As she sat there a band of children went past, with a shrill, sweet clamor of voices.  They were out hanging May-baskets and bunches of anemones.  That was the favorite sport of the village children during the month of May.  The woods were full of soft, innocent, seeking faces, bending over the delicate bells nodding in the midst of whorls of dark leaves.  Every evening, after sundown, there were mysterious bursts of laughter and tiny scamperings around doors, and great balls of bloom swinging from the latchets when they were opened; but no person in sight, only soft gurgles of mirth and delight sounded around a corner of darkness.

After Charlotte went to bed that night she thought she heard somebody at the south door.  “It is the children with some may-flowers,” she thought.  But presently she reflected that it was very late for the children to be out.

After a little while she got up, and stole down-stairs to the door, feeling her way through the dark house.

She opened the south door cautiously, and put her hand out.  There were no flowers swinging from the latch as she half expected.  Her bare feet touched something on the door-step; she stooped, and there was a great package.

Charlotte took it up, and went noiselessly back to her room with it.  She lighted a candle, and unfastened the paper wrappings.  She gave a little cry.  There were yards of beautiful silk shimmering with lilac and silver and rose-color, and there was also a fine lace mantle.

Charlotte looked at them; she was quite pale and trembling.  She folded the silk and lace again carefully, and put them in a chest out of sight.  Then she went back to bed, and lay there crying wildly.

“Poor Barney! poor Barney!” she sobbed to herself.

The next evening, after Cephas and Sarah had gone to bed, Charlotte crept out of the house with the package under her shawl.  It was still early.  She ran nearly all the way to Barney Thayer’s house; she was afraid of meeting somebody, but she did not.

She knocked softly on Barney’s door, and heard him coming to open it at once.  When he saw her standing there he gave a great start, and did not say anything.  Charlotte thought he did not recognize her in the dusk.

“It’s me, Barney,” she said.

“I know you,” said Barney.  She held out the package to him.  “I’ve brought this back,” said she.

Barney made no motion to take it from her.

“I can’t take it,” she said, firmly.

Suddenly Barney threw up his hands over his face.  “Can’t you take just that much from me, Charlotte?  Can’t you let me do as much as that for you?” he groaned out.

“No, I can’t,” said Charlotte.  “You must take it back, Barney.”

“Oh, Charlotte, can’t you—­take that much from me?”

“I can take nothing from you as things are,” Charlotte replied.

“I wanted you to have a dress.  I saw you had given the other away.  I didn’t think—­there was any harm in buying it for you, Charlotte.”