Oh, Elizabeth Ann knew all about that! and her heart swelled big with sympathy. For a moment she stood again out on the sidewalk in front of the Lathrop house with old Mrs. Lathrop’s ungracious white head bobbing from a window, and knew again that ghastly feeling of being unwanted. Oh, she knew why little Molly was crying! And she shut her hands together hard and made up her mind that she WOULD help her out! [Illustration: “What’s the matter, Molly? What’s the matter?”] Do you know what she did, right off, without thinking about it? She didn’t go and look up Aunt Abigail. She didn’t wait till Uncle Henry came back from his round of emptying sap buckets into the big tub on his sled. As fast as her feet could carry her she flew back to Cousin Ann in the sap-house. I can’t tell you (except again that Cousin Ann was Cousin Ann) why it was that Betsy ran so fast to her and was so sure that everything would be all right as soon as Cousin Ann knew about it; but whatever the reason was it was a good one, for, though Cousin Ann did not stop to kiss Molly or even to look at her more than one sharp first glance, she said after a moment’s pause, during which she filled a syrup can and screwed the cover down very tight: “Well, if her folks will let her stay, how would you like to have Molly come and stay with us till her mother gets back from the hospital? Now you’ve got a room of your own, I guess if you wanted to you could have her sleep with you.” “Oh, Molly, Molly, Molly!” shouted Betsy, jumping up and down, and then hugging the little girl with all her might. “Oh, it will be like having a little sister!” Cousin Ann sounded a dry, warning note: “Don’t be too sure her folks will let her. We don’t know about them yet.” Betsy ran to her, and caught her hand, looking up at her with shining eyes. “Cousin Ann, if YOU go to see them and ask them, they will!” This made even Cousin Ann give a little abashed smile of pleasure, although she made her face grave again at once and said: “You’d better go along back to the house now, Betsy. It’s time for you to help Mother with the supper.” The two children trotted back along the darkening wood road, Shep running before them, little Molly clinging fast to the older child’s hand. “Aren’t you ever afraid, Betsy, in the woods this way?” she asked admiringly, looking about her with timid eyes. “Oh, no!” said Betsy, protectingly; “there’s nothing to be afraid of, except getting off on the wrong fork of the road, near the Wolf Pit.” “Oh, OW!” said Molly, cringing. “What’s the Wolf Pit? What an awful name!”