Page:The House Without Windows.djvu/95

 shoulders from behind and said kindly: "Little girl, don't be afraid of me."

Eepersip sprang to her feet, stared wildly a moment, and then dashed off straight to the sea. But for fear of making Toby very unhappy, Mrs. Carrenda never questioned him about her.

She and her husband had many anxious conferences together. Her husband thought that it was exceedingly risky to let Toby play so unwatched with Eepersip, but Toby's mother did not feel that way at all. Then they talked over the matter of who she was.

One day Eepersip was peeping into the house to see if she could find Toby, for he had not been out to play with her. Looking into the dining-room, she sow him there, eating luncheon with Mr. and Mrs. Carrenda. They were talking anxiously, and she was curious, and listened.

"I have it," said Mr. Carrenda suddenly. "Don't you remember those peoplethe Eeglines, or Eigleensthat came over to the hill near Mount Varcrobis where we lived before we came here? who wanted to know if we had seen a strange little girl, dressed all in ferns? She is the Eigleens' lost little girl."

Mrs. Carrenda looked puzzled.

"They told us, you know, that they had given