"Us, and our charge"
Date: 2025-09-05T00:00:00+00:00
Keywords: Christian life -- Juvenile fiction; Orphans -- Juvenile fiction; Domestic fiction; Siblings -- Juvenile fiction; Grandfathers -- Juvenile fiction; World War; 1914-1918 -- Great Britain -- Juvenile fiction

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Title: "Us, and our charge"

Author: Amy Le Feuvre

Release date: September 5, 2025 [eBook #76827]

Language: English

Original publication: London: The Religious Tract Society, 1916

*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK "US, AND OUR CHARGE" ***

Transcriber's note: Unusual and inconsistent spelling is as printed.

"ARE YOU ALL SAFE?"

"US, AND OUR CHARGE"

BY

AMY LE FEUVRE

Author of

"Us, and Our Donkey," "Us, and Our Empire," etc. etc.

London

THE RELIGIOUS TRACT SOCIETY

4 Bouverie Street and 65 St. Paul's Churchyard

PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN
BY HAZELL, WATSON AND VINEY, LD.
LONDON AND AYLESBURY.

BY THE SAME AUTHOR

Us, and Our Donkey Odd
Us, and Our Empire A Puzzling Pair
Harebell's Friend Teddy's Button
Bulbs and Blossoms A Thoughtless Seven
Bunny's Friends A Bit of Rough Road
The Carved Cupboard Bridget's Quarter Deck
Dwell Deep The Château by the Lake
Eric's Good News A Daughter of the Sea
His Birthday Heather's Mistress
His Little Daughter Her Husband's Property
Jill's Red Bag Joyce and the Rambler
Laddie's Choice The Making of a Woman
Legend Led The Mender
A Little Listener Odd made Even
A Little Maid Olive Tracy
Me and Nobbles On the Edge of a Moor
Miss Lavender's Boy Probable Sons

RELIGIOUS TRACT SOCIETY
4 Bouverie Street. London, E.C.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER

I. A BOMB-SHELL

II. OUR NEW HOME

III. WE EXPLORE

IV. A RESCUE

V. MISSING

VI. A LONG SUNDAY

VII. PAT LEAVES US

VIII. OUR GOVERNESS

IX. MY GODMOTHER

X. THE BEGINNING OF WAR

XI. THE FIRST RECRUIT

XII. AUNT GRISEL'S HOSPITAL

XIII. OUR SEARCH

XIV. THE FIND

XV. AN OLD FRIEND

XVI. SAD NEWS

"US, AND OUR CHARGE"

CHAPTER I

A BOMB-SHELL

I CAN hardly believe it is only a year I since I wrote my diary. I think it is things happening that make people old, and not just weeks and months and years rolling by.

Last winter Aunt Mildred married a doctor, and went to India with him. In March Aunt Caroline died. She went to a doctor's house in London to be cured of something, and she wasn't cured, and she never came back to us. I learnt to keep house, and put down in a book when I spent money; and I felt a hundred years old when father would come to me and say, "My dear Grisel, I do miss your dear aunt so much; I wonder if you could help me."

Then—I must try and write it quickly without crying, for it blots the ink so—father took a funeral on a bitter cold day, and it was blowing a blizzard, and they kept him waiting, and when he came home he was all in a shiver. Martha, our cook, who knows about everything, made him go to bed, and sent for a doctor. And two days afterwards Dr. Lane told me father had double pneumonia, and he was afraid he wouldn't get better.

It seemed as if the end of the world had come then.

Martha had a woman in from the village to help her nurse him. And Lynette and I cried all day long, while Puff couldn't and wouldn't understand how ill father was, and made as much noise as he always does. We sent for the boys to come home. And when Denys was here, I seemed to get more time to creep in and out of father's room, for he kept Puff quiet.

Father couldn't speak, and he seemed to be always sleeping, but one evening I was sitting with him. It was Sunday, and the others had gone to church. Another clergyman had come to take the service.

Suddenly father looked up quite brightly.

"Grisel," he said in a husky voice, "good little Grisel!"

"Oh, father!" I said, holding up one of his hands to my cheek. "You are going to get better."

He shook his head, and then after a few minutes he said in a husky voice:

"Grisel—remember—tell the boys—I charge you—Hold fast! Hold fast!—"

He stopped, and seemed to fall asleep before he had finished what he was saying.

Those were his last words. He died that night.

I want to write this quickly. It seemed all like a dreadful dream, but a dream which we could not wake up from.

The next thing that happened was father's lawyer arriving. Such a nice man! His name is Mr. Adamson. He told us that he and father used to be school-boys together, and father had been writing a lot of letters to him lately about us. He saw to everything, and after the funeral, still stayed on with us, arranging everything.

We shall have to leave this dear old Rectory, of course—and all the furniture is to be sold. But the most surprising thing of all is a letter that has arrived to-day. Aylwin says it is a bomb-shell, but Mr. Adamson is not a bit surprised; in fact, it is all through him that it has come.

You see, while Mr. Adamson has been looking through father's papers, we have talked together a lot, and Denys and I feel we're the eldest in a way that we've never felt before. Of course, Denys is always good at making plans, and Aylwin likes to argue against him just for the sake of argument. At first I felt nobody mattered, and nothing mattered, except that father had left us. But boys never think like that, and so Denys called a council to-day, directly after breakfast, and we met in our schoolroom.

Our dear old schoolroom! I love it so! Father and I had been talking about a governess coming to take Aunt Caroline's place, but time slipped on, and we have never yet heard of any one who seems exactly right. Now all that is over! Well, Denys began:

"It's all very well for Adamson to be telling us what we ought and what we oughtn't to do, but he isn't a relative—only a lawyer, though he's a decent chap. And lawyers expect to be paid for their advice. So I vote we do without him, and settle how we're going to live without his interference!"

Aylwin shook his head with his wiseacre look.

"That's all gas! We're minors, that's what we are, and it's a rotten fact which can't be got over."

Puff was seated on the top of his toy-cupboard, looking full of importance. Now he said, his eyes nearly starting out of his head with eagerness:

"What's a minor? I thoughted they were underground coal men!"

The boys laughed, but Lynette cried:

"Denys isn't a minor; he is Marjoribanks Major at school, and Aylwin is the minor!"

"Oh, stow it!" said Aylwin impatiently. "You're such a set of babies. A man is a minor till he is twenty-one, and lawyers can have their way with us till then."

"Perhaps," I said slowly, for I was thinking it out, "I can persuade him to let us take a cheap little cottage somewhere. It wouldn't cost much, and we could do without servants!"

Lynette made a grimace.

"I hate making beds and dusting!" she said.

"Will you listen to me?" said Denys in his grandest tone. "I mean to make Adamson tell me exactly how much money there is, and then we'll settle our plans accordingly. There's many a fellow my age who works to keep his family, and if it has got to be done, I'll do it, even if I may have to sweep out a shop!"

Aylwin and Lynette burst out laughing. Denys isn't the kind to use a broom, and we know it!

"You are going to be a soldier, Denys," I said earnestly. "However poor we are, you and Aylwin have got to serve your country—"

Denys looked very grave.

"That depends," he began; "and—"

Then the door opened, and Mr. Adamson walked in upon us. He is lodging in the village, and comes round every day after breakfast, and generally shuts himself up in father's study.

But he looked as if he had good news for us, and I wondered how he had the heart to smile as he did, when we were all in such trouble.

"Good morning, youngsters. Now I want a little talk with you. Have you ever heard of your grandfather Noble, or any of his family?"

"Noble was mother's name before she married," I said, "for Grace Noble was written in her old Bible. But mother never talked about her family to us. I didn't know she had one! I mean—I thought they were all dead long ago."

"Yes," said Denys, "she used to talk of a brother who died at sea, and a sister called Isobel; she told me of a scrape they got into once, when they were kids."

"A family estrangement is a sad thing," said Mr. Adamson, "but I took upon myself to write to your grandfather. And he has responded in a most generous way. In fact, he tells me he had seen the notice of your father's death in the paper, and was intending to write to ask if his people were looking after you. Hearing of your sad circumstances, he writes to offer you all, without any reservation, a home with him."

This was the bomb-shell. We simply stared at each other in amazement. We didn't know what to say for a moment.

Then I said:

"But I—we thought our grandfather was dead. Is he alive?"

"Very much so, and your Aunt Isobel lives with him, and says she will do her best to give you a welcome."

Denys drew himself up, and put on what Aylwin calls his Grand-duke's face.

"May I ask who and what our grandfather is, and why he hasn't taken the trouble to know us all these years?"

"Just stiff pride, my boy, and a hot temper. He did not wish your mother to marry your father, and she resisted his will and did it."

"Good for her!" muttered Aylwin.

"Our mother's grandmother was a Lady Louisa Noble," said Denys still very grandly. "Is this man his son?"

"Gently, my boy. Age merits respect. Your grandfather is a fine hearty old gentleman of comfortable means, and his place in Scotland is called Bantock Hall. He has been in the Army, and is a retired Colonel."

"Hem!" said Denys, refusing to be impressed. "He ought to have been a General before he left—something shady I should think if he wasn't. Either want of brains, or want of pluck!"

I gasped out:

"Oh, Denys, do hush! You're talking of darling mother's father!"

There was quite a scowl on Denys's face.

Mr. Adamson tapped the table with his pencil.

"Whatever your grandfather has done in the past, he has made generous amends now. It is not every one who would open their doors to five grandchildren of whom they know nothing. I trust you will all show your gratitude to him for his offer."

"Look here," said Denys, speaking very sternly, just as he does to Puff when he has been doing something dreadful: "is it absolutely impossible for us to live by ourselves, without living on our grandfather's charity? It isn't very pleasant for us, whatever he may feel about it. What money have we got? That's the question."

"Your father insured his life for £2,000. That will bring in about £80 or £90. But none of that can be touched except to help with your education—and five of you cannot live on that."

"If we had had no grandfather, what should we have done?" demanded Aylwin.

Mr. Adamson shrugged his shoulders.

"A black look-out for you! But we won't think of imaginary circumstances. This is Tuesday. Your grandfather has expressed his wish that you should go to him next Monday. That will leave you nearly a week to pack your clothes, say good-bye to your friends—and—and get accustomed to the idea of the move."

"What's his address?" asked Denys.

"Bantock Hall, near Killochan. I'll travel with you myself as far as Carlisle."

We could only stare at each other. The shock of it made me feel quite stupid. Why had we never heard of this grandfather before? Why had dear father never told us of him? That's what puzzled me.

And when Mr. Adamson went back to the study, I said so.

"It remains to be seen," said Aylwin, shaking his head mysteriously, "whether he's the genuine article or not. He won't long deceive us, if he's a rogue and a pretender."

"But why should he want the bother of us?" I said.

"Our money," suggested Lynette; "some old misers will do anything for gold."

Denys tramped up and down the room, and then stood frowning with his arms folded, like the picture of Napoleon in the dining-room.

"I don't like it," he said. "I wonder if he knows how old we are? He may think we are all nursery kids."

"We shall have to go," I said, tears coming into my eyes; for I felt awful at leaving our darling Rectory, we did all love it so!

"And this day week," said Lynette excitedly, "we shall be in his house and know all about him—I think it will be rather fun. And we're all going together; it won't be half bad!"

That's just like Lynette! She would say, if we were all going to be executed, that after all it would be rather fun!

I couldn't try to smile, but Puff broke in with his eager stammer:

"I—I think it will be jolly to go in the train, and shall we go across the sea to Scotland?"

"Get your geography book!" growled Denys.

Then Lynette and I went away to tell the servants, for cook had been awfully good to us. She has thought of everything and done everything, and made us a lovely cake only yesterday, "to cheer us up," she said.

It seems odd how we do get accustomed to things. We had another talk together after tea. And then Denys, who had been shut up in his bedroom for ever so long, told us what he had been doing.

"I'm not a baby," he said, "and, whether we're minors or not, we can't be packed off from one side of Great Britain to the other without feeling it. So I've just written a letter to the old gentleman. After all, I'm head of the family, and I considered it my duty. Would you like to hear it?"

Aylwin grinned and Lynette clapped her hands.

Denys stood by the fire, cleared his throat, and began:

"DEAR SIR,

"We are told by our lawyer that you say you are our grandfather and would like us to pay you a visit—"

"I want you all to keep this in mind," said Denys, looking at us sternly: "We're going on a visit, and if there are ructions—well, we can just come away again!"

"Where to?" I said under my breath.

Denys went on reading:

"We have agreed we don't mind doing this, as if you are our mother's father, we should like to know you—"

"I shouldn't!" muttered Aylwin.

"I suppose you are aware that a few hours ago we did not know that you were alive, so your letter has rather upset our plans and arrangements. Adamson is a good sort of chap, and we've told him we'll fall in. So you can expect us Monday—"

"Denys," I interrupted, "it strikes me as rather a rude letter, and ungrateful. He has offered us a home, remember! Don't pretend we don't understand it."

"Stow your jaw, old Gristle!" Aylwin said hotly. "You are like a suet pudding, so soft and sticky. This unknown relative of ours wants to be made to sit up. He has treated us abominably all these years!"

"He hasn't treated us at all," Lynette remarked.

"Will you shut up, and let me get on?" said Denys.

He went on reading:

"And there remains now nothing to add but to thank you for your sudden desire to know us. I hope you'll find us worth the knowing.

"D. MARJORIBANKS,

"THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY."

"That isn't bad," said Aylwin as Denys came to a solemn pause, "but I think I could rub it in a bit harder about springing himself upon us like a Jack-in-the-Box. Do let me add a P.S."

"And me!" cried Lynette.

"And me!" I said.

"And me myself!" shouted Puff.

So after a good deal of argument, Denys let us each add our postscript. We told him that we must be in the letter, to show we weren't babies, so these are the postscripts.

"P.S.—We'll try to be worth knowing, for darling mother was your daughter, and that's why I want to see you, and thank you very much for telling us to come.—GRISEL."

"P.S.—But it's rough lines on fellows of the Fifth Form to have a strange grandfather spring on them like this.—AYLWIN."

"P.S.—And we hope you'll be like old General Walton, who gives his grandchildren high-jinks at Xmas.—LYNETTE."

"P.S.—And I hopes you have a pond with fwogs like us.—PUFF."

When Mr. Adamson came in to wish us good-night, Denys told him, in a grand way, that we had written to our grandfather.

"It's in the Post Office," said Denys, a little defiantly.

I thought he seemed afraid that Mr. Adamson would want to see it, but he only looked at Denys curiously, and said nothing.

After he had gone, we got out the map of Scotland and tried to see where Bantock Hall could be. We hunted for Killochan up and down for ages, and then at last Denys got a "Bradshaw" from father's study. He's always so clever about trains, and then we found it by each taking a part of the map, and we were awfully delighted to find that Killochan is on a little line not far from the sea. So then we settled ourselves round the fire, and we each described the house as we thought it would be.

Denys said, staring into the fire:

"I see a rugged tower house on bleak rocks with the sea dashing up to the small, narrow windows. Seagulls are screaming from their nests, there's no garden, no trees, nothing but grey rocks and grey sea, and a heavy nailed door, and inside there are stone passages, and dark chill rooms—"

We all shuddered.

Then Aylwin said:

"I see a straight long house with a courtyard, and fierce dogs before the door. When you open it, you go into a banqueting-hall, but it's empty, and there are holes in the floor, and broken windows, and rats racing round. In a west wing lives a shabby little man, and a tall, grim woman, his daughter. There's an old witch of a woman who's their servant, and they're chuckling over some underground rooms where some unknown grandchildren are going to be put. 'We'll make 'em work!' says the old man. He's a kind of inventor, and keeps machinery which he wants worked!"

We could not help laughing at Aylwin's picture. He loves making a story out of nothing.

"Now, listen!" said Lynette. "I see a lovely garden with fountains and apple-trees, and little boats ready for the sea, and sand, and bathing-machines, and a house full of sunshine and flowers, and a lot of servants, and ponies in stables, and a smiling old grandfather."

"I see," I said, "a big house, but very cold and stern, and it's in a town with a lot of houses round it. And there's a parade and a band, and no country at all, and no garden, and everything goes by clockwork. Now, Puff, it's your turn! What do you think our new home will be like?"

Puff's eyes nearly started out of his head. "I don't know, really I doesn't. I thinks it may be like this house, only with a very big hall to it—"

Then he snuggled up to me.

"Is this old grandfather a good man?"

"Oh yes, I suppose he is," I said vaguely.

"Then God will live in his house, just as He does in this one, won't He?"

Puff does say queer things.

"God lives everywhere, Puff; you know that."

"Not in wicked people's houses. He never does. Oh dear no! The devil lives with them."

He nodded his head so knowingly that I didn't know what to say—

"Well," said Lynette, "now we'll see who will be right. We've all made quite certain we're going to live in a big house."

"That's because of its name," I said; "a house is never called a hall unless it's pretty big!"

"I think we're jolly lucky," said Lynette. "Now there's no fear of us being beggars. Oh how I wish I could jump right into next Tuesday! It's awfully exciting not to know what kind of place we're going to!"

"It's a crisis in our lives," said Denys gravely.

"And crisises are always stunning," Lynette exclaimed. "But I don't know. I don't feel I shall be able to sleep to-night because of the strangeness of it all."

And Denys said to me, when we were going upstairs to bed:

"We must just grin and bear it. That's the worst of being minors, but we'll hope for the best."

"Yes," I answered, "it makes one rather fearful, but Puff is right—we can't get away from God."

Denys just gave a nod. He never talks goody, but he and I feel the same about things.

And now we're going to bed, and this day week where shall we be?

CHAPTER II

OUR NEW HOME

OUR last Sunday! I've been crying off and on all day, when nobody was near me to see. It's all so sweet and sad here, and the future makes me afraid. Yesterday we all went round in a bunch to every house in the village to say good-bye. It took us all day, and it was awful doing it, for Denys and Aylwin hate girls' tears, and I had to choke mine back all the time.

Everybody was so kind, and so sorry that we were going! And now to-day it has been worse than ever. Church this morning made me miserable. I couldn't sing a single hymn. We all went to father's grave afterwards and Mr. Scammell, who came over to take the services, followed us there and tried to cheer us up. I ran indoors very quickly.

In the afternoon it was so sunny we all went into the garden and wandered round and round, and then we sat together on the seat outside father's study and talked.

I began it. I said to Denys that one thing we must all remember was father's last words.

"What were they?" Aylwin asked.

"'Hold fast!' He said to me:

"'Grisel, remember—tell the boys—I charge you—Hold fast! Hold fast!'"

"What did he mean?" Lynette asked with a grave face.

"I'm sure it's in the Bible," I said; "I know 'hold fast' is mentioned there."

"Yes, but hold fast to what?" said Denys. "I think we'd better get a Bible and look. A concordance would be the thing."

Aylwin dashed into the house for the concordance and Lynette dashed after him for the Bible. They raced each other back, and knocked Puff over on the gravel path. He yelled, and I had to comfort him, and seat him up beside me, before we could go on. Then Denys took hold of the concordance, and Aylwin seized the Bible.

"You call out, and I'll turn up!" he said. "This is a kind of Sunday-school!"

"We won't make fun of it!" I murmured.

Lynette gave me a little pinch.

"Don't be too dismal, Grizzy!" she said.

And then the boys began. The first verse they found was:

"'Hold fast that which is good.'"

Then they called out some others:

"'Hold fast the form of sound words, which thou hast heard.'"

"'That which ye have already hold fast till I come.'"

"'Hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.'"

"The question is," said Denys gravely, "which verse did father mean?"

"It was his charge to us," I said; "we must find out."

"All those verses mean the same thing," said Denys in his judge-like manner.

Aylwin dropped the Bible.

"Then we needn't worry," he said.

"But we must. It must be our motto, our charge," I said eagerly. "And I think father must have wanted to say that we must hold fast to what he had taught us. He knew that we should be all alone, and that there would be nobody left to help us to be good!"

"I think the easiest to remember is the first," said Lynette.

"I like 'That which ye have already hold fast till I come,'" I said.

Lynette made a little grimace.

"Yes, Grizzy, you have goodness in you to hold fast to, but what about us who haven't? If I hold fast to what I have already, it will be badness, and I don't think father would mean that."

"Well," said Denys, "we'll take the shortest and easiest: 'Hold fast that which is good.' That is our charge, and we'll have to remember it."

Aylwin jumped up from the seat. "And now we've done school, and I'm off to see old Andy."

Lynette and Puff went off with him to see our donkey. Denys and I sat still.

"It's rather true what Lynette said," he remarked; "we must get the thing first, before we hold fast to it."

"I think father meant to hold fast to the good teaching we have had. We know what is good and right, Denys; it's the holding fast to it that's so difficult. We've been taught all these years how to live, now we've got to do it."

"There's the rub!"

"Yes," I said in a whisper, "but though father has been taken from us, Jesus Christ hasn't. He will help us."

Denys nodded.

We didn't say any more, and the rest of the day has gone now, and I'm going to bed.

It's the last night I shall ever sleep here, and I feel as if I shall never be really happy again. We had "There is a blessed Home" in the evening service. I wish an earthquake would swallow us all up and take us there at once. Then we'd be with father and mother again. I'm quite certain we shall never "hold fast" properly all our lives. And, if we live to be a hundred, how dreadfully difficult it will be to be good all that time!

*****

It is some days since I wrote in this diary, and I shall have to go a good bit back. Our journey here was a very long one. At first we rather liked it, then we all got cross, and, after Mr. Adamson left us at Carlisle, we quarrelled and Puff cried, and we were all dead tired.

We got to Glasgow at seven o'clock in the evening.

Denys said now that we were in Scotland we must try and speak Scotch, and he said to the porter when we got out, "Now my bonny lad, there's a muckle lot of luggage, and ye ken we have anither train to catch!"

But the porter laughed in his face in a very rude way, and it turned out he wasn't Scotch at all.

When we got into the other train, we began to enjoy ourselves, for very soon we put out our heads, and in the dusk could see a great line of sea. We smelt it too, and it got so cold that only the boys could keep their heads out. Then Lynette and I began to tidy ourselves, and Puff. He always gets dirty if he is ten minutes in a train. And then as we got nearer and nearer our station, I had a funny sick feeling inside. I felt I would give worlds for the train not to stop, but go on for ever. I was dreading our arrival.

At last Killochan station was called out. But by this time it was quite dark, and we tumbled out upon the platform all in confusion. Puff was almost asleep, he was so tired, and I had to shake him to make him walk at all. There was a nice old stationmaster who seemed to know all about us.

