“Will the others like it?” asked Hildegarde.

“They’d better!” said Bell.  “And they will, of course.  It was only because we had not found the right name that we did not agree.  Thank you so much, Miss Grahame!  Oh, I must go now, for I have fifty thousand things to do!  But,—­I am so glad to have met you.”

“And I to know you,” cried Hildegarde, warmly.  “I hope we shall see a great deal of each other.  We shall come to call in due form, as soon as you are ready to receive visitors.  But meanwhile, allow me to present you with the freedom of the fence and of the Ladies’ Garden.  See! our two boys are deep in confidences already.”

In truth, the black head and the red one were laid close together, and the two round faces wore the same look of deep importance.

“Mine are green and white,” said Will.  “That is Austrian, but I have them Crusaders a good deal of the time.”

“Mine are blue,” said Hugh, “and sometimes they are Americans, and sometimes they are Greeks and Trojans.  Will you be my friend, and shall we fight great fights together?”

“All right,” said Will Merryweather, shyly.

“We will plan a campaign,” cried Hugh, his eyes shining with ardour.

“Yes; but now you must come in to your music lesson,” said Hildegarde, taking his hand, and frowning at herself for feeling another little pang, as Hugh’s face turned toward his new acquaintance.

“Read the Talisman?” cried Will.  “I’ll be Saladin, and you be Richard.”

“Come along, Will,” said his sister, taking him by the shoulders and marching him toward the fence.

“Lots of sand that will do for Palestine!” “Plains of Marathon over beyond the stone wall!” “Turbans and lances!” “Horsetail helmets and real armour!”

Still shouting, Will was pitched bodily over the fence by his stalwart sister, while Hugh went away holding Hildegarde’s hand, and looking backward as he passed.

“We will fight!” he said, giving a little leap of joy.  “Our necks shall be clothed with thunder, and we shall say, ‘Ha! ha!’ among the trumpets.  And will you bind my wounds, Beloved?” he added, looking up in Hildegarde’s face.  “And will you give me my shield, and tell me to come back with it or upon it?  Will you do that?  The cover of the washboiler will do beautifully for a shield.”

“So it will!” said Hildegarde; and they went into the house together.

CHAPTER III.

Pumpkin house.

When Mrs. Grahame and Hildegarde went to call on their new neighbours, two days after the meeting in the garden, they found them already entirely at home, the house looking as if they had always lived in it.  The furniture was plain, and showed marks of hard usage; but there were plenty of pictures, and the right kind of pictures, as Hildegarde said to herself, with satisfaction; and there were books,—­books