After perhaps an hour she came upon a flat surface where soil had formed, where grass and wild flowers and several little trees gave shade and a place to sleep.

And from her eyrie she commanded a vast sweep of country--hills and valleys, fields, creeks, here and there lonely farmhouses, and far away to the east the glint of the river! To the river! That was her destination.

And somehow it would be kind, would take her where she would never, never dream those frightful dreams again! She went to the side of the bowlder opposite that which she had climbed.

She drew back hastily, ready to cry with vexation.

It was not nearly so high or so steep; and on the slope of the hill a short distance away was set a little farmhouse, with smoke curling up from its rough stone chimney.