"Come along! Come along, the whole brood o' ye!" he said. "The Kornel have sent the carriage, and I telled him I wud have the care o' ye!"

He bustled us out into the road, where a very big brougham stood waiting. There was a lovely pair of horses, and Denys and Aylwin both wanted to sit outside on the box with the coachman. In the end Denys got up, and Aylwin came inside with us. He was a little sulky at first.

"Packed in with a lot of girls!" he muttered.

"And a lot of boys," laughed Lynette. "We're quits—two and two!"

"Oh dear!" I sighed. "I wish we were there, and it was over!"

We tried to see what the country was like out of the window, but it was too dark.

"I bet old Denys is pumping the coachman!" said Aylwin. "He'll know everything before we get there!"

"Never mind," I said. "Perhaps it's better not to know. I think somebody might have come to meet us."

Then we were all pretty silent; we seemed to have talked ourselves out. It had been such a long journey! We drove on and on and on, and at last, just when I was getting sleepy, we stopped with a jerk. Aylwin put his head out.

"The mansion!" he said. "We are passing through the gates."

"Just like the Hall at home," said Lynette gleefully. "Why, Grisel, we have risen; we are no longer poor clergyman's children, but the grandchildren of a squire!"

"Little snob!" Aylwin cried, and Lynette didn't say any more.

Then in a very few minutes we had stopped again, and were outside a huge door. When it was opened, it seemed like a palace to us. A very big hall was in front of us, and an old butler, and it was all lighted up, and there were great pots of flowers at the bottom of a staircase, and a lot of oil-paintings on the walls.

Denys got in front of us in a great hurry; then he threw up his head:

"Will you tell our grandfather we have come," he said in his grandest tone.

"They're at dinner, sir," the butler said respectfully. He said it as if they were in church and couldn't be interrupted.

Denys got very hot and red, and then, before we could say anything, a door opened and a very tall lady came out. She was in a pale grey satin dress and had grey hair, and a lot of diamonds glistening about her. I fell in love with her on the spot, for she was beautiful, though she looked stern and cold, and there was just a tiny look of mother in her eyes.

"Ah!" she said. "You have all arrived, then. I thought I heard the carriage, but your train must have been late."

She seemed to look at each of us quickly one after the other, and then she stooped and kissed Puff.

"You must all be hungry and tired, but old Peggy will see to you. Here she is! Peggy, take them upstairs to their nursery, give them some supper and pack them off to bed."

An old woman with a fat smiling face came waddling towards us. The boys looked at each other, and I saw that they were furious.

We came to a lovely large room with a big square table covered with a white cloth. There were a blazing fire and a book-case and a big couch and a cane rocking chair. And Lynette and I squeezed each other's hands and suddenly felt that we could be happy.

And then Peggy turned round and faced us all, and tears were dropping down her cheeks.

"Ye'll be Miss Grace's bairns, and I nursed her when I was but a bairn mysel'!"

I couldn't help it. I just ran into her arms and hugged and kissed her.

"You knew darling mother!"

And the next minute she was kissing us all, even the boys. But I turned away my face when she kissed them, for I knew how they would feel.

And then she told us that she lived in a little cottage in the village, but had promised our aunt to come up and look after us till we had settled in.

"Your Aunt Isobel doesna understand bairns, but she means weel, though she be of few wor-rds."

Then she bustled out of the room and called us to look at our bedroom.

We were all together, and that I felt to be a comfort, and we were in the old nursery wing of the house, which had a separate staircase, and was shut away by a thick door covered with green baize. The boys had one huge bedroom to themselves with three beds in it, and three windows, and three of everything.

Lynette said it reminded her of the Three Bears' room—for Puff had a little bed, and a little chair, and a little chest of drawers. Peggy told us that Aunt Isobel had sent to the lawyer for our exact ages, and that she and Aunt Isobel had arranged it all very carefully.

Lynette and I had a lovely room, and Peggy told us it used to be mother's room when she was a little girl. It was too dark to see out of the windows, but everything seemed rich and comfortable. The carpets were thick, and there were cushioned chairs. When I thought of our bare rooms at home, I felt the difference, and yet a lump came into my throat, and I longed to be back in the dear old Rectory.

We washed our hands and faces, and then went back to the old nursery, which we determined to call the schoolroom. And then we found a nice supper waiting for us. Some Scotch broth in a great soup tureen, and some bread-and-butter, and potted meat and cake and jam. We were all very hungry, and after old Peggy had waited upon us, she left the room, and then at last we were by ourselves.

"It's simply stunning!" said Lynette with a beaming smile. "It's all ever so much better than I thought!"

But the boys looked cross, and I knew why. They did not like being treated like children and packed off to the nursery, and to bed without seeing our grandfather. And then it turned out that they did not like Puff being in their room. He had never slept with them at home.

"I think the sooner I have a talk with our grandfather the better!" said Denys in his lordly way.

Aylwin chuckled.

"You'll be told to do as Peggy tells us, or you'll be put in the corner," he said. "We shall be taught our A B C by her to-morrow!"

Lynette giggled, but I felt a little anxious.

"I dare say," I said, "they're having a dinner-party to-night. Aunt Isobel couldn't be dressed like that every night. And anyhow we're very tired and untidy. We shall make a better impression to-morrow."

Denys gave a little snort, but he didn't say any more. And when we had had our supper, we all confessed that we were tired, and went off to bed.

The next morning Lynette woke me up by screaming:

"Grisel! Grisel! Come and look!"

I dashed out of bed, as she had got the window open and was hanging out of it.

I never saw such loveliness. It was a sunny morning, and the great blue sea was stretching right in front of us. There was a big sloping grass lawn, and then a low stone wall, and then a beach with brown rocks and green seaweed, and a lot of sand, and a great line of white surf. It made a booming sound as it broke on the rocks. We could smell that delicious seaweedy smell that always makes me remember days at the seaside. But now we were going to live by it always! I felt my heart beating with excitement.

"Oh Lynette!" I cried. "Let us dress ourselves quickly and run down to the beach. I'm dying to see it close!"

"Yes," assented Lynette. "Grandfather may be an ogre, and Aunt Isobel a vixen for all I care! We've got the sea, and nobody can take it from us!"

And then Peggy came to the door, for we had slept very late, and another servant brought us our baths, and we dressed as quickly as we could. The boys had a bathroom all to themselves, and we heard an awful row going on and shrieks from Puff!

"They're making him wash himself!" chuckled Lynette.

Puff hates washing. I never can understand why, but I was a little afraid that the boys might be rough with him, and was going to speak to them, only Lynette persuaded me not to interfere.

"You only make him worse, Grizzy! Denys says he wants a man's firm hand!"

"Denys's hand isn't a man's!" I retorted. "And he is rough, not firm!"

But I didn't go, for before I was dressed, I looked out of the window and saw the boys flying across the lawn with Puff at their heels.

Lynette was off at once, but she stopped at the door.

"I suppose I shall have to say my prayers!" she said, and then she dropped down on her knees.

I joined her, and then we read our "Daily Light" together, as we always do.

Lynette is very harum-scarum still, but she was ill and on her back for more than a year, and she has been different ever since.

"I suppose," she said, "it's one of the things we've got to hold fast to, Grizzy, saying our prayers and reading the Bible, isn't it?"

I nodded.

"Yes, that's what father meant, I know."

I followed her downstairs more soberly. I felt rather wicked for being so happy at the sight of the sea, when father had just died. I tried to keep thinking of the dreadful day when he died, but when I was out in the sunshine, my feet felt as if they would dance by themselves whether I wished them to do it or not. And then I forgot all about it, and raced across the lawn, and down to the sea as fast as ever I could.

Oh, it was a lovely time! We forgot all about breakfast. We climbed over the rocks, and the boys took off their shoes and stockings and paddled, and we hung over delicious pools full of crabs and limpets and crimson sea anemones, and we drew figures in the sand, and I don't believe we would ever have gone back to the house at all if we had not been fetched by old Peggy. She came waddling across the lawn, and Aylwin scoffed under his breath.

"We're being fetched in by our nursie!"

But Denys shut him up. Denys is always polite, even sometimes when he feels furious inside.

So we told her we'd forgotten breakfast, and Denys said:

"I think you'd better ring a big bell for breakfast. I'll speak to my grandfather about it. We shall always be out here in the morning."

And then we went indoors, and found it was past nine o'clock. There was no sign of anybody about the house except servants, and we agreed that we did not want to see anybody just yet.

"We'll have time to see over the house and garden and stables," said Denys, "and feel our way about. And if the old gentleman isn't keen on seeing us, I'm sure I'm not keen on seeing him."

"I feel rather frightened of him," I confessed. "I should like to get it over."

"Don't you shiver and shake and kneel down and lick his toes, Grizzy!" said Aylwin. "For you'll spoil the whole show if you do. We must take a high hand with the old chap, and make him see he can't bully us!"

"I don't expect he wants to do that," I said.

Peggy hovered about us while we were at breakfast, and then Lynette asked her straight out:

"Doesn't grandfather want to see us? What is he like? Do tell us."

I think I shall have to stop writing Scotch as Peggy speaks it. I can't do it, so I shall write what she says in English. She rolls her r's a good deal, and there are some words that I have never heard before, but I'll leave those out.

She told us that there were people to dinner last night, and that we arrived later than they expected us, and that grandfather suffered from gout in his foot, and was not so active as he used to be. She said he always had his breakfast in his bedroom, and that he never came downstairs before eleven o'clock, and she told us that Aunt Isobel was a widow and her name was Mrs. Crichton, and that a good many visitors stayed in the house.

"And I'm to tell ye to stay up here till your grandfather can see ye!" she finished up.

"But that's ridiculous," said Denys. "We're not going to shut ourselves up in one room for nearly two hours doing nothing when there's the sea all outside waiting for us!"

"That is the message the mistress sent," said Peggy, snapping her lips together in a severe way. "She doesn't want ye away from the house when your grandfather is wanting ye!"

"But my good old creature," said Denys, "all you've got to do is to tell us the time he wants us, and we'll be there. I have a watch."

"Them's the orders given to me," said Peggy, "and I'd ask ye to be good bairns and not anger the master the first day!"

She stumped out of the room, and we looked at each other in dismay. I suppose dear father always trusted us so, that we have been accustomed to be very free. He gave us so few orders! Denys and Aylwin jumped up from the breakfast-table and stamped round the room. They were very angry. Aylwin was for going out into the garden at once, but Denys was wiser.

"No, we'll just be decent the first day, but I'll have a talk with him, and explain that he is not to treat us like small kids. He doesn't seem to know our ages!"

I got Lynette over to the book-case, for I knew it was no good listening to the boys. We are all fond of books, and we were awfully interested in finding some books with mother's name in. And there were one or two volumes called "Peter Parley's Tales," with all kinds of things that boys love: conjuring, and rabbit keeping, and old stamps.

The boys came over to look at them, and we were so interested that the time flew, and when Peggy came in saying solemnly:

"The master wishes to see ye in the library," we were quite astonished.

"Don't look as if you're going to be hung, drawn, and quartered, old Grizzy," Aylwin said to me going downstairs.

But I couldn't laugh. I felt so dreadfully nervous! And I wasn't only afraid of grandfather, but of what the boys would say.

We went down the big staircase, and then the old butler, who seemed as if he was waiting for us, took us along to a closed door at the end of the hall, and threw it open.

And this is how he announced us—I rather liked it:

"Miss Grace's family, sir!"

CHAPTER III

WE EXPLORE

IT was a big warm, airless room; you could see no walls for the bookshelves and pictures which covered it. Aunt Isobel was sitting by the fire with the newspaper in her hand. She looked very tall and grand, but grandfather was quite little, and very stout. He had a very red face, and a white moustache, and very thin white hair, and his eyebrows were thick and fierce. And this is what he said when he saw us:

"I say! What a crowd of them!"

"Come and introduce yourselves to your grandfather," said Aunt Isobel quietly. "The eldest first. Denys—isn't it?"

Denys marched up and held out his hand, and he stared at grandfather, and grandfather stared at him.

"I expect you'll find us older than you thought," Denys said in his cool grand manner; "there's only one of us that wants a nursery!"

And then Puff surprised me by pushing forward and sticking out his fat chest in absurd imitation of Denys.

"But that isn't me!" he cried. "I never has had a nursery all my life, and I won't be putted in it now."

Grandfather held out his hand at once to him.

"Well spoken, my little Bantam! Where would you like to be putted?"

Puff's one little spark of impudence was over. He lowered his head and got very red.

"Puff doesn't know what he is talking about," I said. "He tries to be bigger than he is. But if you don't object, grandfather, we'd like to call the nursery the schoolroom."

Puff seemed to have broken the ice and grandfather did not look alarming to me; only little, and old.

And then we all shook hands with him, and told him our names, and Denys began to talk. But I did not fancy he was quite so sure of himself now as he had been upstairs, for he stammered a little.

"We'd like to thank you for having us here, and—and—I dare say you'll let us fellows know about school and that kind of thing. We're going to be soldiers, Aylwin and I. We think the Navy good enough for Puff. He's short and stubborn and wants keeping down, but of course he's a kid, and hasn't had much chance as yet. I don't know what you'll settle about the girls."

There was dead silence, then grandfather threw his head back on his cushion and began to laugh. Denys got as red as Puff had, for grandfather seemed to be laughing at him. And then he turned to Aunt Isobel.

"I wash my hands of 'em all, my dear. You'll settle what becomes of them. I don't envy you the job. And, now I've seen them, they can make themselves scarce."

He waved his hand to us, as if dismissing us, and said:

"Go on reading, Isobel."

But Denys stood firm. He wasn't going to be treated like this.

"Excuse me, grandfather, but there are a few things we'd like to say. First, the old servant of yours—Peggy—seems to think that she is to rule us. She may manage Puff, but not the rest of us. We hope you'll trust to our honour to behave ourselves. We mean to, and we're accustomed to go our own way, and do pretty well as we think best. If you have any special rules you'd like us to follow, we'll keep them, but we've never been managed by an old woman servant, and never shall be!"

Then grandfather turned upon him. He simply thundered. I was really frightened.

"'While' you're under my roof, young fellow, you're under my orders, I'll have you remember! I'll have no impertinence from you. I'm an old soldier, and when I say a thing I stick to it. I've rescued you from the workhouse for the sake of—"

Here he gulped and almost choked.

"—of your mother, who—who rued the day she went against my wishes. And as to going your own way, it will be my way, I can tell you. Isobel, pack them off to the school we heard about to-morrow. The sooner they're under discipline the better!"

Aunt Isobel murmured something under her breath about Easter holidays, and then Denys seemed to come to himself, and he spoke in his usual frank open way:

"I beg your pardon, sir. I ought not to have spoken so. Of course we're ready to carry out your orders. If we are not soldiers yet, we're Empire-builders, and we know discipline and duty are for all of us."

"Young Jackanapes!" growled grandfather.

But his outburst of temper seemed over.

"Go along with you," he said. "Your aunt will settle everything!"

We left the room feeling very small and rather miserable. I think we all felt that neither grandfather nor Aunt Isobel really cared twopence about us! And we all went up to the schoolroom to "talk over the situation,"—that's what Aylwin called it.

"The situation is a sad one," I said. And I sat down by the window, and looked out at the sea and felt miserable.

"It's a bad one!" said Denys, shaking his head.

Lynette danced round the table, her hair flying over her shoulders. She looked as if she hadn't a care in the world, and as if father hadn't died.

"Don't let us bother," she cried; "and don't let us stick up here. We have the whole day before us, and we can boat, and bathe, and paddle, and catch fish. Grandfather won't want to see any more of us. There's nothing to talk about. We have just got to enjoy ourselves!"

Puff clapped his hands and capered after her.

"I don't like the old gempleum at all!" he said. "And I won't never go into his room again."

Then the door opened very suddenly, and Aunt Isobel came in.

Denys very politely drew an arm-chair forward for her.

"I have come to talk to you all," she said, looking at us very gravely. "You do not seem to realise how very difficult it is for your grandfather to have taken you all in, as he has. He is an old man, and suffers very much from gout. And you, Denys, spoke to him in a most disrespectful and improper manner."

Denys got very red. Then he squared his shoulders and spoke out:

"I'm sorry. I should like you to explain things—it's strange to all of us, and I don't know what is expected of us."

"We have made arrangements for you two elder boys to go to a school about twenty miles from here as boarders. I have a governess coming in three weeks' time to teach you two girls, and your little brother. She will take entire charge of your education. Peggy will look after the little boy and mend your clothes and wait upon you. We had intended keeping you here for three weeks, but I don't know now that your grandfather will like to have you in the house."

"Oh, please Aunt Isobel," I said, "let us be together till we are accustomed to you. It all seems so dreadfully strange. We'll keep to our part of the house, won't we, boys? And grandfather need not see us at all, nor hear us. And we'll be as good as gold. We really will. It is very good of you to have us. We all feel that, don't we?"

I turned to the others, and they all nodded their heads.

I don't know if it was fancy, but I thought that Aunt Isobel seemed rather shy of us.

And then Lynette put in her word. She never can keep silent for long, but she put on her coaxing face.

"I dare say you'll just tell us whether there's a boat that we can have, and whether we shall have ponies to ride, or if there's a carriage to drive out in, and shall we have all our meals upstairs?"

"Most certainly. Peggy will arrange your meals. I dare say I may sometimes take one of you driving with me."

"And may we go all over the garden?" I asked.

"You may go anywhere you like, as long as you do not get into mischief. We have a boat, but you must never use it unless one of the men is with you. Davey, the under-gardener, takes it out, and he must always be with you."

"He'll have to come pretty often," said Aylwin under his breath.

"And please, Aunt Isobel," I said, "shall we ever have to come into your part of the house for anything—for—for prayers?"

She looked at me curiously, then said shortly:

"We have no prayers. If we want you, we shall send for you."

"There's just a question I'd like to ask," said Aylwin. "We're all stony broke—the whole lot of us. We haven't had our pocket-money for two months now, and we had to give a few presents away before we left the Rectory. I believe Grisel has twopence halfpenny, but that's as much as we possess between us. Is grandfather going to give us any pocket-money?"

"Shut up!" growled Denys. "There's plenty of time for that later on!"

Aunt Isobel got up from her chair.

"I'll speak to your grandfather about it," she said with great dignity, and then Puff astonished us by pushing up to her.

"Would you like to see me stand on my head?" he asked, smiling at her like a little angel. "I'm awful good at it!"

She waved him away.

"A very unhealthy occupation," she said, and then she left the room.

"Well," said Denys gloomily, "we've got something out of her, but she's a bit too cold for my liking. Now come on out, all of you!"

We were delighted, and, in spite of the strangeness and coldness of it all, we had an awfully jolly day. We first of all went to the stables and talked to the old coachman. There were only a fat pair of carriage horses and a gaunt-looking cob for a luggage cart. But Denys looked at the cart, told old Ambrose that it would suit us very well, and that he would like to drive out that afternoon.

"I'm a good whip," he said grandly; "and you can trust the old cob to me. We want to see the lie of the country. Will you send the cart round at three o'clock sharp!"

I gasped for breath. Lynette sniggled, and Aylwin winked at me. Denys very often astonished us, but I was astonished much more when Ambrose said meekly:

"Very well, sir. It shall be done."

And then we walked off and visited the dairy, and the laundry, and the walled fruit garden, and went along the long winding paths through the shrubbery, and were taken through the hothouses by a nice old gardener called Keith, and then the boys rushed off to see some silver pheasants, and we separated. Puff was enchanted to see a pond with some wild-fowl in it, and Lynette stayed with him whilst I went through a little iron gate in the middle of a high yew hedge, and found myself in a most lovely little sunk garden. It was an old rose garden, but there were no roses yet, only daffodils and narcissus in the bed. There were old rustic seats under trees—and a little stream which went along at the bottom and emptied itself, I suppose, into the pond. It seemed so quiet and still and peaceful, that for the first time I felt comforted. There was a sloping green bank covered with beautiful ferns, and a little rock garden at the top of it, and then suddenly I saw a little gravestone under a rose-tree, and when I went down on my knees before it, I read quite distinctly:

"IN MEMORY OF GRACE'S DARLING ROSEBUD
DESTROYED BY FLUFFIE'S PUPPIES."

I felt all the tears come into my eyes, for I knew then that "Rosebud" had belonged to our mother.

I did not know who Rosebud was, a canary, a cat, or what kind of pet, but I sat down by the grave, and I began to think of dear father's grave in Lincolnshire, and then I thought of Heaven, and then thought of the charge he left us.

And then I knelt down and asked God to help us to "Hold fast," for there seemed nobody in this place who would help us to be good. We all felt the difference since father died. We always had him to go to when we wanted help—and he often gave it to us when we didn't ask for it. And then I remembered that, of course, God could help us quite alone, and that we really did not want anybody else. I felt a little happier then.

Then I wondered what our governess would be like. Lynette and I have never had a proper governess before. I thought it might be rather nice, it wouldn't be quite so lonely if we had somebody to look after us a little. And then I heard Lynette calling to me, and of course when I ran off, I found that Puff had nearly tumbled into the pond, and had soaked his clothes. We went back to the house, for I knew it must be nearly dinner-time. The boys met us at the door, and we went upstairs together. Peggy took Puff off.

"Is he sich a naughty bairn?" she said a little crossly.

"Oh no," I said, "but it's his way; he's always getting wet, or dirty, or torn. We don't think anything of it."

We had a hot leg of mutton, and a jam roly-poly for dinner. And we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

"I don't know that I want a drive," Lynette said; "I want to get down to the sea."

"It's high tide in the afternoon," said Denys. "I knew that before I asked for the cart."

"I suppose grandfather won't mind us taking it out," I said.

"He won't know or care," said Denys confidently. "We must see what kind of country we are in and where the nearest town is."

We were all ready and waiting at three o'clock.

One of the grooms brought the cart round to the back entrance and we all crowded in. Then Peggy came out in a fuss.

"Where are you going? Who told you to do this? You'll upset yourselves."

The groom grinned.

"'Tis all right," he said. "The mistress were told by Ambrose afore we harnessed up, and her said as how she thought if the young gent could drive, they could go. Slapper be a reg'lar old sheep!"

