Page:The adventures of Ann; stories of colonial times.djvu/90

86 morning, a new anxiety beset her. The poor thief must have some breakfast. She could easily have smuggled some dry bread up to him ; but she did want him to have some of the hot Indian mush, which the family had. Ann, impulsive in this as everything, now that she had made up her mind to protect a thief, wanted to do it handsomely. She did want him to have some of that hot mush; but how could she manage it?

The family at the breakfast table discussed the matter of the horse-thief pretty thoroughly. It was a hard ordeal for poor Ann, who could not take easily to deception. She had unexpected trouble too with Nabby. Nabby had waked up the preceding night.

"I didn't see anything," proclaimed Nabby; "but I heerd a noise. I think there's mice out in the grain-chist in the back chamber."

"I must go up there and look," said Mrs. Polly. "They did considerable mischief, last year."

Ann turned pale; what if she should take it into her head to look that day!

She watched her chance very narrowly for the