Her decision as to what she should do could not but be the one
thing--that was to climb back up the bank to the bridge, cross it, and
hurry homeward.

There was a little throbbing of the heart, when she reflected that she
had several miles to travel, most of which was through the gloomy woods;
but there was no hesitation on the part of Nellie, who, but for the
sturdy teaching of her parents, would have crouched down beside the log
and sobbed in terror until she sank into slumber through sheer
exhaustion.

"I have been a bad girl," she said to herself, as she reflected on her
thoughtlessness; "and mother will whip me, for I know she ought to; and
mother always does what she ought to do."

There was no room for doubt in the mind of the child, for she understood
the nature of her parents as well as any child could understand that of
its guardian.

Nellie was some distance below the point where the bridge spanned the
creek, but she could see the dim outlines of the structure as she
started toward it. It seemed higher than usual, but that was because the
circumstances were different from any in which she had ever been placed.

The little one was making her way as best she could along the stream in
the direction of the bridge, when she was frightened almost out of her
senses by hearing a loud, sniffing growl from some point just ahead of
her.

It was a sound that would have startled the bravest man, and Nellie was