So we all set off in style. Denys flourished his whip. We almost thought we were driving Andy again, only Slapper's long legs got over the ground much quicker. We couldn't help giving a cheer and a wave of our hands as we passed the front of the house, and Lynette said she believed she saw grandfather looking out at us.

We trotted down the avenue, and then got out on a bare bleak road, with a long stone wall separating us from the sea. The air was salt and delicious, and the waves were rolling in, in first-rate style. It made us feel very jolly, and we began to sing some of our Empire songs as we went along. We liked our "old sheep." He swung along and though he didn't appear to go fast, he really did, and he never turned his head to look at a single thing. We began to talk about him.

"I like him," I said; "he goes straight ahead and does his duty, and puts his whole soul into it."

"Horses have no souls," objected Lynette. "I don't think much of him; he has no spirit."

"He's quite an ancient," Aylwin said, "he has one foot in the grave, so of course he is solemn."

"I expect he was always an old sheep," said Denys. "He didn't even wink at us when he saw us, and he must know we're a fresh lot here. But he has got beyond being surprised. If we were to dress him up as we did Andy, he would just trot on as gravely as ever."

"We'll try," said Lynette.

So she took off her big straw hat, and Denys pulled up, and Aylwin crawled along his back and tied it on. He just flicked his ears and bore it, and then we drove on, and he looked so comical that we roared with laughter.

All this time we had met nobody. I had never been along such a deserted road, and then suddenly, as we were driving close along to the top of a cliff, we heard a shout.

"Hi! Help!"

Denys pulled up at once. We all listened. It came again.

"It's somebody fallen over the cliff," said Denys.

He and Aylwin got out of the cart and ran to the edge and looked over. I was terrified that they would tumble over themselves. And then I heard Denys cry:

"All right! Here we are! Hold on!"

CHAPTER IV

A RESCUE

THEN Aylwin came tearing back.

"Here, you girls, got any sashes? We must make a rope; there's a fellow a good way down the cliff. He has stuck there, can't get up or down—we'll have to get him up."

Lynette and I got out of the cart hurriedly and Puff followed us. Slapper stopped quite contentedly and began to munch some coarse grass.

"We've no sashes," I said in despair. "What shall we do?"

"Tear up your frocks!"

"Oh, we can't, we really can't!" I cried. "Our brand-new dresses—you had better tear up something of yours!"

"What are frocks when a chap's life is at stake!" said Aylwin.

And then Denys came up.

"We must do something at once; a bit of the cliff crumbled away, and he is just hanging to a bush. Here, give us the reins. They look new and strong."

They were. We unbuckled them and the boys went back.

Lynette and I stole up as near the edge as we could, but we could see nothing and Denys waved us back. Then he carefully lowered one end of the reins.

"Tie it round you, and we'll haul you up!"

"It will break," said Aylwin, shaking his head.

Then Denys made us all stand one behind the other with a bit of the rein twisted round our hand, but we got hold of each other as well.

"Now," he shouted, "when I say 'Go,' we'll pull."

There was a moment's silence and I felt my heart thump.

"Supposing," I thought, "he pulls us all over, instead of us pulling him up?" And then I said out loud, for I was very excited:

"O God, make us very strong!"

Then Denys shouted—

"Go!"

And we pulled and pulled for all we were worth. The jerk at first was awful, and it seemed as if we were never going to haul in. But in another minute, a boy's head appeared above the cliff, and then he climbed up. He told us afterwards, that when he let go of his bush, he thought he was going to certain death, and then he found he could seize hold of ledges to help him up, and he found we were strong enough to pull him.

He was a very slight-looking boy about Denys's size, with merry eyes and short crisp brown curls. His coat was torn, and for a moment he turned white and giddy, then he laughed and said:

"I thought I was a goner!"

We were gasping for breath, and then he looked at us in astonishment.

"Have you descended from the skies?" he asked.

"No," said Denys; "don't you see our steed?"

And then we all cried out, for there was no sign of Slapper or the cart.

"Oh, what an old humbug!" said Aylwin. "He's sharp enough to give us the slip when he chooses!"

"It was having no reins, I guess!" said Denys. He looked rather worried. The road stretched away from us empty and bare; there was no sign of the cart anywhere.

"And he has gone away with my hat!" said Lynette, laughing.

The strange boy looked at her.

"Ah!" he said. "And sure I wish I had my own hat to offer you, but it's at the bottom of the cliff long ago. Where do you come from?"

We told him; he was frightfully interested, and then he told us about himself. He had come to live with an old aunt about fifteen miles from us, and he had a tutor, and his name was Patrick Douglas.

"Oirish I am," he said with a merry chuckle; "and I can tell you the Scotch are terrible sober sides. They say I'm making my aunt sit up. She'll be grey-headed, I fear, before her time! Yesterday they were for having me before the magistrate, and of all the conceited, starched-up blunderbusses, give me a Scot Bobby!"

"What did you do?" asked Aylwin with interest.

"Oh, I just gave a whisky-loving farmer a seat in some old stocks near by. He turned out to be our good Bobby's brother-in-law, so I was run in for assault. But it was a storm in a teacup, and I got off."

We were so interested in listening to the boy that we forgot our plight, until Denys reminded us of it.

"Which way has that beast gone? That's the question."

"It's Andy over again," Lynette said, "we do seem very unlucky with our animals."

Denys looked worried, and I was anxious too. The horse wasn't ours, but grandfather's, and if we went home without him we should never be allowed to drive him again.

And then Denys and Aylwin lay flat down on the road on their faces and studied the wheel marks. They're always clever at woodcraft, and very soon tracked the mark of our wheels in the dust.

But Slapper hadn't gone home; he had gone on, and we all agreed we must go on too.

"We're not going home without our steed, if we stay out all night," said Denys.

"Hurrah!" cried the strange boy. "Then my way is yours, and we'll tramp it together."

And so we did, and Pat, as he told us to call him, was so funny and so full of talk that we became the greatest friends with him.

We soon met two men in a cart. We stopped them, but they had not seen Slapper, and I began to get afraid that Puff would get tired and refuse to go on. It was quite three miles before we came to a little town or big village called Nellsolley, and then, to our great relief, we found that Slapper had been stopped as he was quietly trotting through. The man at the inn had got him in the yard. Denys came to me looking very hot and red.

"Of course he expects a tip, Grisel; it's awfully hard lines not to have a penny to give him!"

"I haven't got my purse," I said; "and even if I had, he wouldn't thank us for twopence halfpenny."

"Shall we borrow from Pat? I hear him jingling money in his pocket."

"Oh no!" I cried. "Father always made us promise never to borrow from anybody. And we might not be able to pay it back again!"

Denys shrugged his shoulders.

"This is an exception!" he said.

"Hold fast!" I whispered.

Denys scowled, but he walked away, and I heard him say very grandly to the landlord:

"I'm sure we're awfully obliged—and our grandfather, Colonel Noble, will be too—and you'll hear from him about it—as soon as we get back!"

The reins were very much twisted and stretched, and Pat, in his funny way, put them up to his lips and kissed them before the man fastened them on to Slapper again.

"There for ye!" he said. "And that's for saving my worthless life."

And then he shook hands with us all round and his shake was more like a wring; I almost cried with pain. He said a lot about his gratitude to us, and then he finished up by laughing.

"There's only one person in the wide world who's truly grateful to you, and that's myself, for nobody else would give you a 'thank you' for keeping me alive in the world at all, at all!"

We begged him to come and see us, and he said he had a little sailing-boat of his own, and he'd come along the very next day and take us all for a sail. I felt rather doubtful whether we would be allowed to go with him, but Denys seemed to think it would be all right.

And then we said good-bye and drove back home as fast as we could. We felt we had had quite an adventure, and certainly it was a thrilling moment when we were all pulling Pat up the cliff by the reins, and not knowing whether they would break in our hands!

We got home about five o'clock, and as we were tumbling out of the cart, Denys called to me:

"Here, Grisel, I want you."

"What is it?" I said.

Aylwin and Lynette were racing each other up the backstairs, and Puff following, so I stood still and waited.

Denys looked very grave.

"I think you'd better come with me. It isn't that I'm afraid of going alone, but we're the two eldest, and if I should get a bit hot, you can put the butter on, and cool the old chap down."

"You mean grandfather?" I asked.

"Yes, I must tell him, for he'll have to send the landlord of the inn something. It may open his eyes as to the emptiness of our pockets! And you heard that upstart groom ask what we had been doing to the reins!"

"Oh, all right. I'll come with you, only let us get it over quick!"

I felt rather frightened, for we all consider that we don't know grandfather yet.

So we went through the baize door into the front hall, and asked Jenkins the butler to take us to grandfather. He shook his old head at first.

"The Colonel don't wish to be disturbed."

But Denys said grandly:

"Please do as you are told. Tell him we have particular business to talk over."

I like old Jenkins, so I added:

"Do get him to see us, Jenkins. I know you'll manage it. And we won't hurt him!"

He walked off to the library and then he came back.

"The Colonel will see you."

So we went in. Grandfather was sitting in his arm-chair reading a paper, and I was rather glad that Aunt Isobel was not with him.

"Good afternoon, grandfather," Denys said cheerfully. "Hope you don't mind us coming to see you, but we've been out for a drive, and found a fellow hanging on by his eyelids over a cliff, so we had to haul him up and took the reins to do it, and old Slapper trotted on without us. We found him again. A chap called Pittock, who keeps the inn at Nellsolley, had taken him in for us. He was awfully civil and obliging, but I hadn't a penny in my pocket, so I told him I'd tell you about it."

He paused, for grandfather has a way of fixing you with his eye that rather dries one up.

He didn't say anything at first, and then he spoke very slowly:

"It strikes me you may prove rather expensive young people. Why am I to be told about him?"

Denys got a little red, and then I tried to help him.

"You see, grandfather, we ought to have given him a tip. You would if you had been there, wouldn't you? It was very awkward, so we thought perhaps you could very kindly give us a shilling for him. Not more than that—and if you like only to give ninepence halfpenny, it will be enough, for I have twopence halfpenny of my own."

He looked at me, and then for the first time I saw a twinkle in his eyes, and now I shall never be afraid of him again. I always know, when people have twinkly eyes, that they have kindness inside.

"I should like a few more details, please," he said, and so we told him every bit of our drive.

"Pat Douglas!" he said. "Well, you've wasted no time in scraping up acquaintance with a thorough bad lot! It's a pity you hauled him up. My new reins were worth more than he was."

"Yes, that's what he seemed to feel," I said rather sadly; "he told us nobody would thank us for saving him. I felt so sorry for him, grandfather! And he's such a nice merry boy!"

"A scamp! A worthless scamp! He will drown himself before long in that cockleshell of his. Mind you, I forbid any of you to go out in his sailing-boat!"

Denys and I looked at each other.

"He's coming round to-morrow to take us for a sail!" I said.

"Bless my soul! You don't let the grass grow under your feet! Send him packing when he comes."

"Couldn't we go if we're very, very careful?" I pleaded.

And then he thundered out, "No!" and told us to leave him.

But Denys stood still.

"And what about the chap Pittock?"

Then grandfather put his hand in his pocket and drew out a two-shilling piece. Denys took it and thanked him, and then we went away.

"He isn't half bad," I said.

Denys looked gloomy.

"It's rot not to let us sail, but we'll get the man to come out in the boat, and race him."

We cheered up at that thought, and ran upstairs to tea.

We got Peggy to tell us about Pat when she came in. She knows about everybody and everything for miles round. She told us a Mr. Douglas had married a wild Irish girl, and lived in France after his marriage. When his father died, he came home and lived on his property, but his wife wasn't much liked. She shocked people by things she said and did, and hunted morning, noon, and night. Pat was only three years old when she was thrown from her horse in the hunting-field and killed on the spot. Then Mr. Douglas asked his sister to come and live with him, and he died when Pat was eight. Then his mother's people in Ireland took him, and when his grandfather and grandmother died over there, he came back to his aunt, and has lived with her ever since.

"He's a terrible laddie!" Peggy said. "He's in scrapes most days. He is going to the school where you young gentlemen will be going, for his tutor can't manage him. He seems to have nine lives, like a cat."

"Poor Pat!" I said. "He must feel very sad sometimes when he thinks of all of his relations dying and leaving him. What is his aunt like?"

"Miss Douglas? Oh, she's Miss Douglas, but she's rare fond of the laddie, they say. She and your mother were fast friends, and she'll be over here to see ye before long if I'm not mistaken."

"Is she as stiff and cold as Aunt Isobel?"

"Hush now, for shame on ye! The mistress has a sad heart. None but a lone widder with ne'er a son or daughter to cheer her old age can tell the black days that are waitin' for her!"

"Well, we're ready to cheer her up any day she likes," said Lynette, "but she never comes near us."

I began to think about Aunt Isobel. I wonder if she is really lonely and unhappy. It is so difficult to understand grown-up people. So many of them are grave and quiet, and they never enjoy the things we do. But I wish she would talk to us a little more.

Puff is getting rather troublesome here. He's always trying to get out into the other part of the house through the baize door. We rather enjoy having a part of the house to ourselves, but he seems to think all kinds of things are happening the other side of the door. After tea this evening, I suddenly missed him. The boys and Lynette were trying to do some conjuring tricks out of "Peter Parley's Tales," and I was so deep in a book that I thought Puff was watching them. When I missed him, I went along the passage, and found, as I feared, that the baize door was open. There is a gallery at the top of the big staircase and I looked over and there I saw Puff stumping down the stairs. I was just going to call out to him when I saw grandfather coming very slowly across the hall, and then I was horrified at hearing Puff's shrill little voice:

"Hullo, old gempleum!"

"What are you doing here?" grandfather said gruffly.

Puff put his head on one side and smiled in his sweetest manner.

"I'm—er—coming down to say how d'ye do to you."

He stumped on down, and grandfather just stared at him.

Then Puff went straight up to him and took hold of his coat-sleeve coaxingly.

"They're all so stoopid upstairs, pretending to make eggs lay theirselves in a hat, as if the little chickens would think o' doing such a thing, and I just come away, and if you like me to come into your room, I'll help you smoke a pipe. Our gardener at home let me try lots o' times. And p'raps you've a long white pipe. They smokes bubbles. I can do that best."

He was trotting along by grandfather's side and never stopped talking. They both went into the library, and Puff slammed the door with all his strength.

I thought I had better not interfere. Puff is never shy with anybody, but I never thought he would be friends so quickly with grandfather. I went back to the schoolroom and told the others, but they were too busy with their tricks to care.

"We shall hear a howl soon," said Denys, "and he'll be sent back to us in disgrace."

But that did not happen. Puff stayed away an hour, and came upstairs with shining eyes and red-hot cheeks.

"I'm going to call him Gruffy. He said I might, and I've been sealing-waxing thousands of embelopes, and he gave me his ring, and I tolded him all about myself, and stood on my head for hours!"

"I wish you'd learn to speak true, Puff," I said.

Puff was too excited to listen to me.

"And Gruffy says I can ride and hunt the fox. He doesn't come out in the summer, but next winter I can. And I sawed pictures of hunting gempleums, and Aunt Isobel give me some grapes."

Puff seemed to have got on, as he always does with strangers, and then he got very wild. Denys told him he was suffering from "a swelled head," and we were quite glad when he went to bed.

Now I must tell about to-day, but I shall have to take another chapter, for something awful has happened, and I shall have to begin from the very beginning.

CHAPTER V

MISSING

THIS morning was lovely and hot, and directly after breakfast we went down to the sea. I can't think how people can possibly stay in the house when the sea is close to them outside. I think to live all the year by the seaside is ripping! And that's why we're so lucky to be here. Of course the boys had got hold of Davey the under-gardener, but he wouldn't have the boat out till eleven o'clock—he said he must wait for the turn of the tide. And they were so busy looking out for Pat in his sailing-boat that they didn't half enjoy themselves.

Lynette and I took off our shoes and stockings and paddled. The water seemed very cold at first, but we soon got accustomed to it, and Puff was perfectly happy messing about with sand and seaweed.

When Davey came down to the boat-house and took out the boat, we all got very excited, but the boys couldn't understand why Pat had not turned up. We all got into the boat, and Davey got two pairs of oars—he took one pair himself and Denys and Aylwin took the other between them. It was lovely flying along over the water. We watched the seagulls flying backwards and forwards from the cliffs, and saw in the distance small fishing-smacks, but we couldn't see a sign of Pat in his boat.

"He is a daring laddie," Davey said; "he'll take nobody with him, and a sailin'-boat ought to have two at least to man it. 'Tis a wonder he haven't gone to the bottom long before this."

"Perhaps something prevented him from coming out this morning," I said. "Let us forget him, Denys, and enjoy ourselves."

And then we saw land appear not so very far out at sea, and we asked what it was.

"'Tis the islands. There be four on 'em—"

"Oh how ripping!" Aylwin cried. "We'll go over and explore them. Are they big? Does any one live on them?"

"No, no, they're too small. Some goes over for seagull's-eggs, and there be some rare rock plants on one o' them. But there be too strong a current this time o' year to go near them. 'Tis dangerous at all times for small boats unless the tide be out."

So we rowed along past them, and then, when we rounded a corner of the cliffs, we all cried out at once, for there was Pat's sailing-boat. At least we made up our minds it must be, for it was a very small boat with a very big white sail which was flapping to and fro in rather a crazy fashion.

We shouted, for Davey told us our guess was right, but no Pat answered us. And then as we rowed on, we began to feel as if there was something wrong, for the boat seemed drifting about by itself, and there was no sign of anybody in it. It seemed a long time before we reached it. At first Davey was not going near it, but we made him, and though he pretended at first that Pat was most likely asleep in it, I could see he got more anxious as we came nearer.

We rowed up quite close to it, but there was no sign of any one in it. Davey told us to stay quite still where we were, and then he clambered on board. He shook his head as he took up a great-coat. "He's been here, sure enough, but where he be now is past me!"

WE BEGAN TO FEEL THERE WAS SOMETHING WRONG.

Then we watched him take down the sail, and then he and Denys between them managed to fasten the boat behind ours, and we towed her along. We shouted Pat's name over and over again, for we thought he might have landed on the beach, and his boat sailed off without him.

Davey said he must take us home, and then he would inquire at Miss Douglas's whether Pat had returned home. We didn't like this idea at all, for we wanted to help to look for him, but Davey wouldn't listen to us. And so we came back, and the boys helped Davey to pull up both boats on the beach and tie them outside the boat-house.

And then Denys and Aylwin told Davey that they intended to go over with him to Pat's aunt, and in the end they got Slapper and drove off. But Davey went on his cycle, and of course got there first.

Lynette and I went into the house and told Aunt Isobel about it. But she did not seem at all alarmed, said that Pat was always disappearing and turning up again. Then we had our dinner with Puff in the schoolroom, but the boys did not come back, and we hardly knew what to do with ourselves in the afternoon.

At last, Lynette took Puff across the field to see the farm that belongs to grandfather, and I went down to my favourite little garden. I had got hold of an old-fashioned story-book with mother's name in it, and I wanted to read it quite by myself, away from everybody, and think of her.

I opened the gate along the little winding path until I got to "Rosebud's" grave, and then I stopped quite taken aback, for on the old seat close by sat Aunt Isobel, reading a book!

She looked up when she heard me coming along, and I felt my cheeks getting hot.

"I—I was coming to sit here," I stammered. "I didn't know you ever came here."

It sounded rude, but I hardly knew what to say.

And then she gave me a tiny smile.

"Is there not room for both of us?" she said. "Come and sit down by me. Your mother and I used to sit here together when we were girls. You are very like her, Grisel."

"Oh, Aunt Isobel!" I exclaimed. "Mother was beautiful. I wish, I wish I could think I was like her!"

"She was not very beautiful when she was your age, but your face is the same shape, and so are your eyes and smile."

Aunt Isobel was looking at me very steadily, and I felt almost shy. I sat down, and then I suddenly thought I might ask her about the little grave. So I did, and she told me that it was a favourite doll of mother's, and she was nearly heart-broken when the puppies destroyed it, and would never have another doll afterwards. She was ten years old when it happened, and she used to come down and plant flowers on the grave, and this was always her favourite part of the garden.

And then—I don't know how it was, but I found myself talking quite freely to Aunt Isobel about everything. She seemed more sad than stern to me. And she asked me a lot of questions about us all. I said to her:

"I feel so old now that father has gone away from us, and I am afraid of not doing what he wanted. May I tell you his last words to me? Perhaps you could explain them. We have tried to understand them. The Bible helped us. He said to me—I shall never, 'never' forget his earnest tone!—

"'Grisel—remember—tell the boys—I charge you! Hold fast, Hold fast.'

"You see it is our charge, and we want to do it. We think he meant we must hold fast to all that he had taught us. He was so very good himself, and of course he wants us to be, but I do think it's more difficult for us than grown-ups, don't you? And though we do remember sometimes, we generally forget."

"What did your father teach you?"

Aunt Isobel asked this as if she were thinking of something else while she spoke, and I hardly knew what to say.

"He taught us how to love God first, and put God first, and be faithful and true. He used to say,—

"'Never forget that your souls and bodies belong to the One Who died to save you—' And he told us: 'So many live on the enemy's side, and forget Whose they are, and Whom they ought to serve.'

"I wish I could remember it all better, but I mean to hold fast to it if I can."

"Life is hard on one's memories!" said Aunt Isobel.

I did not quite understand what she meant, but she looked so sad that I seized hold of her hand.

"Oh, Aunt Isobel, do let us love you! We will try not to vex you. And please tell us when you don't like what we're doing!"

She stooped and kissed me.

"Good little Grisel!" she said.

And then she walked away, and I did not like to follow her.

After a little, I went into the house.

And Lynette and Puff came in at tea-time, but the boys were very late. And when they did come, they told us that it was quite awful about Pat; for everybody now thought he was drowned. Lots of men had gone out in boats, and hunted up and down everywhere, but there was no sign of him. And his aunt was in an awful state, and the police, and fishermen, and coast-guardsmen were still out.

"He's gone, there's no doubt of it," said Denys gloomily; "a fellow would never let his boat drift in that fashion, if he could have helped it."

"How dreadful!" cried Lynette. "And while we were laughing and capering over the rocks this morning, he was round the corner shrieking for help, and battling with the waves, and sinking like a stone without a soul—not even a dog—to save him!"

The boys generally laugh when Lynette gets the "heroics" as we call it, but they didn't laugh this time, and I felt all the tears crowd into my eyes. I couldn't believe it. Pat seemed too much alive to be able to die so quickly!

