But Justin could be quick when he chose. His long arm shot out and caught her by her loose child’s belt. She wriggled in his grip like a snared rabbit. “Steady! You’d have walloped right into my bicycle if you’d jumped then,” he reproached her. “It wasn’t that! You didn’t stop me for that! You guessed! I saw you guess!” She faced him quivering, defiant. “Oh, you _are_ running away then,” he chuckled. “Thought so!” She turned on him like a leaping flame. “You’re going to stop me? Oh, and I thought you were nice. Oh, you’re not going to tell? You couldn’t be such a sneak!” He flushed a little in spite of his sixteen dignified years. She was quick to see it. Her tone altered. She appeased him hurriedly. “Oh, but truly it’s all right. I promise you. Aunt Adela will be angry, of course, like Mrs. _Christian_—but Mother won’t mind. Mother lives there, you see. I’m almost certain she’s expecting me. They’re bound to have opera glasses there, like the _Shepherds_——” “The _Shepherds_?” “Oh, you know!” She stamped a muddy foot impatiently. “They lent them to _Christian_ and _Hopeful_ to see the _City_ through—from _the Hill called Clear_. But one can see better still from Beech Hill. I almost saw Mother. She’s sure to be watching for me over the walls. And I’m so late. I’m so late. Oh, do tell me the way and let me get on. If you hadn’t seen your mother for months and months and months——” Her mouth trembled. “All right! All right! Keep your hair on! Nobody’s going to stop you.” He was surprised to find himself so concerned with her concern. “But you can’t go anywhere in this rain,” he told her. “You’d be drowned. You’re half drowned already. It’s getting worse and worse. You wait till it’s over and I’ll see if I can’t give you a lift on my step.” “Oh, would you?” Her eyes adored him. “Oh, could you? Shouldn’t I be too heavy?” “But you’d never get to the Palace tonight, you know,” he warned her. “It’s five miles to the next station.” “Oh, I mustn’t go by train. It wouldn’t be safe. They all walk in the _Pilgrim’s Progress_. Indeed, I don’t know whether it’s safe to sit here so long. The hay’s making me awfully sleepy. You know what the _Shepherds_ said, _Beware that ye sleep not—and beware_——Oh!” She pulled herself suddenly to her knees, examining him with eyes of suspicion. “What’s up?” he demanded. “It’s all right. Your face isn’t black.” She sank back relieved from the inspection. “I only wondered for a dreadful minute if you were the _Flatterer_.” She smiled at him. “One has to be so careful,” she apologized, “on _Enchanted Ground_.” He pulled at his ear. “You seem to be up in Bunyan. I don’t understand this game. Look here—why don’t you squat down and tell me all about it? I won’t give you away.”