Janet left the house by the cellar window instead of the easier way. It would be hard to explain her reasons, but it was noticeable that when she had safely climbed out and stood on the ground by the window, she leaned over and picked up something and put it away hastily in the pocket of her dress. A great many years were to pass before she showed it to another soul. "Come along, Clinker," she said briskly, as she went to the shed. "It's high time we were starting." She jumped into the cart, and Clinker, only too delighted to start for home, set off at a brisk pace. It was a long way by road back to the village, and it was dusk before they neared it. As they came within sight of the railroad station Janet heard a train pulling in, and remembering Clinker's dislike for locomotives she slowed up to wait until it left the station. It was the train from Boston, and she could not help wishing that Mrs. Todd and Peter were on it. When the last puff of the engine was lost in the distance, she drove past the station very slowly. Of course there was no sign of Mrs. Todd or Peter, and she drove on, disappointed in spite of herself. A short stretch of wood made the road quite dark ahead of her for a way. Clinker pricked up his ears as they entered it but Janet did not pay any attention to him and was therefore thoroughly startled when a voice, coming apparently from nowhere, called: "Wait a minute there, will you!" She pulled Clinker to a sudden stop and waited. A man walked out of the shadows and came up to the cart. "I beg your pardon," he said, taking off his hat. "I didn't see it was a lady driving." "Well, but what difference does that make?" Janet answered awkwardly. "Won't I do?" The man laughed and showed a set of the whitest teeth Janet had ever seen. "Well, as a matter of fact," he explained in his low voice, "I was going to ask for a lift." Janet looked at him for a minute and decided she liked him, and therefore it would not be necessary to treat him the way she usually treated strangers. "Why can't I give you one?" she asked, laughing too. "Well, now, that's mighty nice of you, and I'm very much obliged," he said. "My bag is a little too heavy to make walking any fun." He got in with surprising quickness, and Janet started Clinker by a word. "That's a mighty fine horse you've got there," he said quietly. "Yes, isn't he a beauty! His name's Clinker," Janet replied. "He doesn't belong to me, though. I only wish he did."