"Does grandfather know?" I asked.

"Yes, we told him. He was walking up and down outside the house when we came back."

"And what did he say?"

"He fixed us with stony eyes," said Aylwin, "and then jerked out:

"'And if you had had your wish, you would have been all at the bottom of the sea with him.'

"So we begged to differ from him there. We said we would most likely have saved his life, for there was nothing wrong with his boat. And the old chap marched away muttering to himself. I expect he would have been jolly glad to get rid of the whole lot of us so cheap. You see, he wouldn't even have had the expense of our funerals!"

"Oh, don't, Aylwin!" I shuddered, for our father's funeral was still in my mind. It seemed so dreadful to talk of it so lightly.

We had a miserable evening; and we all went early to bed.

I couldn't get to sleep for a long while, and then at last I did. But in the middle of the night, or it seemed so to me, I heard a sharp knock at our door. I started up, and before I could have time to be frightened, I heard Denys's voice:

"Grizzy, are you awake?"

"Yes, what's the matter? Is Puff ill?"

"Puff! He's snoring like a grampus. Aylwin and I are going out, so you'll know where we are. There's a light out at sea, and I believe it's Pat."

"Oh, Denys, how can it be? Show it to me."

I was at the window in a moment, and I saw at once a waving, flaring light.

"It isn't a boat," said Denys, in a grave voice, "because the light isn't a lantern or anything of that sort; it's more like a bonfire, and it's on one of the islands!"

"Oh, Denys, of course! Why didn't we think of the islands!"

"We did. Davey and another man went off and landed late in the afternoon, but they could see no signs of him. I made certain he was on them, and told them so, for it seems the old cook had packed him a big basket of provisions, and it couldn't be found on his boat."

"Of course he must have landed them. Oh how lovely to think he may be alive! Denys, dear, do, do let me come with you; it would be such an adventure!"

"Stuff! Of course you can't come. Girls would only be in the way. We're going down to Davey's cottage."

"But it's in the middle of the night!"

"It's hardly eleven o'clock yet."

I gasped!

"Oh do, 'do' let me come."

Denys rushed away. I knew it was no good trying to follow him. It's always the way. Boys get all the fun, and girls have to stick in the corner, and do nothing.

But I was so excited that I woke Lynette up. She locks herself up, we always say with the key inside, when she goes to sleep, for we never can wake her for ages and ages. And she's dangerous to wake, for she hits out, and is awfully cross for a long time. She began now, when I shook her, to call out in her sleep.

"I tell you I didn't do it! Why, the sea is boiling! Let's put the kettle on! And Pat is inside; I told you he was!"

Lynette always talks most dreadful nonsense when she's half asleep. Then she said crossly:

"Leave me alone. I shan't get up. It's much too early."

And then she hit me, and sat up straight in bed, and blinked like an owl.

"What's the matter? Are you ill?"

We always think anybody's ill, if we wake in the middle of the night.

Then I told her, and she got quite as excited as I was. And we put on our dressing-gowns, and watched and watched at the window, till we were sick and tired of watching. And at last, the light went out. It was too far off to see if a boat was getting near it, but a thick mist came over the sea and blotted everything out, and then we began to feel anxious about the boys. But we knew Davey was a very good seaman—for he used to be in the Navy—and I felt sure he would take care of the boys.

And at last we both got so sleepy that we crept into bed again, only just before we did, we knelt down and asked God to make Pat alive and not dead, and to keep the boys safe. I thought we had better do that, as God was the only One Who could save if there was danger, and then we both fell asleep till broad daylight.

I have been writing this all in bits just as I have time. This morning, when we woke, the sun was streaming in at the window, as if it didn't care a bit about Pat and the boys. I rushed into the boys' room at once. I hoped to find them in bed, and ready to tell us about Pat, but their beds were empty, and Puff was still asleep.

When Peggy came to call us, we told her all about it, and asked her if Davey was missing too.

"Why no," she said, looking very anxious, "Davey is cutting the grass in the back yard, and he hasn't been out at night—that I know for a fact. Dearie me, what feckless wicked laddies! They have just gone out by themselves!"

This seemed dreadful news; and then we heard that grandfather's boat was missing. And when we were dressed, we ran downstairs and told Davey all about it. And he was very much put out, and quite positive that Pat was not on one of the islands.

"'Twas most likely the coastguards' lights ye saw," he said. "And now there be two more to be searched for, and the Kornel will be in a pretty stew!"

Lynette and I tore down to the beach. It was very low tide, and we ran along for a long way until we came opposite the islands. And the sun was so hot and shining, and the sea so smooth and blue, that we said to each other that we were quite certain that nothing dreadful had happened.

But we could see no signs of any boys or of the boat, and Davey came along dragging a big boat after him.

I pointed out to him just where we had seen the bonfire, but he didn't seem as if he believed us.

"I'll be just rowing across to see once agen if the laddie be there."

Then we besought him to take us with him. Lynette coaxed, and I entreated with all my soul, and at last he said we might come with him. We forgot all about our breakfast, and if it had not been for the thought of the boys, and wondering where they were, we should have enjoyed ourselves most awfully. Davey let us take one of the oars, and we pulled rather awkwardly at first, but much better farther on. And then we began shouting and cooee-ing as we got near to the island, and I shall never forget the relief it was when, in a little cove close to the island, we caught sight of grandfather's boat.

"There you see! The boys are here!" cried Lynette triumphantly.

"Yes they be," said Davey crossly, "and I'll gie them a bit o' my mind, to go carryin' off the Kornel's boat, and leading me such a dance for nothin'!"

"I wonder if they have found Pat," said Lynette.

I was afraid they had not, for there was no sign of them, and we thought they must be hunting for him on the other side. There was no beach where the boat was—Davey said it was high tide, and our hearts sank when we saw there was no possibility of landing. There was a straight high cliff right up above the boat, but it was tied to an iron staple in the cliff that must have been put there to be used. Then we called again and again, but the waves were making such a noise as they dashed against the rocks that it quite drowned our voices.

"Is there nowhere to land?" I asked Davey.

And he shook his head.

"We'll go round to the caves," he said.

And then we rowed round the island for a good way, and then suddenly, as we were calling, we heard an answering shout. For a moment we stared about, but could see nobody, and then I caught sight of Denys's head just peeping out of a hole in the cliff. He looked so funny that I could hardly help laughing. We rowed right up underneath him and Davey told us he was in the caves, which slope upwards—and the sea was washing in at the bottom of them.

"I've spent a night there," said Davey. "You're quite safe if you climb high enough."

"Are you all safe?" I cried out to Denys.

And Lynette cried: "Is Pat with you?"

Denys's head suddenly disappeared, and we waited breathlessly to see it again.

CHAPTER VI

A LONG SUNDAY

THE next head that appeared was Aylwin's, with a broad grin upon his face. I knew instantly that they must have found Pat.

"Pat is with you?" I cried, and Aylwin's head nodded. The voice of the sea quite drowned our voices.

Davey gave a kind of chuckle. "Might have known it, so we might; he'll always turn up again, will that limb of a boy!"

"But why didn't you find him?" Lynette asked a little indignantly.

Davey shook his head.

Then we heard Aylwin shouting: "We're in here till the tide turns, unless you can fling us a rope!"

Now I knew how daring the boys are. I knew if we did, they would squeeze themselves through that hole, and we would see them dangling in mid-air by the rope, so I told Davey not to say he had got one at the bottom of his boat.

"The tide is going out," said Davey, "but it will take a couple of hours yet for them to be able to get out of that cave."

Then Pat's head appeared at the hole. "How's yourselves?" he shouted.

"How are you?" Lynette cried back.

"Hurt my leg! Had to lie low. Go home to your breakfasts. We have the boat and will come as soon as ever we can!"

But we waited till Denys's head popped out again, and when he shouted the same thing we thought we had better go back. Davey said Pat's aunt must be told that he was safe, so we rowed back, and I felt as if a great heavy lump had been lifted off my chest. It was so glorious to have them all alive and jolly!

We weren't scolded for going out so early when they heard the good news. Even Peggy beamed with delight. Davey rode off to tell Miss Douglas and all the village people, and Aunt Isobel came into the schoolroom to hear all about it, while we had our breakfast.

We went down to the beach directly afterwards, and Puff said:

"I do think God might hurry up the sea, and tell it to move quicker."

It seemed really very slow at going out. But gradually the rocks began to show themselves, and then the seaweed, and then, after a very long time, we saw a little boat in the distance, and it came nearer and nearer. And at last, the boys came in sight. And we danced and shouted like savages, and took off our shoes and stockings, and waded into the sea to meet them.

Pat was as funny as ever, but he looked very white, and had a bandage round his ankle. Denys carried him on his back right up the beach, for he couldn't walk, and then Aylwin took a turn, and as we went up to the house, we heard all about it. Pat had planned a lovely picnic on the island. He landed there on the way to us to leave his big basket of provisions and to get the cave ready for us. He said, one day, there was a horrid dead fish in it which made an awful smell, and he didn't want anything of that sort to be there when we came. He was a little longer than he meant to be, and then, to his horror, he saw that his boat had slipped her anchor and was drifting away. He was in a hurry to get to a high part of the cave to shout for help, when he had an awful tumble and cut a great gash in his leg. It wouldn't stop bleeding, and it made him sick, and he thinks he must have fainted.

When he came to himself, he was afraid of moving lest the bleeding should burst out again, and he was also in too much pain to move. He saw the tide was coming in, and knew he was caught and would have to stop there, so he dragged himself slowly to the high and dry part of the cave, and there he lay down and ate a good meal and then went to sleep, he said, for hours. I suppose that was when the men were hunting for him, but they stupidly never looked in the cave. Pat says the villagers think it is haunted, and will never go right in.

When he woke up, he tore some strips off his shirt and bound up his leg very tight, and then he could hop about. And when it came on to be dark, he thought what a fool he was not to make a fire. So he made it at last, and that was how Denys and Aylwin saw it, and they got over to him all right, for it was low tide. But when they tried to bring him down to the boat, his leg burst out bleeding afresh, and by the time they had bound it up, and he began to feel fit to hop down to the beach, they found the horrid tide had turned, and was washing into the cave. So they had to wait till the morning, and then they saw us coming. It all sounded so natural that I thought how stupid we were not to find Pat before.

When we got to the house, Aunt Isobel came running out, and Miss Douglas, who had just arrived. She had ridden over. It seemed funny to me to see a grey-haired lady on a horse, but everybody seems to ride here.

Pat waved his hand airily to them.

"Sorry am I to have turned up again to plague you," he said.

But Miss Douglas looked as if she wanted to hug him.

"Oh Pat, you'll be my death one day," she said. "I had quite made up my mind that you were lying fathoms deep below the sea."

When Aunt Isobel saw how hurt Pat's leg was, she had him carried by Davey into one of the empty spare rooms, and then the doctor came and sewed up his leg, for he had a great gash in it. We thought it was awful to actually sew up his flesh with needle and cotton. I had never heard of such a thing before. And then we were told that, as he had to keep quiet and not move his leg, he was going to stay with us for a few days, and of course we voted it great fun. Miss Douglas fussed in and out of his room all the day, but she went away before it got dark.

In the evening, Pat came into the schoolroom and lay on the couch there. We had a big fire, and we all sat round it and told ghost stories; and Pat's "yarns," as the boys called them, were simply ripping!

"It's queer," he said, just before we went to bed, "that you should have come to my rescue two days running. I hope you'll get into difficulties next, and sure I'll get you out of them! So as to be quits!"

"I suppose it's being by the sea that brings so many dangers," I said.

"No," he said with his merry laugh, "it's just meself, born to be the plague of my belongings! If anybody can get into a scrape, it's I that do it."

"It's very interesting and exciting," said Lynette. "I do hope you'll go on doing it. We do love adventures."

And when we came up to bed Lynette said to me:

"Isn't Pat a darling, Grisel? I'm so glad we know him."

"Yes," I said, "he's so merry that I can't help liking him, but Lynette, he uses such words—almost swearing—I can't bear to hear him do it!"

"You mean when he says 'Oh Lord!' and 'May the devil take me.' He doesn't mean anything by it, he only rattles the words off in his stories—"

"Puff will be copying him," I said. "He always copies big boys."

"Then we must give Puff a whacking if he does, and stop it," said Lynette.

Nothing ever troubles Lynette.

*****

To-day is Sunday. It hasn't been at all a nice day. To begin with, it has been a regular wet day. Aunt Isobel said we couldn't any of us go to church, and that seemed to turn it into a week-day. She told us we must stay quietly in the schoolroom, and that of course brought difficulties at once. First we were all quiet. I got Puff into a corner, and began to read him some of "The Pilgrim's Progress," and the boys and Lynette got some books from the book-case.

But about eleven o'clock Pat hobbled in and took possession of the sofa, and then there was no more quiet. Puff first began to humbug about the room and throw cushions, and then Pat said he would show us some conjuring tricks, and they were so interesting that I forgot it was Sunday, and enjoyed them as much as the others. Then he brought out of his pocket a rather dirty pack of cards, and said we must have a game. I said at once we never played cards, but the boys looked uncomfortable. Pat laughed. He has a very wheedling way with him, and when I added hastily:

"It's Sunday," he laughed all the more.

"You're not one of these sour-faced Scotchies, Grisel," he said. "What's a poor invalid to do if you can't amuse him? Doesn't it say in the Bible you must give a leg up to any poor ass who's down in his luck? But girls are all the same. Now you shut those grey eyes of yours, and go on reading your Sabbath book. And we'll have our quiet game without interfering with you."

Then I turned and looked at the boys.

"Hold fast!" I said, and then I ran out of the room.

I felt miserable when I got to my bedroom. I'm a regular out-and-out coward. I couldn't stay in the room to be laughed at, and so I came away, and I left them, and knew that perhaps they would all be breaking Sunday, and playing cards. I looked out of the window, and began to wish we had never come here. There seemed nobody to help us do right, and it was so easy to do wrong. And then I remembered that God was with us just the same, so I knelt down and asked Him to make the boys hold fast, and remember father's teaching. And I felt a little better when I got up from my knees, and a little braver too.

So presently I crept back to the schoolroom. There was the most awful noise going on, but they weren't playing cards, they were acting stories out of the Bible and making Pat guess what they were. I found Lynette rolling and shrieking on the floor, and Puff and Aylwin were gambolling about her on all fours, and Denys was standing on the mantelpiece looking on.

I heard in a minute or two that Lynette and Denys had both stood on the mantelpiece, and that she was Jezebel. And Puff had come by riding on Aylwin and said, "Throw her down," and that Denys had pushed her down, and then Aylwin and Puff pretended to be the dogs devouring her, and Lynette showed me afterwards huge bruises on her elbows and knees where she fell. Pat was in fits of laughter. And I didn't know what to say or do.

"We've been so good," he said to me; "we've postponed our game of 'Nap' till to-morrow."

He pulled hold of me and made me sit on a chair close to him.

"I really don't know whether this is any better," I said in despair. "We've never spent a Sunday like this before."

Lynette got up, rubbing her elbows dolefully.

"We've never been kept in from church," said Denys, a little defiantly. "Aunt Isobel treats us as if we're china under glass!"

I gave a big sigh, and Pat mimicked me at once.

"Old mother Grisel!" he said. "Do you always try to be good? Or do you only keep it for Sundays?"

I looked at him. Somehow, though his voice and words are teasing, I never feel afraid of Pat. I think it is his bright soft blue eyes.

"Oh, Pat!" I said. "If you had just lost your father whom you adored, wouldn't you try to do what he would wish?"

"He won't know anything," said Pat reflectively.

"Oh, I hope he doesn't know what we're doing to-day," I said, feeling a great lump rising in my throat. "It would break his heart if he knew you were going to make the boys play cards and gamble. I heard you talking of halfpenny points!"

Pat laughed.

"Don't you worry, little mother. Your boys can look after themselves. Why did you call out 'Hold fast' when you ran away?"

"It was father's charge to me," I said firmly. "He told me before he died to tell the boys to hold fast, and I shall always say it to them when they forget. I say it to myself every morning. I forget quite as much as they do."

"Hold fast to what?"

"We looked it up in the Bible. Father didn't finish his sentence, but I'm sure he meant to what he taught us, and to what God says we're to do in the Bible."

"Oh, sakes alive! Sure, if we're to do all the Bible tells us, we'd better quit the earth straight away."

"Why?" I asked.

"Because nobody could live on Bible lines. Now doesn't it tell you to give to every one who wants to borrow? We have some awful wandering beggars over here. Supposing if everybody gave them everything they asked for, why, like cormorants, they'd swallow our all!"

"You need not pick out the unlikely kinds of things to do," I said.

Then Denys came over to us. He was smoothing down the back of his head with his hand—a little trick of his when he's not quite sure of himself.

"Well, Grizzy," he said, "how are we going to get through this wet Sunday? I'll never stand another like this—never!"

"I think, if you were to read the lessons to us, Denys, and a collect or two, it would be a kind of church at home, and we could sing the chants and a hymn or two."

I was rather nervous as I spoke, because of Pat, but, to my relief, he said:

"It'll be a thundering good idea, and then all the wrinkles will go, little mother, won't they?"

In a moment, they all took it up. Lynette and Aylwin made a kind of reading-desk and some pews, and the only thing Denys would not do was to put on the nightdress Lynette brought him for a surplice.

"I'm not a parson," he said, "and I won't ape one."

We all settled down; even Puff got grave and quiet, and Pat lay quite still till we began to sing, and then he joined in with such a lovely voice that I almost held my breath to listen to him.

And then we sang ever so many hymns one after another, and when our church was over, it was dinner-time. I felt quite happy again, and I know Denys was too, he pulled hold of me in the passage as he was going to his room to wash his hands.

"Grisel, we nearly let go this morning, didn't we?"

I nodded.

"And next time," he added quickly, "I hope I shall be the one to call out 'Hold fast.'"

We didn't say any more.

The afternoon was quite fine, and we all went for a long walk along the cliffs, for the tide was in. Aunt Isobel sat with Pat to cheer him up, she said. But I think he cheered her up, for he talked and she listened, and there's nobody that can talk like Pat. He simply makes you die with laughing every minute.

It seems that in this part of Scotland the church that Aunt Isobel goes to is only held once a day, in the morning. And nobody thinks of going anywhere else. As it was fine, several visitors came to see Aunt Isobel, and some who arrived in a motor stayed to dinner. They sounded very jolly downstairs, and Lynette was very cross at Peggy telling us we were to stay quietly in the schoolroom, as there was company.

"We might as well be in jail," she said.

"Oh," I said, "I'm thankful we can be here by ourselves."

After tea, we got round the fire, and then somehow we began to tell Pat about our Empire League. He was awfully interested.

"I'm half inclined to be a soldier myself," he said, "but I'm all for old Oireland. I don't know that I have a passion for England."

"Oh, but you must," I cried. "We are all bound up together. You're a loyal Irishman, aren't you?"

Pat half winked his eye at me.

"I don't mean to know or like any men, when I grow up," I said stoutly, "who aren't loyal subjects to their King and country."

"And," burst out Lynette, "Grisel and I have quite made up our minds not to marry anybody but soldiers."

"How many for each of you?" said Aylwin, with his funny chuckle.

"Sure," said Pat, "with that shining prospect before me of weddin' either of you, or both, I'll enlist as a drummer-boy right away!"

"Don't joke," I said. "Aren't you fond of and proud of our British Empire, Pat?"

"I'll be so, if you'll teach me," he said, folding his hands and casting his eyes up to the ceiling till we could only see the whites of them.

And then I gave up talking, for I saw he wouldn't be serious, but I hoped he would listen another day.

And now I've been writing in this diary, and we're just off to bed. This has been a dreadfully long Sunday; I do hope we shall never stay home from church again.

Oh dear, oh dear! I did hope we had got through the day all right. But there's the most awful row going on, and we're all in it, and it has all happened in the last half-hour, and Aunt Isobel is furious. But I must write about it to-morrow.

CHAPTER VII

PAT LEAVES US

IF only we could stop and think sometimes! We do all our worst scrapes all in a minute, and this is what happened last night, and of course, being Sunday, it made it a hundred times worse.

Puff was the one who began it. When I told him to come to bed, he ran away. He's often like that, and you can't reason with him. He rushed along the passage and got through the baize door, and of course I went after him.

The big hall downstairs was lighted up, and there were two gentlemen talking and smoking outside the drawing-room door. They went into the smoking-room after a few minutes, and I leant over the railing that goes round the gallery and looked down at the oil-pictures on the walls. They always interested me, for they were portraits of our mother's ancestors.

Suddenly I heard Lynette's giggle, and I turned round to find her and the boys, and Pat, all out on the landing. Pat was supporting himself with two sticks. Then Pat pointed to the broad balustrade on the top of the banister.

"I had a splendid slide down there once," he said.

In one second Aylwin was astride, Denys followed, Lynette, and then Puff, and—I can't explain it—the thought of Sunday went quite away—and I swung myself up. It did flash across me that I could keep Puff from going over, but it was all in a minute, and the feeling of sliding down quicker and quicker was just lovely. It was all over in two minutes, but Aylwin didn't jump clear at the bottom. We all fell in a confused heap on the floor, Puff gave a yell, and in falling, Lynette grabbed hold of Jenkins's legs. He was unfortunately passing close to the bottom of the stairs with a tray of glasses. He came to the ground with a crash, and the glasses too.

And the drawing-room door suddenly opened, and when we picked ourselves up, there was grandfather, and Aunt Isobel, and several ladies and gentlemen.

I felt as if I would like the earth to have swallowed us up, and grandfather was furious. He swore, and I have never heard such swearing before.

We said we were very sorry, and crept upstairs.

But Aunt Isobel came after us, and she scolded me and Denys most dreadfully. Of course we were the eldest ones, and were much too big to do it, and we couldn't excuse ourselves.

And when I at last went to bed, I felt perfectly miserable. Lynette would keep laughing and chuckling at the remembrance of Jenkins going down. He forgot his proper voice and shouted dreadful words, which was swearing, I suppose, but grandfather said something much worse. And Jenkins has a great big bruise on the bald part of his head this morning, and Peggy told us that the cut-glass which was broken was worth twenty pounds. Aunt Isobel said she would telegraph to the governess to come and take charge of us at once. She said to me:

"I did think, Grisel, that you were a good little girl from your talk. Remember, it is actions, not words, that speak loudest. I am bitterly disappointed in you."

