The pony dashed down the hill. They were out of sight of the place of their defeat in a moment of time; but she felt as if never, never could she get out of sight of their leering faces, out of hearing of their horrid words. When they were at the bottom of the hill and had turned into the main road, Jay began to recover from the shock and fright, and to tremble and cry. Gabrielle never took her eyes off Missy's face; she was full of speculation, but such experiences were not as new to her as to Missy. She, however, remembered, almost as well as Missy did, all those insolent words, and, though not understanding them fully, kept them in mind, and interpreted them in the light of events. "Don't cry, Jay," Missy said mechanically. But she was so shaken she could scarcely speak. She wanted to get home and think it over; to get out of day-light, to get breath and recover her voice again, and her self-respect, her power of feeling herself a lady. Jay's continued crying tortured her; Gabby's eyes on her face angered her. She was trembling all over. She had not made up her mind about anything, only that everything was horrid and degrading, and that she wished she had never seen or heard of any of the name of Andrews--even little Jay. As they approached the gate she saw that Mr. Andrews was walking slowly up and down before his house, evidently watching for them. She tried to drive quickly and pass him with a bow, but he came up beside them as they passed through the gate, and she had to pull up the pony and go slowly. He walked beside the carriage and took Jay's hand, which was stretched out to him. "Well, I've got them all off," he said, with a sigh of relief. "We saw 'em all," cried Gabby, always glad to impart information. "We saw 'em all; and, oh, such a time as we have had!" "Michael beat me, and beat me," burst out Jay, quite broken down at the thought of being sympathized with. "And, oh, the things they said to Missy!" exclaimed Gabby. "And he called me a little devil, and I'll kill him!" cried Jay, beginning to sob. While these side-lights were being thrown upon the occurrence, Mr. Andrews looked anxiously at Missy, who was growing red and white, and trembling very visibly. "Be silent, children," he said impatiently. "You have had some trouble, Miss Rothermel, I am afraid." By this time they had reached the house; Missy threw down the reins, which Mr. Andrews caught. "I hope nothing has happened to distress you," he said. She did not wait to give Jay to his father, but getting out very quickly, and not noticing the hand that he offered her, said, in a voice not very steady, "I don't want to talk about it. It makes me ill to think of it. Call Peters, won't you, to take away the pony," ran up the steps and disappeared into the house. In another minute she would have cried.