streets.

He ran on down, constantly down, for the village was on the side of a
hill, and the market-place was at its top. Around sharp curves he
turned, dived under dark archways and through dirty alleys, down
flights of steps, until he was out of breath and too dizzy to go
further. He had come out on the highroad, it seemed. The little brown
cottages were farther apart here. It was more like the country, which
Gigi loved. He turned into an enclosure and hid behind a stack of
straw, panting.

[Illustration: Gigi runs away.]

He wondered if by this time they had discovered his flight, and he
shivered to think of what Tonio and Cecco were saying if it were so.
He looked up and down the road. There was something familiar about it.
Yes, it was surely the road up which they had toiled that very
afternoon, coming from the country and a far-off village. They had
been planning to go on from here down the other side of the hill to the
next village, Gigi knew. But now would they retrace their steps to
look for him?

Just then he spied a black speck moving down the road toward him.
Gigi's heart sank. Could they be after him already? He crouched
closer behind the straw-stack, trembling. They must not find him!

Nearer and nearer came the speck. At last Gigi saw that it was a cart
drawn by a team of white oxen, which accounted for the slowness of the
pace. He sighed with relief. This at least he need not fear. As it
came nearer, Gigi saw that in the cart were a woman and three little