And I am thoroughly ashamed of myself. How could I! Oh how could I!

Pat was the only one who kept out of disgrace, but he was really the one who put it into our heads to do it.

He came over to me this morning while I was waiting for breakfast. I was standing by the window and wishing for father again, and feeling deadly miserable.

Pat clapped his hand down on my shoulder.

"Cheer up, Madam Dumps!"

"How can I, Pat?" I said, choking down a lump in my throat. "When I think of what we did on Sunday, and Aunt Isobel's face of horror and disgust, I just feel I can never be happy again! And father told us to hold fast; why, I'm letting everything go as quickly as I can!"

"I should say it was a case of holding fast last night! Why, I heard you say it to Puff as you started on your downward career!"

I checked my inclination to laugh. Pat's face is like the sun; he always seems to warm you up, and I began to feel better.

"Well," I said with a big sigh, "it was a black day yesterday, but we've a fresh one in front of us, and I'm going to try to be an angel of goodness to-day."

"Sure! So am I," said Pat fervently.

And then he tucked my arm in his, and when the others trooped in to breakfast, we were standing up very straight and stiff together with two of the large breakfast-plates fastened behind our heads and Pat said:

"Behold St. Patrick and St. Grisel waiting to give the sinners their blessing."

Then we nearly had a regular shindy, for they all got hold of the plates and began to shy them at us. So I took mine off very quickly, and made them be quiet; at least I begged Denys to keep order, and he did.

"Do let us all try to keep out of scrapes to-day," I said.

But after breakfast, Pat began getting out his cards again, and I felt in despair. It was a lovely morning, and it seemed too awful for the boys to be staying in and trying to gamble. I almost wished that Pat would go home, and then I seized hold of Denys and got him out of the room.

"Oh, Denys," I said, "aren't you going to 'hold fast'? I shall never be able to make you, and it will be dreadful if Aylwin gets to play for money. Father hated card-playing; you know he did."

Denys looked uncomfortable.

"We won't play for money," he said; "it's awfully dull for Pat not being able to get out."

"But he can. We can have the trap and drive him, and you know he won't play unless there's money in it."

"Well, I'll see if he'll come out for a drive."

"And if he won't, do hold fast, Denys!"

Denys straightened himself.

"All right. Don't you worry."

He went back to the schoolroom, but I don't know what happened, for Peggy came up to say that I was to go downstairs to Aunt Isobel.

I found her in her own nice sitting-room. She looked very grave when she saw me.

"I hope you're ashamed of that shocking exhibition last night, Grisel. Are you two big girls accustomed to behave like tomboys?"

"We're awfully ashamed and sorry," I said. "I can't tell you now what made me do it. Lynette is always a mad-cap. It only takes me like that very very seldom. I suppose it was being shut up all day, and trying so hard to do what was right for such a long time when it was all so difficult. Then suddenly I forgot everything and let myself go. I suppose it's something like elastic being stretched out too long, and then it goes snap. I felt stretched out all day yesterday."

There was silence. Then, after a moment, Aunt Isobel said:

"Your governess will be here to-morrow. Until she comes, I wish you and your sister to be in this room with me. The boys are to remain in the schoolroom upstairs. I wish you to be kept quite apart for to-day. Go upstairs again now and fetch your sister down. I have some needlework here that you can help me with. I am making some flannel petticoats for our old alms-cottage women."

I felt quite desperate.

"If I leave the boys, they may do 'anything,'" I said; "and Puff will get awfully out of hand. It's Pat, I think, you had better send him home if you want the boys to be good."

"You can't blame Pat for your behaviour last night; he was not with you."

I was silent. What could I say? And felt very mean in blaming Pat.

"As it happens," Aunt Isobel said, "Pat is going home this afternoon. His aunt is coming over for him."

I went upstairs very slowly. The boys weren't playing cards; they were talking eagerly. Puff was trying to climb out of the window, and Lynette was busy painting a most hideous paper mask; she's very good at them, and is always making them for Puff.

I told them what Aunt Isobel wished, and Lynette was very angry.

"I won't come, Grizzy; you can go back and tell her I won't. I'm a pattern of perfection to-day. I shouldn't think of doing anything so vulgar as sliding down the banisters. Tell her my hair is tidy, my hands and nails as clean as hers. I am not even crossing my legs, or tipping my chair back. And nothing will induce me to leave the boys."

"You must come at once," I repeated. And then I hauled in Puff from the window-ledge, and fastened the window. "Denys, you must look after Puff, and don't let him get into mischief."

"You go down, both of you," said Pat, "and we'll find a way of fetching you up. I give you my word, you'll both be up in half an hour!"

Lynette wanted a good deal of coaxing even then, but she followed me down at last. And Aunt Isobel gave us two flannel petticoats to make, and we sat on two chairs and wondered what was going on upstairs.

Aunt Isobel went to her writing-desk and began to write some letters. Presently we heard a little bustle and noise outside, and then Jenkins came in.

"If you please, mem, Peggy wishes Miss Grisel to come upstairs quick, for the little master have cut his thumb frightful and won't let nobody touch it but her!"

I sprang up.

"Oh, it's Puff, aunt; I must go."

I darted out of the door and upstairs. Lynette tried to follow me, but was called back.

I dashed into the schoolroom. Peggy came along with a basin of water.

"He won't let me get near him, the naughty laddie!" she said.

And then I saw Puff lying back in a chair with the boys round him, and yelling for all he was worth, and his handkerchief seemed covered with blood.

Aylwin took the basin hastily out of Peggy's hands, and almost pushed her out of the room.

"We'll manage now, thanks." He locked the door after her.

I knelt down by Puff.

"You poor little man, how did it happen?" I asked.

Puff had his eyes tightly shut and his mouth wide open. When he heard my voice, he jumped up, and he and the boys burst into a roar of laughter.

I found his white handkerchief was-smeared with red paint, and that his thumb was not cut at all.

I felt quite bewildered.

"Now we have to get hold of Lynette," said Denys. "Why didn't she come with you?"

"Oh, boys," I said, "you must have told Peggy an awful whopper! It isn't right! And I must go back at once."

"No, you won't," said Pat, taking the key from Aylwin and pocketing it. "You'll stay here. Now, then, I'll do the rest."

He limped out of the room and down the stairs, locking the door on the outside, and taking the key with him.

I heard from Lynette, afterwards, that he appeared with a very scared face:

"Grisel says she has some sticking-plaster locked up in a drawer, and you have the key. Come on, quick!"

"And when you have given her the key come downstairs again," said Aunt Isobel very shortly.

Upstairs flew Lynette, and when she, in her turn, was locked inside by wicked Pat, she enjoyed the joke. But I couldn't laugh, though I hate the boys thinking me a prig.

"Didn't I tell you I'd fetch you up again?" said Pat triumphantly.

"Oh, you can do anything if you tell lies," I said.

Pat got very red in the face.

"Do you call meself a liar?" he said, and his eyes blazed.

But I stood my ground, for I was angry with Pat, and I was afraid he would be teaching Puff to be deceitful.

"You can't say you didn't tell a lie, for you told two, and it spoils fun to get it like that. Now, Lynette, come on down. And if you boys send down a message to say that the schoolroom is on fire, I shan't budge from my seat. Where's the key, Pat? If you don't unlock that door, I'll ring the bell."

"Grizzy is in a stew," said Aylwin, chuckling.

Pat looked at me defiantly.

"If you were a boy, I'd have you out, and give you a thorough good licking, sure I would, by—"

I put my hand on his arm.

"Now, Pat, forgive me; where's the key?"

He flung it on the floor.

I picked it up and Lynette followed me downstairs without a word.

"How did he cut himself?" Aunt Isobel asked.

And I answered straight out: "It was a joke of the boys to get us upstairs again."

Aunt Isobel looked at me sharply, then went on with her writing, and did not say another word.

Lynette and I were allowed to go upstairs to our schoolroom dinner. And the whole time we were eating it, the boys were arguing about a lie, what it was, and what it wasn't. Pat says a practical joke isn't a lie; he says to deny something you've done wrong is the only lie he knows of. Aylwin says a lie that makes a person suffer who ought not to is the worst lie of all.

Denys said a lie of any sort is not possible to a gentleman, but a joke like Pat's is more fun than earnest.

"I know a boy at school who tells the most awful yarns," Denys said, "but we don't call them lies, because we know what he is."

"Yes, but when there's something awfully important going on, you wouldn't trust his word," I said. "And I should like to feel I could trust Pat's."

"If you can't trust me, slay me!" said Pat, jumping from his seat and handing me a big knife. Then he unbuttoned his waistcoat and pretended to expose his heart.

"Here, strike, cruel maiden! Rather the cut of cold steel, than the cut of such words and looks!"

I laughed as I threw down the knife.

"Oh, Pat, you're such a nice boy that you really mustn't tell crams even in fun!"

And then none of us said any more.

Lynette and I went out for a drive with Aunt Isobel after our dinner. And when we came back, Miss Douglas had just arrived in a big old-fashioned carriage, and Pat was saying good-bye to everybody, for his aunt wouldn't stop to tea. And just before he went, he got me into a corner of the hall, and said:

"You're a game little creature, Grisel. And if you'll take me in hand, and give me a grand licking with your tongue on occasions, sure I'll make a grand man by and by!"

I didn't know what to say, so I was silent, and then I blurted out:

"I do want to like you, Pat, but I want the boys and all of us to 'hold fast,' and you mustn't keep us from doing it."

"May the de—"

I put my hand across his mouth.

"I hate you when you speak like that!"

"Ah, sure, what words can I use to make you feel I'm in raving stark earnest that I'll take a grip with you all, and hold fast through all the ages to come?"

He wouldn't be serious, but we parted friends. And when he had gone, the house felt quite dull and empty.

This afternoon Lynette and I got ready for our governess. The schoolroom gets disgracefully untidy, the boys are simply wonderful for bringing things into it, but they never take them away. They took Puff down to the beach with them directly dinner was over, and we were longing to be with them, but Peggy besought us to tidy up. She said she couldn't do it, and she would be sorry for the poor governess to arrive into such "chay-oss." I've spelt it as she pronounced it. Peggy tries to use very grand words sometimes.

Aylwin had brought an old crow's-nest in, and left it on the couch. Denys had littered half the room with chips and shavings trying to make a boat for Puff. Puff had upset his paint-box, and never picked it up.

In one corner of the room, the housemaid had collected all our things from the day before, and we had to sort out the heap. There was the long ribbon seaweed that is such a good barometer when hung up, and some stockings that Lynette had got tired of mending, and some shells, and a tangly ball of string, and Denys's fishing-tackle, and two dirty jerseys of the boys', and a pair of sand-shoes, and some pictures we had cut out of a magazine for a scrap-book, and a dead mouse that we had caught in a trap and forgotten to bury, and some fir-cones, and ever so many more things that had to be sorted and put by. When we had finished at last, we were hot and sticky and dirty, and rather cross.

Lynette threw herself on the couch.

"Good-bye to all fun now! Grisel, I know I shall hate this governess of ours. I'm bound to do it, for she is bound to see that we behave ourselves. She will expect us to be always clean and tidy, and polite to each other, and it will be:

"'Take your elbows off the table. Hold your head up. Don't giggle. Say "Thank you" when I tell you of your faults. Look grateful when I scold you for your good. Don't frown, don't fidget!'

"Oh, can't you hear her? It's a beastly shame to have somebody with us every minute of the day, and never be free from her."

"Perhaps she'll have a day off sometimes," I suggested. "I should want to get away from my pupils sometimes if I were a governess."

"She won't. No such luck for us. How I wish I was a boy. They always have a much jollier time than girls. They'll be away at school in a couple of days, playing football and hockey, and having paper-chases, and sports and concerts and all kinds of lovely things. If we went to school, we would have the same. But a governess spoils everything."

I wandered round the room, just putting a few tidy touches here and there. I felt very downhearted.

"We must do our best to like her. Father would like us to get on, and we are growing up, Lynette. Think of the time when lessons are over, and we shall have a dear little house all to ourselves, and you and I will do just as much cooking as we like, and the boys will come home and say how jolly well we do them."

"They'll be away at a war, perhaps, if they're soldiers," said Lynette, getting up from the sofa as she spoke. "The worst part of this governess is that we shall have her listening to everything we say. We'll never be alone again. Come on, Grisel, let us wash our hands."

"Wait a little. Here's all this paste left from our scrap-book. Can't we use it up on anything?"

As I looked round, I saw that in climbing to get out of the window, Puff had torn a piece of the wall-paper off. It was over a damp spot on the wall, and there was a long strip hanging down.

So we got a chair, and I got up, and Lynette was handing me the basin of paste, when somehow the chair slipped from under me, and down I fell, and caught hold of Lynette, and she tumbled with me, and that nasty basin of paste spilled itself all over the top of us. We were laughing at the most awful mess we were in, when the door opened suddenly, and there was Aunt Isobel, and behind her was our governess!

Now wasn't that a horrible hick for fate to play us? We had meant to have our hair brushed, and be so awfully spick and span that Aunt Isobel would be quite pleased to show how tidy and clean we kept ourselves. And our heads were now half covered with paste, and our faces too. We were simply a disgrace to be seen! And I wished, as story-books say, that the floor could have opened and swallowed us down out of sight.

CHAPTER VIII

OUR GOVERNESS

"HERE are your pupils, Miss Garton. I am ashamed of their appearance, but you will see how they need somebody to take them in charge."

I looked up in confusion, and put my sticky hands behind my back.

"If you had come ten minutes later, Aunt Isobel," I said, "you would have found us in beautiful order. We've been working hard all the afternoon to get tidy, but we're just in the middle of an accident."

"Yes," Lynette chimed in, "and it's all spoilt now. I wish we'd gone off with the boys and left the horrid old room to tidy itself."

Miss Garton was a surprise to us. She was very tall, and—yes, I can use no other word—very beautiful. She had large dark eyes, and fair hair, and a sweet smile. She looked round the room and not at us, and that was nice of her, for it gave us time to dab our faces with our handkerchiefs and get some of the paste off, and then she said very pleasantly:

"I think our schoolroom is delightfully tidy, and what a dear old room it is!"

"It was our nursery when we were small," Aunt Isobel said, and the sad soft look came into her eyes that I love to see, for it reminds me of mother.

Miss Garton walked to the window to look-out.

I picked up the chair and paste-bowl, and got a cloth to wipe up the mess on the carpet.

Aunt Isobel left the room, and Lynette dashed away to tidy herself.

Then Miss Garton turned round and smiled upon me.

"Are you the eldest of my pupils?" she asked.

And then she took my hand in hers, and gave it a little pat.

"Are we going to be friends, Grisel?"

I don't know why, but a lump came in my throat, and the tears to my eyes. It suddenly seemed to me that I had been struggling alone for ages to do what was right, and now somebody kind and loving and strong was going to help me and take me by the hand.

I looked up at her.

"Oh, Miss Garton," I said, "don't believe we're as bad as we look. We all want to be good, and to hold fast to what father taught us, but accidents, and misfortunes, and all kinds of horrid things happen to put us, and keep us, in disgrace. And Lynette is 'such' a dear when you know her. And Puff is his darling funny self, and the boys—they really are the nicest boys I've ever seen. We didn't come here with bad characters. Our village was quite fond of us; I don't know how we're so bad here. It is such a stiff cold house! I think—I think it is because we feel that nobody cares for us now. It makes us feel nothing matters!"

I couldn't help telling her all that, for I hoped she would understand.

And she did. She laughed a happy little laugh.

"Why, Grisel," she said, "it isn't very long ago that I was your age, and I had six brothers. Do you think I don't know what boys are like, and girls too? I think it's splendid of you staying in on this fine afternoon to tidy up this dear old schoolroom. I don't think I should have done it! Now do you think you could show me my room?"

I went along the passage at once. I was awfully happy, and when I had shown her her room, I dashed into our bedroom and cried out to Lynette:

"She's splendid, lovely, stunning! Oh, I love her with all my heart!"

Lynette was tying her hair up with her best Sunday ribbon. She looked at me with merry eyes.

"She's caught you very cleverly, Grisel!"

"She hasn't caught me at all. You must have liked her, Lynette. You couldn't help it!"

"I'll wait and see," said Lynette, nodding with her provoking smile. "A governess is bound to be beastly, as I told you. She may be smiling outside, but inside she's chock full of rules and proper ways!"

We did not see Miss Garton till tea-time, and then the boys were back. We hastily told them what she was like. They pretended it had nothing to do with them, but I noticed that both Denys and Aylwin sneaked away and washed their hands and gave themselves a brush up before they came to tea, and they don't always do that—not when we're alone. I always clean up Puff for every meal. I simply have to, for his hands get quite smelly.

Miss Garton came to tea, and Denys shook hands with her with his best manners.

"Hope you don't mind us grubbing with you, but we're off to school very soon, and then the girls will have the schoolroom to themselves."

"But there's me left," piped Puff in his shrill tone; "I'm not a girl."

"You're less than nothing," said Lynette scoffingly—"hardly a cipher; a shortsighted person wouldn't see you."

Puff began to snort and stammer.

"I shall have my tea with grandfather. He doesn't think I'm not nothing. He tells me to come and see him whenever I like. I shall tell him it's nothing but girls up here, and he and me will live in his room togever."

"Shut up, young snorter!" said Aylwin. And he gave him a kick under the table, which Puff dodged, and poor Miss Garton got it instead.

"We seem rather cramped for room under our table," she remarked.

Aylwin got scarlet.

"Sorry, but Puff is such a little beast when he gets on his high horse!"

After this we got on better. She talked quite naturally, and asked us lots of questions about the walks, and the sea, and before we came to bed, the boys acknowledged that she wasn't half bad, and I liked her better and better every moment. And now these last few days before the boys go to school, she seems to think of and do everything for us all. She took Peggy's work-basket from her, and darned the boys' stockings like lightning. I came into the room this afternoon and found her still at it.

We had been in the boys' room helping them pack. Denys pretends he is an awfully good packer, but he isn't, for he doesn't fill up the corners as he goes, and then crams all kinds of things down in them at the end. I came away at last, for they were all making the most awful noise, so that I got quite a headache. And the schoolroom looked so quiet and peaceful that I was quite glad I had left them.

I got hold of my work-box and asked Miss Garton to let me help her. I told her I used to do all the stockings at home, but Peggy had taken them away from me here.

"And that's what is the matter," I said. "We're all treated as if we are troublesome, naughty children, and must be kept out of sight. Aunt Isobel hardly comes near us, and we only see grandfather about once or twice a week. And I have always felt—well, responsible—and useful, and able to understand the reason of things, when father or the aunts talked to me. Here, we lose heart, at least I do. There's nothing to do for others. We have it all done for us. Lynette used to mend her own clothes, and we used to sit together and do our mending and tell stories. Here she never sits still at all. She gets wilder than ever, and throws her torn clothes down on the floor for Peggy to pick up and take away. I'm getting nearly as bad myself."

Miss Garton handed me a pair of Puff's stockings to mend, and she nodded as if she understood me.

"Yes, I know how you must feel, Grisel, but you must pull yourself together. Why should you leave off being helpful and useful? You tell me you want to hold fast to all that your father taught you—"

"Yes," I broke in, "but it's too difficult; I can't do it. And we quarrel so, Miss Garton. We never used to."

Tears crowded in my eyes. I really had come away from the boys because they told me I was a "double-distilled prig and fusser."

"Well, I know what will put matters right," said Miss Garton cheerfully.

"Do tell me."

"Yes, I will. We will have a talk together on Sunday when the boys are gone."

I think Miss Garton said this because Lynette dashed into the room. That's the worst of it. There are such a lot of us, and only one room to live in; we get in each other's way, and we can't get alone. Though this is quite a castle compared with our old home, yet it seems cramped and small, because we have only one corner of it. We're all right out of doors, but we have had a lot of wet weather and storms, and it's indoors where we quarrel.

"Puff has gone off down the front stairs to grandfather's study," said Lynette. "I told him he wasn't to. Denys boxed his ears because he checked him, and first he roared and cried, and then he said he'd go and tell grandfather. He simply took no notice of me. Puff is getting awful."

"We all are!" I said gloomily. "Let him go to grandfather; he won't mind. He spoils Puff!"

"I think perhaps poor Puff has too many managing him," said Miss Garton quietly. "I haven't begun to try my hand yet. You don't give me a chance. I have been watching you all. You mean well, but the sweetest temper would be spoiled by so much snubbing and managing!"

Lynette stared at Miss Garton. She stood by the window pulling the blind up and down, for she never can keep still.

"Do you think we're unkind to Puff?" she asked.

"I think you're rather hard upon him."

This was a new idea to both of us. I looked at Lynette, and she looked at me. Then she flew out of the room. I knew she had gone to tell the boys what Miss Garton had said. In a minute or two, we had Puff stamping along the passage, and then in they all came. Puff's eyes were sparkling. He was triumphant.

"I told of you, and grandfather says I shan't see you again till the summer holidays, and I'm glad of it!"

"You little sneak!" said Aylwin. "You ought to go to school. You'd get it hot for blabbing!"

I was just going to scold Puff for telling tales, but I stopped. I felt that we were always scolding him, and that Miss Garton was right.

"We're packed," announced Denys. "Peggy is pretending to finish, but we've left her nothing to do, and now we're just going to have a run along the beach."

"Let the girls go with you," said Miss Garton cheerfully, "and Puff can stay with me."

Puff looked at her doubtfully, but she smiled at him. And we left him settling down happily at the schoolroom table with his box of soldiers.

As Lynette and I were putting on our coats and hats I said:

"Miss Garton always lets us be free when she can. That's why I love her."

"Yes, she isn't like most governesses," said Lynette. "I wish she would make Puff not quite such a little beast."

Then we joined the boys and we had a jolly time. Just before we came home to tea, I was alone with Denys, and I was glad of it.

"Shall you be in the same form as Pat?" I asked.

"How can I tell! I rather hope so. He'll keep us lively."

"But, Denys, you won't let him—I mean, you will remember—" I stopped. Somehow it was getting very difficult to speak to the boys.

Denys looked at me and laughed.

"Go ahead, Grizzy! Rub it in."

"Oh, Denys!" I cried miserably. "You used to help me. You know what father said; we used to try to serve God together, and now we all seem to be living—just anyhow. I know I don't 'hold fast' any better than you do. I get angry, and do everything I oughtn't to do. But I thought at school you might help Aylwin by reminding him, and don't do what Pat wants you to do, if it isn't right. I do feel that father sent his message by me—that's why I 'rub it in,' as you call it. And I don't want to be a prig."

