"Be quick and quiet, then," said her husband, who had now entered fully into the spirit of the adventure; "nobody must hear us. I will dress, and then we will pack." "Margery," said Mrs. Archibald, after three times shaking the sleeping girl, "you must get up. Your uncle and I are going away, and you must go with us." Margery turned her great eyes on Mrs. Archibald, but asked no questions. "Yes," said Mrs. Archibald, "we cannot stay in this camp any longer, on account of Mr. Raybold and various other things. Matters have come to a crisis, and we must go, and more than that, we must slip away so that the others may not go with us." "When?" asked Margery, now speaking for the first time. "As soon as it is daylight." "So soon as that?" said the girl, a shadow on her brow which was very plain in the light of the candle which Mrs. Archibald had brought with her. "Surely not before breakfast?" "Margery," said Mrs. Archibald, a little sharply, "you do not seem to understand--you are not awake; we must start as soon as it is light. But we cannot discuss it now. We are going, and you must go with us. You must get up and pack your things in your bag, which we shall send for." Suddenly a light came into Margery's eyes and she sat up. "All right," said she, "I will be ready as soon as you are. It will be jolly to run away, especially so early in the morning," and with that she jumped out of bed. CHAPTER XXVI AN ELOPEMENT A little more than an hour after Mrs. Archibald had made known her project to her husband the three inhabitants of the cabin stole softly out into the delicate light of the early dawn. Mr. Archibald had thought of leaving a note for Matlack, but his wife had dissuaded him. She was afraid that the wrong person might get hold of it. "When we are safely at Sadler's," she said, "we can send for our bags, with a note to Matlack. It will not matter then who knows." She had a firm belief in the power of the burly keeper of the inn to prevent trouble on his premises. With careful but rapid steps the little party passed along the open portion of the camp, keeping as far as possible from the tent wherein reposed Corona and Mrs. Perkenpine, and soon reached the entrance of the wood road. Here it was not quite so light as in the open, but still they could make their way without much trouble, and after a few minutes' walking they felt perfectly safe from observation, and slackening their pace, they sauntered along at their ease.