Rachel departed; and Robin, who was a domesticated man upon the whole, helped his wife to put the children to bed.
Scarcely an hour later, a strange commotion arose in the village.

People ran about wildly, whispering dread words to one another.

A woman had just been drowned in the Willow Pond.
The whole place flocked down to the Willow Pond.

On its banks, the centre of an awe-struck crowd, which had been quickly gathering, lay a body, recently taken out of the water.

It was all that remained of poor Rachel Frost--cold, and white, and DEAD!.