She saw one of the men put off in a rowboat, which
he propelled rapidly over to the sailboat. He did not remain there
long, and she saw him pulling back to shore as if in more haste than
when he went out.
"Now they are going to do something," decided the watching girl. "Yes,
they are going to take the box."
The men did. Picking it up, they carried it back in among the trees,
Harriet following at a safe distance, picking her way cautiously, not
making the slightest sound in moving about among the spindling pines.
Finally, realizing that the men had stopped, the girl crouched down
with eyes and ears on the alert. She could hear them at work. They
were not going ahead, but they were engaged in some occupation the
nature of which for the moment puzzled Harriet Burrell. Then all at
once the truth flashed into her mind.
"They are hiding the box!" exclaimed the girl under her breath. "But
why are they doing that? What secret could be so dark that it needs
hiding in the woods? I shall make it my business to find out. There,
they are coming out."
She threw herself on the ground. She could hear the men approaching.
They seemed, from the sound of their voices, to be coming directly
toward her. Harriet gathered herself ready for a spring in case of
discovery, which now seemed imminent, then again flattened herself on
the ground.
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