Then Tom marched out of the house and over the hills and far away, to return to school no more that day.

Presently Becky began to suspect.

She ran to the door; he was not in sight; she flew around to the play-yard; he was not there.

Then she called: "Tom! Come back, Tom!" She listened intently, but there was no answer.

She had no companions but silence and loneliness.