Tears were crowding to my eyes. I turned my head quickly away so that Denys shouldn't see them.

"All serene!" Denys said cheerfully. "You've given us the charge, Grizzy, and it's our look-out if we keep it. We don't want to be nagged at, you know. I shall remember 'H.F.' It's a pity—"

He stopped short, then waved his cap with a flourish.

"I'm inspired, Grizzy. Halloo, Aylwin, you're wanted! Now, you girls, go on off home. We've private business on."

He pulled hold of Alywin, and they both tore off along the beach in the direction of some fishermen's cottages. We were most indignant.

"It's too bad of them," said Lynette; "let's go after them."

"No," I said; "they don't want us. They'll only be furious if we follow them."

"Well, we'll just have a paddle," suggested Lynette; "it will be lovely; come on."

"It will be too cold," I said, "and Miss Garton expects us back to tea at five, and it's nearly half-past four now."

I showed her my watch—mother's watch, which I always wore.

She made a grimace, but I got her to go back to the house with me.

I thought that Denys had run off from me to stop me preaching at him, and I felt rather down about it.

When we got up to the schoolroom, Puff met us with a radiant face.

"I've been hearing jolly stunning stories, much better than yours, Grizzy. Me and Miss Garton are fren's."

"I'm glad to hear it," I said.

Miss Garton was out of the room.

"And she says I can spell wonderful. We've had a game with letters. She's got a funny little box of them, and we jumble the letters up and make words."

I sat down by the fire. The schoolroom always looks comfortable at tea-time, and I felt very tired. Puff, seeing I was rather silent, put his head on one side and looked at me, just like some saucy sparrow.

"Are you feeling good or evil, Grizzy?"

I couldn't help laughing.

"You're a little imp, Puff! I'm feeling sorry that the boys are going away."

"I'm not. I'm glad, orf'lly glad. I'll have a room to myself, and they shan't kick me out of bed in the morning any more. And grandfather is going to give me a pony. I told him to, and he said 'yes.' And he says I may call him Gruffy!"

"Oh, Puff, I don't believe it!"

"He did; he said he liked it. And when I get tired of living with girls and womans, he told me to come downstairs to him. And Gruffy and me like to be together. It's ripping!"

Puff's confidences stopped here, for Peggy came in with the tea.

The boys were a quarter of an hour late for it, but they came to the table looking full of mystery, and we couldn't get out of them where they had been.

"We've been having some rites performed," Aylwin said importantly.

"You've been ducked in the sea by somebody!" guessed Lynette.

They shook their heads. After tea, they went down to grandfather's study. He wanted to see them, for they would be going to school early the next morning before he was up, and it was a good-bye visit.

They came upstairs delighted.

"We took our pills, and then had the jam," said Denys, opening his hand and showing us a golden sovereign.

Aylwin had the same. I think it was noble of grandfather to give it to them. I expect he lectured them. Aylwin said he did, but they didn't tell us what he said.

It was just before they went to bed that they showed Lynette and me what they had been doing.

Denys rolled up his shirt-sleeve, and there, above his left wrist, was tattooed in blue—"H.F."

Aylwin had the same. I was simply delighted. Lynette didn't know at first what it was. They had got an old sailor to do it for them. We knew him well, for he had shown us his arms, which were just like scrap-books. They were simply covered with letters and pictures!

"Oh, I think it is splendid!" I said.

"Branded for life!" said Aylwin. "I don't know that I quite like it, only nobody will know what it means—that's a comfort, and if they ask I shall say 'Happy Fellow.'"

"Or 'Happy Fool,'" Lynette suggested.

I couldn't laugh. I thought of them going about, not only at school, but afterwards when they're grown-up, and in the army and in battle, and when they're older still, and perhaps fathers of families and getting old men, always able to look at their arm and read "Hold Fast." How it will remind them!

"Why, Grizzy, what big eyes!" said Denys. "Now there'll be no need of jawing at us ever again. You'll have lost your vocation."

"Oh!" I said, drawing a long breath. "I think it is lovely."

And then I made up my mind at once that I would be tattooed too. Lynette seemed to guess my thoughts.

"We must all be done!" she said. "Of course we must. Hurrah for 'H.F.'! 'H.F.' for ever!"

And then she danced round the room, and the boys began to romp after her, and dragged me into it. And when Miss Garton came in, she said she could hardly see us for the dust we were making.

The schoolroom carpet is old, and hasn't been very well swept, we say. But Peggy says we would raise the dust out of polished floors-which of course is nonsense!

When Miss Garton heard about the boys' arms, she told us that we must not copy them.

"Why?" Lynette asked. "It is to make us good, and keep us good, without any jawing from anybody!"

"You are girls," said Miss Garton. "When you are grown-up, you will have bare arms in evening dress, and the letters would look ugly."

"But we shouldn't mind," I urged; "it would be cowardly of us if we minded telling people what it was."

"Let the letters sink into your hearts and stay there," she said; "that is the best place for them."

I was awfully disappointed. Lynette pursed up her mouth and said nothing. I felt she wouldn't give up the idea, but we began talking about other things, and nothing more was said about it.

Now the boys have gone. It is dreadful without them. But we're starting lessons, and I see that Miss Garton means to keep us hard at work. She says we're dreadfully backward for our ages, and I know we are. She makes all our lessons very interesting. Even Lynette likes learning with her. And Puff is as good as a little cherub. The only troublesome thing about him is that he is always running off to grandfather. Grandfather encourages him to do it. Sometimes they walk up and down the terrace together, and Puff is the talker and grandfather the listener. He always calls him Gruffy now, and grandfather calls him the Bantam.

Miss Garton had to go downstairs and fetch him once. He ran away in lesson time, and she is very punctual and particular about the hours we work and the hours we play. The day after the boys went, Lynette and I went out into the garden by ourselves. I went to my favourite seat in the old rose garden. Lynette came with me, but she soon rushed off, and then I saw nothing of her for more than an hour. When she came into the schoolroom, she was limping.

"The boys never told us it hurt!" she said.

"Oh, Lynette, you've been tattooed on your leg!" I cried.

She nodded, then pulled down her stocking, and on the front of her foot she showed me a large "H.F."

I did not know whether I envied her or not.

"You can't show it to people," I said.

"Well, why should I? We don't go about and brag about it, do we? We don't shout out, 'Hold Fast' all day long."

"No. But you won't be reminded of it like the boys are. You will only see it when you go to bed and when you get up."

"That's just the time I want to see it, when I say my prayers. It belongs to them. It's religious."

Lynette always puts things so funnily.

"I want to be reminded of it in the middle of the day," I said.

"So shall I be when I paddle in the sea," said Lynette. "And anyhow, I'm branded with it for ever and ever."

Then I began to want it too—but I didn't like the idea of having it on my foot. Miss Garton was not pleased when she heard of what Lynette had done.

"I thought I had reasonable girls to deal with," she said. "You are too independent for your age, Lynette. Must I positively forbid you, Grisel, to have your foot done?"

"No," I said, "if you say I'd better not, I won't. But I can't help liking the idea of it very much."

Miss Garton smiled at me.

"There's a romantic touch, isn't there, Grisel? But I'm perfectly certain that if anybody is branded with those words upon her heart and brain it is you! So there is no need to stoop to such a common device as this to keep it ever in your mind."

Lynette didn't like the idea of a "common device" at all. "It isn't at all a common thing to be tattooed," she said; "it's quite uncommon. There's only one man in this place who could do it for us. And you might go to hundred of towns in England, and search all over London, and even then perhaps not find a man to do it for you. I was simply longing to have a rose marked on me. He said roses were the flowers for English girls, and the thistle for Scotch ones. But it hurt rather, and I told him the letters were quite enough for this time."

I tried to comfort myself with Miss Garton's words, but I didn't feel quite happy till Sunday came. We went to church in the morning. It was a lovely day, almost like summer, so bright and warm, and in the afternoon Miss Garton took us for a walk. Lynette and Puff got two of the dogs which are kept in the stable, and when they were racing on over the common with them, Miss Garton began to talk to me. She does speak so beautifully, and understands before you can begin to tell her what your difficulties are.

"I know, Grisel. I think it is almost the hardest time in our lives when we are very young, and we try to be good. There are so many rules and regulations which get broken through sheer forgetfulness. And we get misunderstood, and are sometimes accused unjustly, and then we lose heart, and feel it is no good to go on trying."

"Yes," I said eagerly, "that's just it. We all want to 'hold fast,' Miss Garton. If you talked to us when we were quiet and sitting down, we would all say we meant to do it every day, but things always happen to make us excited, and then we forget. And here it does seem more difficult. There were always father's sermons at home on Sunday, but here—well, you can't say the sermon this morning could help us. I tried and tried to listen, but I simply didn't understand a word of it.

"Father preached just like he talked. Everything was easy at home, we used to go and see the old villagers and read to them when they were ill, and I had a Sunday class of tinies, and teaching them to be good, helped me to be, myself. And then we could always go and tell father anything that worried us.

"Father is expecting us to hold fast to all he taught us, and God expects it too, and I don't believe any of us will do it, not really properly! I suppose when we are grown-up, it will be easy, but perhaps we shall have forgotten all about it by that time."

Miss Garton gave her little low laugh, which I always love to hear.

"Poor little Grisel! And, in addition to your own efforts after goodness, you feel you are responsible for all the rest. I wonder if you have caught your father's true meaning? Shall I tell you what I think would make your upward path very easy?"

"Oh, do! I feel nothing will make it easy now."

"Do you remember this little verse in the Bible:

"'I the LORD have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee'?"

"I think I've heard it," I said.

"Now don't you think, if you know that the Lord has taken hold of your hand, that you will let Him help you through your difficulties? 'Hold fast' to His Hand—that is what you have got to do. It is hard to 'hold fast' to righteousness, but if you hold fast to a strong and loving Hand, you will be like a little child led by its father. You won't be allowed to tumble."

I could not speak. It seemed to come upon me in a flash that I had forgotten all about God's help, and that I had been trying to be good without Him.

"Oh, Miss Garton," I gasped, "that is lovely!"

I couldn't say more. A lump came in my throat. I thought that Jesus Christ had been holding out His Hand all this time for us to hold fast to, and we had been pushing it away, and trying to be good by ourselves.

Lynette and Puff came racing back, and we had no more talk, but it was quite enough. And when we got home, I went off to my favourite place by mother's doll's grave, and then I sat down on the seat and I looked up into the blue sky, and I asked God to take my hand into His and keep it. I felt that I put it into His, and that He took it. And I never had such a happy Sunday as I had after that. I longed to tell Lynette about it, but I had to wait till we came to bed.

When I told her, she didn't seem much impressed.

"You mean, Grisel, that father meant that we should hold fast to Jesus Christ's Hand. How do you know he meant that?"

"It's all so easy if we do, Lynette; we shall 'hold fast' to all the rest if we have our hand in His. We shan't feel as if it is too difficult to be good, and He will remind us if we forget."

"I have my foot," said Lynette, turning down her stocking at once, and looking thoughtfully at the "H.F." upon it.

"That won't help you," I said; "oh, Lynette, do think seriously!"

"I am," she returned, "but I wasn't born so good as you, Grisel. God put a special little bit of goodness in you, when He made you. And He either forgot, or didn't think me worth the trouble? I never, never, 'never', if I live to be a hundred years old, shall be as good as you, and—and I'm not sure that I want to be."

"I'm not good," I said quickly, "but I want to be."

"Yes, that's just the difference. You always want to be; I only want to be sometimes. But now Pat and the boys are away, there is nobody to lark round with, and we shall be 'very' dull and 'very' good till they come back."

I said no more, but I knew that Lynette could never be dull, and I doubted if she would be "very" good till the summer holidays. I knew I should not.

And the very next day she got into an awful scrape.

CHAPTER IX

MY GODMOTHER

WE have dinner at one o'clock in the schoolroom with Miss Garton. She gives us till three o'clock to play about in the garden or do what we like, and then we begin lessons again. Puff always goes to grandfather in the study for part of the time. Grandfather goes to his study after he has had his lunch, and nobody but Puff goes near him till four o'clock, as he is always supposed to be resting then.

On this day I went down to the Lodge, for Mrs. Craig who lives there has a darling baby, and I love to nurse it.

I stayed there till ten minutes to three, and then I went back to the schoolroom.

There was no sign of Lynette, and Miss Garton asked me where she was.

"I don't know," I said; "I asked her to come down to the Lodge, but she seemed in a hurry to get away by herself somewhere."

Miss Garton did not wait. She never fusses. But when half-past three came, and then four, and no Lynette, she left me to do a French exercise, and went out of the room to look for her. Puff did not do lessons in the afternoon. But he had come back to the schoolroom and was playing contentedly with his railway engine in the corner.

He had not seen Lynette since dinner. I began to wonder whether she had gone to the beach and got drowned. And I'm afraid I made a lot of mistakes in my French exercise, for I was so busy thinking about her.

And then I heard an awful row in the hall, grandfather's voice loud and angry, and Aunt Isobel's, and Miss Garton's. I could not resist running out and opening the baize door at the end of our passage.

Miss Garton was coming up the stairs with Lynette, who was very red in the face, and looked in an untidy mess. Her hair was sticking out in all directions, and she had some dirty sticky streaks all down her face and dress.

Miss Garton did not bring her into the schoolroom, but told her to go to her bedroom and make herself tidy and stay there for the present. Then she came into the schoolroom, with a grave set face.

"What has happened?" I asked.

"Finish your lessons," Miss Garton said quietly. "You have only half an hour more."

I felt cross. I was being treated like a small child.

"Isn't Lynette coming to do hers?" I asked.

Miss Garton made no answer. It was the first time she had behaved like a governess, and I didn't like it. I was simply dying of curiosity to know what Lynette had been doing, and I began writing my exercise anyhow from sheer temper, and then suddenly I remembered the Hand that was holding me, and felt ashamed of myself. When half-past four came, my exercise was done.

Miss Garton seems like a wizard sometimes. She put her hand on my shoulder.

"You had a bad five minutes, Grisel, didn't you? I am so glad you got the better of it. Lesson time is lesson time, but now it is over, I am quite as anxious as you to know what possessed Lynette to act so foolishly. I have judged it wiser to leave her to calm down. She will have to do her lessons after tea. She was hiding in a cupboard in your grandfather's room. I am going to her now. I dare say she will tell you more fully about it than she will me, but I must speak to her alone first."

Then she left the room.

"Puff," I said, "were you with grandfather this afternoon? Was Lynette there too?"

"O' course she wasn't. Gruffy was there by hisself, and me and him talked, and he showed me a set of funny little men with faces, for chess."

I couldn't understand it. And when Lynette came to tea with rather a shamed face, I couldn't ask her about it before Miss Garton and Puff, and she was kept at her lessons till she went to bed, and it was only when we were in our room together that I heard the whole story.

"I really only did it for fun, Grisel. It wasn't wickedness, but I am always so unlucky, and everything happens wrong on purpose with me. You know how often we have said we should like to hear what Puff says when he's with grandfather. Well, just as I was eating my pudding at dinner, the idea came to me, and I went straight away and did it as soon as ever I could. It was to hide in the study and hear them talking."

"But that isn't quite nice—it's eavesdropping!" I said.

"Bosh! As if Puff would ever say anything we ought not to listen to! Well, I had to be quick to get in there before Puff and grandfather, and I was rather flurried because there seemed nowhere to hide. I thought I could get under the sofa, but it was too near the ground, and I stuck, so I gave it up, and then I saw a cupboard door, and I opened it, and there were a few of grandfather's garden coats hanging there, and his hat, and a shelf with some old medicine bottles. I crept in and pulled the door after me, and it shut, and then I waited till they came in—and oh, Grisel, it was too funny for words. Puff talked like an old man, and he said such funny things. He began about what he was going to do when he grew up.

"'Denys is going to be a soldier, and Aylwin, too, if he can, but I'll be a gempleum like you, Gruffy, and I'll hang my room all round with pipes, and guns, and fish-rods, and have foxes' heads and tails instead of pictures. Gempleums do egsackly as they like always.'

"'Do they, young Bantam?' chuckled grandfather. 'You'll have to work hard if you live a life like mine. Do you think before this confounded gout took me I spent my days in arm-chairs? No, I worked harder than any labourer, and you'll have to work too.'

"'What shall I work at?'

"'I think you'll make a good sailor. All our boys have been in the services.'

"And then Puff was silent for a minute, and then he burst out:

"'When you go to heaven, will you have gout?'

"'I hope I'll leave it in my grave,' chuckled grandfather.

"'There's such a lot of sitting still in heaven,' said Puff with a sigh.

"'Is there? I didn't know it.'

"'Oh, yes, and there's a lot of singing to be done too. I've quite made up my mind what I'll do when I get there.'

"'I should like to hear.'

"Puff lowered his voice. I could only just hear him.

"'I'll go up to Jesus Christ and say, "Please, Lord, let's come away from these crowds, and will You take me to see inside the moon?" And then Him and me will do it. He'll be able to do everything, you know, as easy as winking!'"

"Oh, Lynette!" I said. "Puff ought not to talk like that; it isn't reverent."

"Well, I couldn't help him doing it. Of course grandfather laughed, and then Puff took courage and went on talking a lot of rot like that, inventing as he went along."

"Get on to your part," I said. "I don't want to hear Puff's talk!"

"But that was what I went into the cupboard to hear. And I must tell you one thing that grandfather said. He told Puff that Denys would have to carry on in this house when he went, and not Puff. Fancy, Grisel! Will Denys be as rich as grandfather?"

"I don't know. You ought not to have listened, Lynette."

"Now I'll tell you about myself. At last Puff went away, and I began to wonder how I could get out without grandfather's seeing me. You see, I never think of the end when I begin a thing, and what do you think he did when he was alone? I looked through the keyhole and saw him. He took out his teeth! You never saw what a sight he was. He looked two hundred years old! And then he covered his head with a silk handkerchief, and prepared to go to sleep. Now was my chance of getting away. I waited till he snored, and then very softly tried to open the door. And what do you think I found?"

"That you couldn't do it, of course!"

"Yes, that pig of a cupboard couldn't be opened from the inside. There was no handle."

"Well, there isn't generally. People don't get into cupboards. It served you right!"

"But wasn't it 'awful'? I began to think of the lady who shut herself up in the oak chest when she was playing hide and seek, and wasn't found till she was a skeleton. And I got quite frightened. I simply daren't knock, for I knew I should get it hot from grandfather if he found me there. And so I waited and waited, and it seemed like a thousand years. And then he woke up, and Aunt Isobel came in, but she didn't stay, only took the letters for the post.

"I got quite desperate. I ached all over with standing, and then I tried to move my position, and a beastly bottle fell off the shelf on the top of me, and spilt itself all over me! That was the last straw. I felt I didn't care if I was going to be hung, so I hammered at the door, and grandfather opened it in great agitation, and then was furious when he saw me. He made a dash for his teeth; it was so funny! I tried to run out of the room, but he caught hold of me and shook me! Yes, he did! And I hated him! He's a wicked old man! And then I screamed, and Aunt Isobel came in, and then Miss Garton, and they wouldn't let me explain, and I was hustled upstairs, It was most unjust!"

"GRANDFATHER WAS FURIOUS WHEN HE SAW ME."

"How could you explain, Lynette? You got in there to spy and listen. I should think it was much better not explained."

"I was very rude to grandfather," Lynette said thoughtfully. "When he shook me, I felt I did not care what I said to him, I said I was sorry he was mother's father, and that he wouldn't have dared to shake me if mother had been alive!"

"Oh, Lynette, how awful! How could you!"

"He grew white with rage, but his teeth were rattling about in his mouth—he hadn't had time to put them in properly—and then I felt sorry for him, for he is so old, and I was just going to tell him so when Aunt Isobel came in, and then I didn't say any more; they all scolded so."

I felt quite aghast.

"I don't expect grandfather will keep us here any more," I said forlornly. For I knew that Lynette had been outrageously rude.

"So it's no good my trying to be good or H.F. any more," Lynette said, "and I don't think I shall say my prayers to-night. I don't feel that God cares about me a bit."

She began to sniff. And Lynette cries so seldom that I knew she must feel very miserable.

I put my arms round her and kissed her.

"Of course God cares, Lynette, and you must say your prayers to ask to be forgiven. If you're sorry, you can start fresh to-morrow."

"But to-morrow I'm to beg grandfather's pardon, Miss Garton says, and I had made up my mind that I wouldn't do it."

"Then you must unmake your mind, and do it," I said. "Of course you must, Lynette. Father would have told you to do it."

"Father loved me," said Lynette, and then she burst into tears and sobbed as if her heart would break.

"Father still loves you," I whispered, putting my arms round her, "and God loves you, Lynette, and I'm sure, quite sure, that father talks to God about all of us. If you really didn't mean to do wrong, it will be all the easier to tell grandfather you're sorry, and oh, Lynette dear, do hold fast."

Lynette stopped crying. She's very sudden in the way she does things. She pulled down her stocking and looked at the blue H.F. on her foot with big grave eyes. "I remember," she said, looking up at me, "that father used to say to the boys,—

"'Confession to God and frank apology to man blots out a sin.'

"I must hold fast to it, so I'll say I'm sorry to-morrow!"

I gave a sigh of relief, and she did it, and grandfather forgave her.

After this, we went on quietly for a long time. Lynette and I are getting very fond of Miss Garton. She seems as if she was sent to us to help us to be good. And she isn't solemn and severe, but she laughs and plays games, and quite enjoys romping with Puff. It's only at lessons she's governessy, and of course she must be that. Now to-day something nice has happened, and I must write it down.

Aunt Isobel came to the schoolroom after lunch.

"Can you spare Grisel this afternoon, Miss Garton? I am going to pay a visit to an aunt who lives a long way off, and she wants to see the child, as she is her godmother."

I jumped up from my chair in great excitement.

"The godmother I was named after? Oh, I shall like to see her. Father told me once she lived in Scotland, but she has never once written to me or asked about me, and I thought she was dead. Did she know mother, Aunt Isobel? Oh, do tell me about her!"

"Hush, Grisel," said Miss Garton, "not so fast. Your aunt will be deafened!"

