She slept very soundly for more than two hours.  She was a little frightened when she awoke, to find that she had been sleeping, and she started up and climbed along upon a rock which was near by, until she gained a projecting elevation, and here she began to listen again.

She heard the distant tinkling of a bell.

“Hark,” said she.  “I hear a bell.  It is out that way.  I wonder what it is.  I will go there and see.”

So taking up her pail very carefully, she walked along in the direction where she had heard the bell.  She stopped frequently to listen.  Sometimes she could hear it, and sometimes she could not.  She, however, steadily persevered, though she encountered a great many obstacles on the way.  Sometimes there were wet places, which it was very hard to get round.  At other times, there were dense thickets, which she had to scramble through, or rocks over which she had to climb, either up or down.  The sound, however, of the bell, came nearer and nearer.

“I verily believe,” said she at length, “that it is Queen Bess.”

Queen Bess was one of Mary Erskine’s cows.

The idea that the sound which she was following might possibly be Queen Bess’s bell, gave her great courage.  She was well acquainted with Queen Bess, having often gone out to see Mary Erskine milk her, with the other cows.  She had even tried many times to milk her herself, Mary Erskine having frequently allowed her to milk enough, in a mug, to provide herself with a drink.

“I hope it is Queen Bess,” said Mary Bell.  “She knows me, and she will give me a drink of her milk, I am sure.”

Mary Bell proved to be right in her conjecture.  It was Queen Bess.  She was feeding very quietly, Mary Erskine’s other cows being near, some cropping the grass and some browsing upon the bushes.  Queen Bess raised her head and looked at Mary Bell with a momentary feeling of astonishment, wondering how she came there, and then put down her head again and resumed her feeding.

“Now,” said Mary Bell, “I shall certainly get home again, for I shall stay with you until Thomas comes up after the cows.  He will find you by your bell.  And now I am going to put these oranges down upon the grass, and milk some milk into this pail.”

So Mary Bell put the oranges in a safe place upon the grass, and then went cautiously up to the side of the cow, and attempted to milk her.  But it is very difficult to milk a cow while she is grazing in a pasture.  She is not inclined to stand still, but advances all the time, slowly, step by step, making it very difficult to do any thing at milking.  Mary Bell, however, succeeded very well.  She was so thirsty that she did not wait to get a great deal at a time, but as soon as she had two or three spoonfuls in the pail, she stopped to drink it.  In this manner, by dint of a great deal of labor and pains, she succeeded, in about a quarter of an hour, in getting as much as she wanted.