and attracted by that warmhearted letter, and could not bear to meet it with a refusal.  She hoped, for a time at least, to be a comfort, and to make suggestions, with some chance of being attended to.  Such aid seemed due from the old friendship at whatever peril thereto, and she would leave her final answer till she should see whether her friend’s letter had been written only on the impulse of the moment, and half retracted immediately after.

The brother and sister crossed the Channel at night, and arrived at Kenminster at noon, on a miserably wet day.  At the station they were met by Jock and a little yellow dog.  His salutation, as he capped his master, was—-

“Please, mother sent me up to see if you were come by this train, because if you’d come to early dinner, she would be glad, because there’s a builder or somebody coming with Uncle Robert about the repairs afterwards.  Mother sent the carriage because of the rain.  I say, isn’t it jolly cats and dogs?”

Mary was an old traveller, who could sleep anywhere, and had made her toilet on landing, so as to be fresh and ready; but David was yellow and languid enough to add force to his virtuous resolution to take no advantage of the invitation, but leave his sister to settle her affairs her own way, thinking perhaps she might trust his future discretion the more for his present abstinence, so he went off in the omnibus.  Jock, with the unfailing courtesy of the Brood, handed Miss Ogilvie into a large closed waggonette, explaining, “We have this for the present, and a couple of job horses; but Uncle Robert is looking out for some real good ones, and ponies for all of us.  I am going over with him to Woolmarston to-morrow to try some.”

It was said rather magnificently, and Mary answered, “You must be glad to get back into the Belforest grounds.”

“Ain’t we?  It was just in time for the skating,” said Jock.  “Only the worst of it is, everybody will come to the lake, and so mother won’t learn to skate.  We thought we had found a jolly little place in the wood, where we could have had some fun with her, but they found it out, though we halloed as loud as ever we could to keep them off.”

“Can your mother skate?”

“No, you see she never had a chance at home.  Father was so busy, and we were so little; but she’d learn.  Mother Carey can learn anything, if one could hinder her Serene Highness from pitching into her.  I say, Miss Ogilvie, you’ll give her leave to skate, won’t you?” he asked in an insinuating tone.

“I give her leave!”

“She always says she’ll ask you when we want her to be jolly and not mind her Serene Highness.”

Mary avoided pledging herself, and Jock’s attention was diverted to the dog, who was rising on his hind legs, vainly trying to look out of the window; and his history, told with great gusto by Jock, lasted till they reached home.

The drawing-room was full of girls about their lessons as usual-— sums, exercises, music, and grammar all going on at once! but Caroline put an end to them, and sent the Kencroft party home at once in the carriage.