I was screaming a little, I was so excited, so I tried to calm down. I was excused my afternoon lessons, and at half-past two we drove off, Aunt Isobel and I, in the big carriage and pair. It was ten miles off. Lynette was rather envious of me at first, but Miss Garton told her she would take a walk along the beach with her and that comforted her a little. The one thing we do find dreary is walking out along flat roads for walking's sake; it always seems such awful waste of time.

At first Aunt Isobel was very silent, but as we drove along she began telling me about my godmother. She was a Mrs. Bannock, and was grandfather's sister. She had always been very fond of mother, though she had never seen her since she had married father.

"Why hasn't she remembered me?" I asked.

"People cannot always be in correspondence with their godchildren all over the world," said Aunt Isobel. "I have godchildren of my own whom I have quite lost sight of."

I didn't say anything, but I thought of my other godmother, who was Aunt Caroline, and she used to say that she felt quite responsible for me till I was confirmed. I wondered what Great-aunt Grisel would be like. I had always borne a grudge against her for giving me her ugly name. But I did not like to say this to Aunt Isobel.

And the drive so interested me that I did not want to talk. We soon left the sea and drove between great woods, with old beech-trees and mossy banks. A few primroses peeped out in sheltered corners. I longed to get out and pick them. Then we passed through villages, but I don't think Scotch villages are as pretty as English ones.

At last we came to some iron gates, and drove through an avenue of pines and larches for two miles, and then we came out upon a beautiful old house with windows like church windows and turrets and towers. I was quite excited, but Aunt Isobel told me not to fidget, so I tried to sit still and keep my eyes straight in front of me.

We went up a flight of broad steps, and then a dear old butler, with a smiling face, took us through a stone hall to a very long drawing-room. I think there were about ten windows in it. It seemed full of beautiful things, and the wall was so covered with pictures that you couldn't see any of the wall itself. There were two fires, one at each end, and at the farther end a lady was seated knitting. But she had a book on a reading-stand by her, and I think she was reading as well. She stood up when we came towards her, and she was very tall, with silver grey hair, and a sweet face. She wasn't only sweet, there was a kind of merry look about her, which I loved. And I lost my heart to her then and there for ever. I felt I could almost adore and worship her!

"Well, Isobel, you have brought her. What a tall girl!"

She put both her hands on my shoulders and held me away from her for a minute or two, and I felt her dark eyes were looking through to my soul. I was so glad I hadn't anything weighing on my conscience, for if I had, I felt sure she would have found it out.

"She's her mother over again!" Aunt Grisel said. "Why didn't you tell me so, Isobel? I would have had her over before had I known it."

"Oh," I said earnestly, "do you really think I am like mother? May I tell the boys you said so? Mother was beautiful, though, and I am very plain. How am I like her?"

Aunt Grisel put her hand under my chin, and bent and kissed me.

"You have her eyes and mouth, and a bit of her soul, I am sure."

I felt my cheeks getting quite red. A bit of mother's soul! Oh, if I only had!

And then Aunt Grisel told me to sit down, and she began to talk to Aunt Isobel about different things and about people. But she didn't talk properly, like Aunt Isobel always does; she made little jokes, and was very racy.

I couldn't take my eyes off her. Then she asked Aunt Isobel if she would go upstairs and see an invalid cousin who was staying with her. And when Aunt Isobel had left the room, she turned to me and gave me a slow wink, and then her eyes twinkled with laughter, though her lips were grave.

"Your Aunt Isobel is a very heavy conversationalist. We shall get on better alone, I am sure. Well, I see you have been taking stock of the old lady with those big eyes of yours! What do you think of her?"

"Oh!" I gasped. "I do like you most awfully. I've never seen anybody like you. And when you say I'm like mother, it makes me want to hug you!"

"Please don't. Now just sit down here and talk. I want to hear your side of the question. I hoped you would manage between you to shake up Isobel into a natural woman. But she tells me the boys have been sent away, and a governess keeps the rest of you from disturbing her peace. Don't you see anything of your grandfather? He wants young life about him. He and your Aunt Isobel have fossilised themselves. I stayed with them for a week once. I was asked for a month, but I ran away at the end of a week. I felt I was becoming petrified!"

"Oh, you'll understand," I said, "but it's very good of grandfather to have us all, and I don't wonder he doesn't like us much, for we are so noisy."

I began to tell her all about the boys, and then I told her about our Lincolnshire home, and about our Empire League there, and I poured it all out as fast as I could, for she sat and laughed and knitted away like lightning, and encouraged me to tell her more and more. And at last I stopped from sheer want of breath.

"Well, Grisel, I'm glad to know you, child! I was a wild bit of a thing myself when I was young, and age hasn't made me forget how quickly the blood runs in young veins. If you'd come to me with folded hands and placid eyes, I'd have wished for no more of you, but you've got the bit of your mother's soul that I loved."

"Do tell me what that bit is," I entreated her.

Aunt Grisel laughed.

"I had her to stay with me once when she was a wee bairn of five years old. I had to punish her, and I sat her in the corner for half an hour. She was as quiet as a little mouse, but when I let her out, her eyes were shining like stars.

"'I've enjoyed me so much!' she said, looking up into my face with mischief lurking about her lips.

"'What have you been doing?' I said.

"'Making up,' she answered. 'First I was a little imp playing outside the gate of heaven, and purtending I didn't want to go in, and then I was a sweet little angel playing inside, and shaking my head through the bars at the imp.'

"'And which are you now?' I demanded sternly. 'Angel or imp?'

"And then her eyes shone brighter than ever. 'Aunt Grisel's and God's little angel,' she said.

"And, bless her heart, she was my angel till she died, and then I suppose she became God's."

Tears filled my eyes.

"Oh, that's lovely, Aunt Grisel! Thank you so much for telling it to me. What a darling little story!" Then I added, "But I don't see how that explains about me."

"You see visions and dreams and are full of romance."

I coloured up. What sharp eyes Aunt Grisel had!

"Miss Garton tries to get me to leave off dreaming."

"Ah! Don't you do it! Dream away, child. It is your heritage. Dreams such as yours only come in youth!"

We had no time for much more talk, for Aunt Isobel came back, and then we had tea. How the boys would have enjoyed it! Scotch people have always such good cakes and biscuits! And Aunt Grisel's china was so rich-looking and old, and there was a beautiful old silver cake-basket, with two little cupids holding a garland of roses, which formed the handle, and a big silver jug of thick yellow cream!

I handed round the cups and cakes, and I felt Aunt Grisel's eyes following me about, until I began to get a little nervous.

"I should like to see my godchild again, Isobel. When can she come?"

"She is at lessons, my dear aunt, and it's a long way."

"Hoots! Didn't you know I had started a car? Sold my pair of horses a month ago. I'll send it over for her."

"I think we must wait till the holidays," said Aunt Isobel gravely.

"We do have almost a holiday every Saturday," I said pleadingly.

"Of course they do. Let her come and bring her sister with her. Young things like to go about together. Not next Saturday, but the week after, and I'll send the car in time to have you out here for lunch."

She nodded to me, and Aunt Isobel gave way.

And then, when I wished her good-bye, she kissed me.

"Ah," she said, "I hope there's more of Grace about you than of Grisel. For the Grisels in our family have been a wild lot."

When we were driving home, I asked Aunt Isobel why the Grisels were wild.

"It is only Aunt Grisel's way of talking," she said, but I saw she didn't want to explain it to me.

I had a lot to tell Lynette when we got home, and she was awfully glad to be invited with me next time. I do hope Aunt Grisel won't get tired of us, but ask us over again and again. I love her!

CHAPTER X

THE BEGINNING OF WAR

PEGGY knows all about our Great-aunt Grisel. She always comes into our rooms and brushes out our hair for us in the evening. Aunt Isobel told her to do it after Miss Garton came. At first we didn't like it, for we've always done everything for ourselves, and we like to talk over the day together, and we don't always like her hearing what we say, but we're getting accustomed to her, and she does not stay very long.

"Was Aunt Grisel wild when she was young?" Lynette asked, for I had told her all that had been said.

"Aye, she were wild, indeed!" said Peggy, shaking her head. "She and Mr. Dick were always galloping about the country on half-broken horses. No, no, Mr. Dick is not your grandfather. He died of fever in India when he were quite a young man. Your grandfather were the eldest of all, and much more circumspect. Nobody could keep Miss Grisel in order. Her father spoiled her, and her mother were too delicate to struggle with her high sperrits. There wasn't a prank played but Miss Grisel was in it, and even to her wedding-day, she were like a heedless child."

"Tell us more, Peggy," I said. "Did you live with them all then?"

"No, but I was a bit of a lassie in the village when your grandfeyther brought his bride home to this house. And Miss Grisel was not married then. I come to live here afore your sweet mother were born, and Miss Grisel married the year after. I can see her dancing across the lawn with her hair down her back the very day before she was wed, and young Mr. Bannock, he stood and called to her.

"'My last day of liberty,' she cried, 'and 'tis your place to come to "me."'

"With that she ran clean away into the woods, and he never saw her till the next morning when she sailed up the church as haughty as a queen!"

"What a pity girls like that get old!" I said. "It must be so trying for them to have to sober down."

"Marriage sobers most," said Peggy.

"Yes," said Lynette quickly, "I shall take good care not to marry till I'm quite old."

"Then you won't be wanted," I said, laughing.

I longed to see Aunt Grisel again, but to-day came at last, and Lynette and I have spent a lovely day with her. And she told us a lot of funny stories, and wasn't a bit like Aunt Isobel, though she is much older. We just told her everything, and she was never shocked. Lynette asked her why she wasn't, and she said:

"I just remember what I was myself. And nobody ought to be shocked at young people's spirits and heedlessness. It is only lies and deceit that shock me. I can't do with 'them'."

She took us into a very big aviary she had; there were all kinds of birds in it, such dear little love-birds, and canaries and finches, and beautiful coloured paraquets. They all seemed to know her, and she knew every one of them, and had a name for each. The aviary had beautiful sand at the bottom, and a little fountain and round stone trough, and there were trees and ferns growing in it. Lynette said she would like to live in a cage like that. But I said the bars all round would be awful.

We told her about the boys and Pat, and she knows Pat and likes him.

Just before we left her, she called me into her private room, a little sitting-room next her bedroom.

"I want to give you this, Grisel," she said. "I have never sent you a present, have I? And I know you will love this. I had it taken for myself. And your mother was only a year older than you when she had it painted. Don't you see the likeness to yourself?"

She put into my hands a beautiful little miniature of darling mother, made up into a pendant. I felt the tears crowding into my eyes as I looked at it. I could not see that it was a bit like me. Mother had a band of blue velvet through her hair, and it was clustering in curls round her face. A string of pearls was round her neck, and her eyes looked straight at me, in a sweet, steadfast way. She seemed to be looking into my soul, but was pleased at what she saw there, for she was smiling so contentedly and happily! At least that was what she looked like to me.

"Oh, Aunt Grisel," I said, "I can't thank you! I can't tell you what I feel! To have this for my very own! Do you really mean it?"

"I really do."

Aunt Grisel was smiling, and then she bent down and gave me one of her quick, sudden kisses.

"I am sure you are good, are you not?" she said. "I shan't have to talk in a godmother's style to you, shall I? You don't need that."

"Oh, I'm not a bit good," I cried, "but I want to be!"

"That's all right, then," said Aunt Grisel, with a funny little laugh. "If the want is there, the rest will follow!"

Then she turned to her dressing-case, and took out a slender gold chain.

"Take this with it, child," she said, "then you can wear it always round your neck under your frocks and it will be safe!"

So then I thanked her again, and she fastened it round my neck herself, and I came away feeling as happy as if I were in heaven with father and mother.

To-night we have been talking about it—Lynette and I.

"Doesn't she look as if she were speaking to us, Lynette?" I said. "What is it she is saying?"

"Yes, she's saying something good to us," said Lynette, staring at the miniature, which I had put down on our dressing-table.

And then I seemed to understand all at once. It was an inspiration.

"She is saying 'Hold fast!' Look, Lynette, isn't she?"

Lynette stared in silence for a minute, then she nodded gravely.

"Yes, mother," she said in a half whisper; "I'm doing it. It's on my foot, you know. I can't forget!"

Mother's eyes looked right into mine. She was so sweet, so earnest! I felt positively certain she knew all about us; she seemed to say, "It is your charge, Grisel. Hold fast! Hold fast! Darling, I see it in your heart, but act it out every day!"

And I bent and kissed her smiling mouth.

"Oh, mother, I will!" I said, and I prayed then and there that God would help me to do it.

Now I'm writing this and I'm just going to bed, and I mean to sleep with mother's sweet face under my pillow. But Lynette is sitting upon the outside of her bed in her nightdress, and her hands are clasped round her knees.

"Grisel, it's all nonsense. We weren't born when mother was painted and looked like that; it's only our make-up!"

"Oh, bother!" I said. "You're always so matter-of-fact—as bad as Aylwin."

"You're so silly and romantic," scoffed Lynette.

"I mean to be," I said firmly, "and can't mother's spirit come into her picture for a moment, and bring us a message from God?"

Lynette stared at me with her big blue eyes. Then she scrambled into bed, and I am going to follow her. I do sometimes have the last word!

*****

Such a long time has gone by since I wrote in this book. We have been busy with our lessons, and everything has gone on as usual, but now the whole world seems topsy-turvy, and I'm wondering if it is not some awful dream. The summer holidays have come, and Miss Garton has left us, and we are all a merry party again alone in our schoolroom. The boys seem to be grown, and Denys looks very tall, and talks as if he is almost a man. He is over sixteen, so I suppose he is growing up. Pat has been over to us just as wild as ever. He will never grow up, I am sure, and yet—and yet, after what has happened, I am not so sure, but I must make haste to write it down.

Two days ago Pat came over, and he could talk of nothing but Ulster and the Home Rule Bill. He declared he would go over and take part in the fighting when it once began.

"Do you think this cold old cautious porridge country will keep me, when Ould Oireland is callin' to her boys to come and save her?"

"But you're at school!" I said.

"School be blown to the four winds!" ejaculated Pat. "Do you think anything short of bolts and bars would hold me when there's fightin' about?"

"Oh," I said, little dreaming of what was coming upon us, "I hope there'll be no fighting, Pat. Even now something may stop it. I don't see how civil war could ever come again. We're too civilised for it. How could you shoot a man passing along the street in cold blood, Pat?"

"Sure my blood would be boiling hot," said Pat.

And then to-day, like a thunder-bolt, came the news. We don't read the newspapers; sometimes Miss Garton reads bits out to us, but we've been much too busy down by the sea to think of papers since the holidays began. We have bathed and paddled and boated and shrimped, and had a splendid time.

This afternoon we were dragging ourselves home to tea, tired and dirty and very untidy, when to our astonishment grandfather, standing at the front door, waved his newspaper at us.

"England has declared war against Germany!" he said.

We rushed up the steps. He often sits outside waiting for the papers in the afternoon. We get our papers very late here. Aunt Isobel was standing by him, and she was looking quite white and frightened. And then Denys and Aylwin threw their caps up in the air and shouted:

"God save the King! Hurrah for Old England!"

Grandfather didn't scold them for the noise they made. He was awfully excited. He told us what had been happening, how the last week things had been moving awfully fast, and how Germany had rushed into Belgium, and was fighting horribly there now.

"And, oh," he said with a groan, "to think that I shall have to sit like an old hulk here, and be too old to do anything!"

Then Denys threw up his head.

"But our chance has come, grandfather. We shall want all our men. And in war time, they take boys. You'll let me go, won't you? I shall have the time of my life!"

I gasped, and so did Lynette.

Grandfather put his hand on Denys's shoulder.

"You're at least a year too young," he said, "but that's the spirit, my boy. You wouldn't be a grandson of mine if you weren't keen to serve your King!"

We all talked hard then, and we actually found ourselves telling grandfather about our Empire League which we had founded in Lincolnshire, and how we had all made up our minds to fight for king and country when the opportunity came.

Then our tea-bell rang out, and we had to go, but I could hardly get the boys to wash their hands for tea—they were so excited. It seemed as if it could not be true. We had talked of the Germans fighting us so often, and we had heard all that Captain Rogers said about our country being so unprepared, and had somehow felt that war would never really come, and now it had, and I was almost stunned by it.

We were all talking when Puff broke in with a solemn face:

"And will the Germans get here to-morrow, do you think? And how will we begin? And where will be the battlefield?"

"You little stupid!" said Lynette. "They won't get here at all. We're going to fight them in Belgium."

"Then we shan't see nothing at all!" said Puff in a disappointed tone.

"Oh, if only we had been born a couple of years earlier," groaned Aylwin. "It does seem too awful to be out of it as we are!"

"We won't be out of it," I said, jumping up from the tea-table and walking up and down the room in my excitement. "There'll be a lot to do for us girls, I know! We're bound to help the war. Our day has come!"

"Hurrah!" cried Aylwin.

And Lynette joined him. "Our day has come."

And then they marched round the room, singing at the top of their voices:

Land of our Birth, we pledge to thee
Our love and toil in the years to be!
When we are grown and take our place
As men and women with our race.

*****

Land of our Birth, our Faith, our Pride,
For whose dear sake our fathers died;
Oh, Motherland! we pledge to thee
Head, heart, and hand through the years to be.

The last two lines were our battle-cry in the Empire League.

Denys and I echoed them with a shout! And Puff joined us:

Oh, Motherland! we pledge to thee
Head, heart, and hand through the years to be!

"Why, old Grizzy is weeping!" cried Aylwin.

"I can't help it!" I said, wiping my eyes. "It takes me back to when we were so happy with the aunts and with father! And I'm thinking of the war beginning. It has come. It is really here! The thing we dreamt about, and talked about, and sang about!"

"And trained for!" Denys said.

"And worked for," said Lynette.

"And enlisted for!" shouted Aylwin.

We were by this time all very hot and red in the face, and our tea was unfinished on the table.

Peggy, hearing our shouting, put her head in at the door.

"I misses your governess!" she said drily.

The boys seized hold of her.

"Peggy, have you heard the news?"

"That the dratted Kaiser be shootin' down women and children! Even though they be foreigners, it is shockin'!"

"Has he begun that?" I said, quite horrified. "Why, Peggy, you know more than we do!"

"'Tis in the paper to-day. The kitching be quite full of all the news!"

"Go and fetch us a paper, Peggy!"

"Indeed, I couldn't lay hands on one, Master Denys."

"I'll go and ask Gruffy for his!"

Puff was off in a minute, and we did not stop him. He always loves an excuse for getting to grandfather.

"Well," said Denys, flinging himself down upon his chair again, and cutting himself a huge slice out of a currant loaf, "we must eat to keep up our strength for our Empire. Grizzy, another cup of tea; and now let us seriously consider the situation."

"I am considering it!" I exclaimed. "And, Lynette, do you remember Captain Rogers's charge to us girls? 'Inspire men, help men to do right'!"

"Grizzy's eyes are starting out of her head!" said Denys, laughing. "Trust her for keeping us up to the mark!"

"You aren't men yet!" said Lynette scoffingly. "And there are other men in the world beside you."

"Yes," I said, trying to speak quietly, though my heart was almost trying to come out of my body, "and that's what I mean, Lynette. Every citizen in the Empire ought to enlist as a soldier, every man in the place here, and if they don't understand it, or don't want to go, you and I will have to go round, and make them!"

Lynette clapped her hands delightedly. "So we will, Grisel! It will be ripping! We'll begin to-morrow."

The boys said nothing for a few moments. They both seemed to be thinking hard, and then Denys pushed back his chair and stood up. He had finished his tea.

"Ahem!" said Lynette mischievously.

Denys ignored her.

"It seems to me," he said, in his very grand and business-like tone, "that we shall have to be looking up the fellows who joined our League. They're bound to hold to their pledge, and there were a good few older than me. They're quite old enough now to join."

"I should think they would do it without any looking up," I said; "and you can't go back to Lincolnshire, Denys."

"No, you old duffer," said Aylwin, "but the post goes there, doesn't it?"

Denys nodded.

"Yes, that's what I mean. And we'd better not lose a post. I should like our old members to be the very first to enlist."

So Aylwin rushed off for pen and ink, but I besought the boys to wait till the tea-table was cleared, as I know how they flourish the ink about when they're composing. And I rang the bell, and then Puff came up, actually with the paper!

We were all so interested and horrified to read the awful things that were going on that we forgot all about the letters for quite a long time. And then we remembered, and Denys began to compose, and we helped him. This is what he wrote, after he had torn up quite half a dozen first attempts:

TO OUR MEMBERS OF THE EMPIRE LEAGUE

"One King, one Flag, one Fleet, one Empire!"

The Day has come. The hour is here.
The King calls! The Empire needs you.
Have you enlisted? If not, do it to-day.
Thank God for your opportunity.

HOLD FAST

TO YOUR PLEDGE

Oh, Motherland, we pledge to thee
Head, heart, and hand through the years to be.

DEAR MEMBER AND COMRADE,—

Write to me at once and tell me if you have enlisted. The enemy
is cruel and strong. I know you won't be a coward or a rotter. I'm
going if I can before I'm seventeen.

Yours in the King's Service.
DENYS MARJORIBANKS.

GOD SAVE THE KING!

We copied quite a dozen of these, and then Denys hunted up an old roll-call of his, and we got the names of all the big boys who used to join us, and addressed envelopes to them. It took a shilling of our money for the stamps, but we divided it between us, and then Denys slipped down into the hall and got the letters in the postbag, just before it was taken to the post.

Then we had to go to bed, for it was late, and we were all rather tired with the awfulness and the excitement and the glory of a big war in front of us.

CHAPTER XI

THE FIRST RECRUIT

I CAN'T write much, for I never have any time. But I must tell about Pat.

He came over to us the very first day after we heard we were at war.

"Isn't this grand!" were his first words.

We had only just finished breakfast and were still in the schoolroom.

"It's rather awful!" I said.

"Shan't we smash that old Kaiser!" said Pat. "And there's no more school for me. I'm off to join an Oirish regiment if I can."

"But they won't take you, will they? And haven't you to go to Woolwich or Sandhurst first?"

"Do you think I'm going to grind at books again? No, I'll enlist as a private and work my way up."

"And what does your aunt say?"

"She has set down her slender little foot and says 'No,' but she's neither father nor mother, and for once she'll have to give way."

"She is taking the place of your father and mother," I said. "You won't break her heart, Pat, by running away from her?"

