both jumped to their feet the light was blown out and the crying sound
was swept down the far corridor so that it was to be heard more plainly
than ever.
There! said Mary. I told you so! It is someone crying and it isn t a
grown-up person.
Martha ran and shut the door and turned the key, but before she did it
they both heard the sound of a door in some far passage shutting with a
bang, and then everything was quiet, for even the wind ceased
wutherin for a few moments.
It was th wind, said Martha stubbornly. An if it wasn t, it was
little Betty Butterworth, th scullery-maid. She s had th toothache
all day.
But something troubled and awkward in her manner made Mistress Mary
stare very hard at her. She did not believe she was speaking the truth.
CHAPTER VI.
THERE WAS SOMEONE CRYING THERE WAS!
The next day the rain poured down in torrents again, and when Mary
looked out of her window the moor was almost hidden by gray mist and
cloud. There could be no going out today.
What do you do in your cottage when it rains like this? she asked
Martha.
Try to keep from under each other s feet mostly, Martha answered.
Eh! there does seem a lot of us then. Mother s a good-tempered woman
but she gets fair moithered. The biggest ones goes out in th cow-shed
and plays there. Dickon he doesn t mind th wet. He goes out just th
same as if th sun was shinin . He says he sees things on rainy days as
doesn t show when it s fair weather. He once found a little fox cub
half drowned in its hole and he brought it home in th bosom of his
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