for company,' says I; 'and I am in a hurry.'"