"How could you do such a fearful thing?
Think, if your foot had slipped you might be lying there now yourself,
in that dreadful place!" and she shuddered, putting back the tangle of
fair hair with trembling fingers.
"Ah, but you see, my foot _didn't_ slip, Nurse Lucy!" replied Hilda,
gayly. "I wouldn't _let_ it slip! And here I am safe and sound, so it's
really absurd for you to be frightened now, my dear!"
"Why in the name of the airthly didn't ye wait till I kem home, and let
me go down for ye?" demanded the farmer, who was secretly delighted
with the exploit, though he tried to look very grave.
"Oh! I--I never thought of it!" said Hildegarde. "My only thought was to
get down there as quickly as possible. So I waited till I heard you
coming, for I didn't want to leave Nurse Lucy alone; and then--I went!
And I will not be scolded," she added quickly, "for I think I have made
a great discovery." She held one hand behind her as she spoke, and her
eyes sparkled as she fixed them on the farmer. "Dear Farmer Hartley,"
she said, "is it true, as Bubble told me, that your father used to go
down often into the vault of the old mill?"
"Why, yes, he did, frequent!" said the farmer, wondering. "'Twas a fancy
of his, pokin' about thar. But what--"
"Wait a moment!" cried Hilda, trembling with excitement. "Wait a moment!
Think a little, dear Farmer Hartley! Did you not tell me that when he
was dying, your father said something about digging? Try to remember
just what he said!"
The farmer ran his hand through his shaggy locks with a bewildered look.
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