"Faix, an' I won't, ye soft-hearted gossoon! She'll rear her head in glory when once I'm off!"

"Oh!" said Denys. "Why shouldn't I go? You're only a year older, and I'm quite as tall. How are you going to manage, Pat?"

"Well, ye see, I have a cousin at Dublin, a captain in the Royal Irish Fusiliers. I've just sent a wire to him. He'll run it for me, and make it smooth for the aunt!"

"Oh, I do hope you'll go!" cried Lynette and me both together. "We mean to go down to the village at once and make all the men we see enlist straight away!"

"I say, do you think your cousin could fix it for me somehow?" said Denys.

"What does your old grandsire say?" said Pat, with a twinkle in his eyes. "He could work it if any one could. He's an old soldier."

"Oh, come on out!" cried Aylwin. "I'm out of the running, but I must do something. I should think getting recruits is the best thing to work at now!"

As we all trooped out of the garden, grandfather looked out of his window and called to us.

Denys ran up.

"Anything that I can do?"

"Yes, ride into the town and get a paper and the latest news," said grandfather.

Denys was delighted. He and Aylwin have been riding just lately with one of the grooms. Grandfather told them they might, and actually bought another horse. And then Pat declared he would go with him. So then Lynette and I thought we would like to get the trap out and drive off there too, and Aylwin was quite willing to come with us.

Pat went on to hire a horse from the little inn not far off. He knew grandfather would not let him have one of his horses, as he generally meets with some accident. He says himself he's the unluckiest chap in the world.

In a very little time we got ready and set off. Of course Puff would come too. It was a very hot morning, but there was a breeze coming in from the sea. And we all felt rather jolly in spite of the war. I'm afraid we do love anything exciting, and of course we quite expected we should have a big naval battle somewhere first, and smash up all the German ships, and then have a battle on land somewhere and smash up all the Germans and take the Kaiser prisoner!

We could talk of nothing else.

Aylwin drove fast and furiously, but of course Pat and Denys soon got out of sight, and we stopped once to speak to some men who were talking about the war.

They laughed when we asked them if they were going to enlist, and said in their broad Scotch:

"We'll wait a wee bit, till the Keeser comes over to our shore."

And when we found we could make nothing of them, we drove on.

We got to the town at last, and Aylwin soon got hold of a paper.

But there wasn't much more news, except a lot of talk about what was going to happen. The Belgians were fighting bravely and keeping the Germans at bay. And then presently we saw Denys, and he rode up to us with rather a red face.

"Pat has gone and done it!" he said. "Isn't he splendid? He saw a fellow he knew, who had just enlisted at the town hall, and he dragged him off, and it's done and no one can undo it."

"Oh, what will Miss Douglas say?" I cried. "I feel sorry he has done it in such a hurry. I thought he wanted to be in an Irish regiment!"

"Well, this is one; that's what made him do it. They're recruiting for one of the battalions in the Irish Rifles. I could have joined too if I had told a lie about my age."

I felt very glad he had not, for though I would love Denys to be a soldier, I shouldn't love him to get into the Army by telling a lie.

And presently Pat came riding towards us with a flushed, triumphant face.

We should like to have cheered him, only we were in the streets of a town. He was very excited, and said he must gallop home to tell his aunt. He tore off, and I said to Aylwin that I was sure he would do something to his horse before he got home.

Sure enough, we heard afterwards he had tried to leap a gate instead of going through it, and he was thrown, and his right arm so badly sprained that Miss Douglas sent for the doctor, and he had to keep it in a sling, and couldn't join his regiment. And Miss Douglas made a great fuss at first, but at last gave way, only she managed to get him transferred to the cousin's regiment in Ireland, and he promised to look after him, and if there was a chance of his getting a commission, he would help him to get it.

And a fortnight after, Pat came to see us and wish us good-bye. The boys were on the beach, and I would have been there too, but Aylwin had torn a large hole in his jersey, and he wanted to wear it, so I was mending it for him in the schoolroom. I'm afraid I was cobbling it, for I was in a great hurry to join them. They were going to talk to the fishermen about the war, and I was longing to help in the talk.

Pat burst into the room as he always did.

"An' shure it's the little mother by herself!" he cried. "Where are the flock?"

"On the beach. Oh, do stop a minute, Pat. I've nearly finished this, and then I'll come with you. Do tell me what you've been doing!"

"I leave by the night boat this very evening," he said, swinging himself up to the table, where he sat and looked at me with his bright, twinkling eyes.

"How splendid! And are you going straight over with the first lot of soldiers?"

"Arrah! You are verdant! Why, they're trainin' and whacking me into shape for a month or two, and then there'll be practice at the butts, and the bayonet charge, and goodness knows what else beside. I'll be bullied by drill-sergeants, and captains, and majors, and won't be able to call me soul me own! But thank the stars I can shoot, and ride, and do a bit of drill."

"But the time will soon pass, Pat, and whatever you have to do will be for your king and country. Oh, I would give worlds to be you! It's too bad that I should be a girl. I somehow never thought it would come so soon. I can't believe it yet. The newspapers take one's breath away. You'll come and say good-bye before you go to the front!"

"I shall be in Ireland, me dear ould counthry! And the d—deuce knows—well, dickens—if you don't like that—when I'll be back here. 'Tis scant notice soldiers will get when they're wanted. But I'll send you my address, Grisel, and you'll write one of your mothery letters to cheer me up and keep me going straight!"

"I will write, Pat, and you won't gamble, or smoke too much, or swear, will you? You will be a brave, upright Britisher, and remember that God comes first, and then your king and country, and yourself last!"

"Sure, meself is just as modest as a violet," said Pat, twinkling all over; "it will be the uniform and muscle will do what's wanted; the poor Pat will be nowheres! I shan't forget you 'Hold Fasts'!"

"I wish you'd 'hold fast' yourself, Pat!"

"But what on earth to? I promise you I'll take a grip of my rifle and bayonet. I wasn't brought up to traditions of mottoes and pious precepts like the lot of you!"

"You can hold fast to God's own hand, Pat, that's the only thing in heaven and earth that will never give way. Miss Garton has taught me that."

I didn't mind talking to Pat seriously, for he seemed to like it.

"Ah," he said, heaving a sigh, "I'm only a plain earth-worm. I can't cotton to all those invisible things that you believe."

"But you won't learn about them, or read them, Pat. Wait a moment!"

I dashed out of the room, and seized hold of a little old Testament of father's. He used to take it in his pocket to read to the poor people in the village. I did love it, but I felt that if Pat would take it, he ought to have it.

"Look here, Pat," I said, "if you go out to France to fight, you ought to know about these things. Suppose you were to be shot! Will you take this and promise to read it, if you only read one verse every day?"

Pat took the Testament, looked at it, then at me.

"It has your father's name in it. You must write mine in, or I shall be keeping another person's property."

So I got a pen and ink and wrote his name in it, and above his name, I wrote the verse which Miss Garton had given me:

"I the LORD have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee."

He put it into his pocket and patted it. "It will be my mascot," he said. "Testaments always stop bullets, don't they?"

"Oh, Pat, don't!" I cried. "Do be serious for once! Do promise me you will read it."

"All serene! Sure, my honey, I'll promise anything to keep the tears away from those grey eyes of yours, and bring the smile to your lips. And you'll be having Pat returning one day covered with medals and glory, and he won't forget the little book which is lying in his pocket so snug."

I could say no more. My mending was done, so I ran and got my hat, and Pat and I overtook the others, who were holding quite a Parliament with the fishermen.

They were awfully glad to see Pat, only he couldn't stay long, and when he solemnly shook hands with us one by one, and wished us good-bye, I felt a lump coming up in my throat. He was so gay and handsome and boyish! I couldn't at the last moment bear to think of him fighting like a fury, though I wanted him so much to go.

He wrung my hand till I nearly screamed with the pain.

"I'm going away a boy," he said, "but I'm coming back a man, and then I'll marry Grisel, if she'll have me!"

The boys shouted with laughter.

"Long-legged Granny Grisel! Why, what good would she do you?"

"She'd mend me up—clothes, body, and soul," said Pat, "and she'd infuse warmth and spirit into me heart, and drag me after her through Heaven's Gate itself!"

And then he bounded away, and that was the last we saw of him. But I prayed hard that night to God that He would lead him, and teach him to serve God first.

It was that evening that we began to discuss the war.

"It's very strange and worrying," I said; "I never thought it would be so difficult. I did not think there would be two sides to it."

"What's the row?" asked Denys.

"Well, it's like this. Think of men killing each other, not one man killing one man, but hundreds killing hundreds! It's wicked and cruel and awful! But then think of our Cause, and our Motherland, and our King; why, then it's great and good and glorious to do it! We're fighting for the Right, for our homes, for our Empire! First I think one thing and then another, and I get quite muddled and desperate over it all. What can the angels think when they look down? What does God think?"

"People said we should never have war again, we were too civilised for such brutal methods of settling differences," said Denys thoughtfully, "but of course every nation has been preparing and getting ready for it except ourselves."

"I remember Captain Rogers saying," said Aylwin, "that the scientific machinery of war had got to such a pitch that it would make nations very afraid of starting it. He said a big war might mean the extermination of races!"

"Oh, what long words!" gasped Lynette. "I wish we could see Captain Rogers again. How he will wish he was able to fight!"

"But you don't see my difficulty," I said. "Is war a glory or a curse?"

"Oh, it's both," said Denys, a little impatiently. "Don't cut up things into such bits, Grizzy; that's so like a woman. One minute you'll be girding on the warriors' swords and waving banners above their heads, and the next crying quarts of tears at the thought of the men they're going to kill!"

"Yes, that's just it," I said; "and it's the same puzzle over sport and shooting. It's most exciting following the hounds, but when it means a poor desperate tired-out fox being torn to bits, it's awful, and it's like that with shooting. The pheasants need not have their lives taken when they're so happy in the woods, and the dear little soft rabbits do nobody any harm."

"Oh, dry up!" said Aylwin. "If you're going to funk war when it comes, you aren't a member of our Empire League!"

"Funk it!" I cried. "I glory in it! I should love to see you go off to the front to-morrow. I'd go myself to-day if I could get a chance. It's no good talking to boys. They never can understand things!"

"Girls are too soft-hearted," said Denys, "and too small-minded! In war you don't think of the man you may be up against, but of what you're fighting for! If I was in the fighting line now, I would be seeing the massacre of the Belgian women and children, and the crushing of all the poor weak nations, and the trampling down by the iron, arrogant foot of Germany. She's played a dastardly coward's part, making friends with us, coming over to spy out all our weaknesses, and pretending to like us when she knew she hated us, and meant to do for us the first chance she got. And we're fighting for our country, our race, our own homes and women and children!"

"When Denys gets on Empire talk," said Lynette, "he's grand. He ought to be in Parliament!"

"Oh, I know, I know!" I cried, feeling ashamed that I ever questioned our right to fight. "I mustn't imagine too much the killing part. And I hope God will give us the victory very soon, and let it all be over!"

"Why, we haven't properly begun yet!" shouted the boys.

I said no more, but when I went to bed, I prayed for Pat, and I asked God to teach him out of father's Testament what he didn't know, and ought to understand. And now we spend all our days talking about the war to everybody, and trying to get them to enlist. And Aunt Isobel has bought a lot of khaki wool, and Lynette and I are beginning to knit scarves and mittens.

The holidays are flying, but they're strange holidays. We don't go out and amuse ourselves all day long by the sea, as we meant to do. The war seems to have altered everything. Yesterday we heard at last from Lincolnshire. Only one of the twelve boys we wrote to answered, but he wrote for all the rest, and nine of them are enlisting. They had begun to do it before Denys wrote. We are delighted. Two of them are under size, and one of them is not strong enough. It was Tom Bradley who wrote, and he ended his letter like this:

"Our parson tells of us we be a war party that the King will be proud of and we says we was teached our dooty to our flag by Master Denys!"

Denys was awfully proud and pleased when he read that, and Aylwin says it isn't fair he should always get the glory and honour of that League when we all worked for it and belonged to it. But I say that nothing matters as long as they know their duty and do it.

And to-day we saw another thing that interested us. Gervas Carrington, whom we used to know, has got his commission. It was in the newspaper. He's older than Denys, but it makes Denys wild to think he must go back to school again, and he has determined to have one more talk with grandfather about it.

I do wish something could be done.

As Denys says, he was born into the world quite two years too late.

CHAPTER XII

AUNT GRISEL'S HOSPITAL

TO-DAY was awfully hot. The boys always have their bathe in the sea before breakfast, and sometimes Lynette and I go with them, but we were lazy this morning and did not go. The schoolroom was like an oven; we hardly ever stay in it. And after breakfast, Lynette and I tucked our bathing gowns and towels under our arms and walked across the lawn, when Aunt Isobel called us.

"Where are the boys? Your grandfather wants to speak to Denys."

"They're on the beach," I said. "We're going to them. Shall I tell Denys?"

"Of course. He must come at once."

We raced off. Denys pulled a long face when I gave him the message.

"Is he going to jaw about anything?"

"Perhaps it's about your going into the Army," suggested Lynette.

"No such luck."

But Denys walked off, and he did not come back for a good hour.

Then he walked up with his head in the air, and a peculiar smile on his lips. I knew that smile well. It was when he was awfully pleased, and was trying to hide it.

Lynette and I had had our bathe; we were sitting on a rock letting our hair dry before we tied it up.

"Get it off your chest, old man!" said Aylwin.

"No more school for me!" said Denys.

We exclaimed at that.

"I shall be at Woolwich in a month, I hope."

"Oh, do tell us! How can you be?"

"Grandfather has worked it. There is going to be a rather easy exam. for public school-boys. They want them to enter Woolwich at once, and though I'm not in a proper public school, grandfather has got me included. And I'm going to town to-morrow."

We gasped, and then we gave a ringing cheer.

It seemed too good to be true.

"You're sure to pass the exam. all right," I said. "Oh, Denys, how splendid! How quickly it has come to you!"

"Not quick enough to please me," said Denys. "The war may be over before I'm ready for it, even yet. But I shall be in the artillery. I've always wanted to be a gunner."

We stood looking at him, hardly able to believe it. Somehow he seemed to have altered already. I think the very idea of it made him feel older. He is so straight and tall and handsome, I imagined him in uniform; how proud we should be of him!

And then I thought of his clothes. I knew some of his socks wanted mending, and I had been so accustomed to look after his clothes that I told the others I must go in at once.

Denys came with me.

"You're pleased, Grisel?" he said very quietly.

"You know I am."

"Aunt Isobel isn't."

"I wonder why not!"

As we came up to the house, we saw Aunt Isobel sitting with grandfather in the shady verandah outside the study. Aunt Isobel called to me, and we both went up.

I told her why I had come, and she smiled a little.

"Sometimes you are quite a little old woman, Grisel. Peggy and I are going to do all that is necessary, and I am going up to town myself with Denys to get all he wants."

"But can't I do anything? I should like to help!" And then I couldn't help turning to grandfather. "We're all so delighted, grandfather. It's splendid! We were longing that it could be managed."

Grandfather's eyes twinkled.

"Your aunt here thinks that I shall be sending him to his death!"

I was sobered a little.

Then Aunt Isobel looked at me.

"He is too young, Grisel; he has no constitution."

Denys threw out his chest.

"I'm as strong as a donkey!" he said. "And I'm not going to the front to-morrow, worse luck!"

"Denys is quite, quite fit to go," I said earnestly. "He has trained and taught all of us, and a lot of village boys and girls, to be patriotic. We simply get burning hot right to our hearts when we think of fighting and dying for our country! It's so terrible to be only girls, and have to take a back place, but even back places can do some good, and we mean to do what we can!"

Grandfather held out his hand to me.

I was speaking rather excitedly, I could not help it, for I felt so.

"Come here," he said to me; "I'm glad I have such a fiery little granddaughter. It is a misfortune that two of you are girls, but I hope all three of my grandsons will carry on the annals of their race. We have always been soldiers, and have always acquitted ourselves satisfactorily in the field."

"I wonder, grandfather," I said a little shyly, "if you would let Lynette and me learn to shoot. The Germans may invade England, may they not? It might be useful then."

"No, no, I want no Amazons here. Sit at home and work and pray for the absent ones, that is all we want our girls and women to do."

Aunt Isobel had walked into the house with Denys.

"Do you think we shall beat the Germans easily, grandfather?" I asked.

"No, I don't," and grandfather became snappy again. "We're not ready for them. We've been like the ostrich, hiding our heads in the sand, and it will take an earthquake to shake up and wake up some of our leaders to the exigencies of the situation."

"Lynette and I are trying to shake up some of the fishermen. We can talk as well as the boys. But they laugh at us. I wish you could get somebody to come and tell them about the war, grandfather."

He stared at me.

"Eh? Yes, yes, a very good idea. I'm not quite in my dotage. I'll give 'em a rounding up myself."

Grandfather had never talked so kindly to me before. Lynette and I always feel that he considers us a great bother. He began to ask me now about our Empire League in Lincolnshire, and I told him with pride of the boys who had enlisted. And then I recited the whole of Kipling's song beginning "Land of our Birth." And I told him of our pledge. I said it over to him:

"I promise and vow that to the end of my life I will be a loyal subject of our gracious King and a faithful citizen of our Empire.

"Oh, Motherland! we pledge to thee
Head, heart, and hand through the years to be!"

"So help me, God. Amen."

"Our heads and hearts are quite as good as the boys'," I said. "Lynette and I would die in a minute for our Motherland if we could, but it's our hands that are different."

I turned mine over as I spoke.

"Of course we're not so strong as the boys; we've got a good bit of muscle, but we're no good if they begin to wrestle with us, and I know of course women soldiers would be a poor lot by the side of the men. But women have served their country, haven't they? And if only the Germans will give us a chance, Lynette and I will show them that we're not chicken-hearted."

Grandfather laughed out, then he looked grave.

"Germans are making short work of women in Belgium," he said. "We must never let them invade our shores, child!"

And then he turned back to his newspaper, and I slipped away.

*****

There was a great bustle getting Denys off, and we missed him awfully. Holidays without Denys seemed as bad as a cart without a horse. And when Denys is away, Aylwin puts on extra swagger, and then Lynette snubs him, and there is generally war between them.

But the week passed, and then he came back. But it wasn't till quite the end of the holidays that we knew he had passed, and was safe for Woolwich.

Aylwin went back to school very down in the mouth. Denys and he have always done everything together, and it seems rather unfair on him that now there should be such a difference between them.

And then came Denys's last night with us before he went to Woolwich; and I slipped into his bedroom just before we went to bed.

He laughed at me when he saw me come in.

"You've come to have some last words, haven't you? Well, go ahead!"

"Oh," I said, sitting down by his bed, and drawing a long sigh, "I'm so glad it isn't Aylwin going. I feel so sure of you."

"Do you?" Rather a funny look crossed Denys's face. "I'm not so sure of myself, Grizzy!"

"Perhaps that will be better still," I said. "But you and I long ago,—when we took the knight's motto, 'Semper fidelis! Semper paratus!'—knew that we couldn't do everything in our own strength."

"I have got my H.F. to remind me," said Denys, putting his hand on his left wrist.

"Yes, but may I tell you what has helped me, Denys? And I think that father would know how difficult it is to hold fast to all he taught us 'always.' We forget so. And you may have many more temptations in the Army than you do at school. But Miss Garton showed me that if God has taken hold of us, we have to hold fast to His Hand, and then we shan't have any tumbles, but be led straight along. She gave me a text about it:

"'I the LORD have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee.'

"You and I have both been called, Denys, so that God has got hold of us, and if we don't break away from Him, but just hold fast every day—"

"Yes," said Denys, with a grave nod. Then he turned to his chest of drawers and took hold of his Bible.

"Look here, Grisel, just you write that text on the first leaf here. I like it. And when you write to me, you needn't preach as long a sermon as you've done to-night, but just put in a postscript 'H.F.' and I shall know what you mean."

So I wrote the verse in Denys's Bible, just as I had done in Pat's Testament, and we didn't say any more. And the next morning he left us.

Now Miss Garton has come back, and Lynette and Puff and I are all doing lessons together. But the war goes on, and is altering everything. To begin with, it has stirred up grandfather, and he is much kinder and more sociable to us now. He tells me a lot about the war, and about some of his fighting days. And the other evening he actually went down to the Village Hall and gave them a lecture on the war—on how it started, and what we have got to do, and what will happen if we don't do it. And he said at the end:

"England has no idea of the big job in front of her, and of the gigantic and continuous efforts she will have to make; and if we don't all do our part, disaster will come upon us."

And twelve men came up after and enlisted for the war. I cried with excitement, for Miss Garton took Lynette and me to hear the lecture.

We're knitting as hard as we can—Lynette and me, and even Puff is knitting comforters. And Miss Garton reads some of the papers to us while we work, and we have a great map of Europe in the schoolroom on the wall, and we follow it all every day. I like hearing it all, but it's so awful!

Hospitals are being got ready all over England, and Miss Garton says nobody knows how long the war will last, so she means to train Lynette and me in every way that she can. And she is teaching us what she has learnt at ambulance classes herself, and we practise bandaging up Puff's arms and legs. At first, he liked it, but now he doesn't; so we work on his feelings first, and talk to him about his duty to King and country, and when he gets tired of that, we bribe him with sweets. Even then sometimes, he runs away, and hides from us when he sees us coming.

Last Saturday I went over to see my godmother. She was knitting as usual, but this time she had khaki wool. I had a lot to talk about. I love talking to her. It's just like talking to Lynette; she understands so.

"It seems sometimes too wonderful and too awful to be true," I said to her when we talked about the war. "When we trained ourselves for it in Lincolnshire, we never thought it would come so soon. That was our one lament, that it wouldn't come in our life-time. I feel it's very very tantalising even now. You see we're just too young to be really of use. I should like Denys and Aylwin and Puff all at the war, and Lynette and me hospital nurses as close to the front as we could get. It seems such waste of time to be doing lessons—practising on the piano, and learning arithmetic, when all the rest of the world is fighting and working as hard as it can."

"You restless, hot-blooded child!" said Aunt Grisel. "I am quietly sitting at home, but it doesn't follow that I'm not taking my part. I don't think I should be much good at nursing."

"Oh, I wish, I wish I was you!" I said.

"What would you do if you were?"

"I'd turn this beautiful old house into a big hospital, like some of those rich people have done in England. Miss Garton read it out to us."

"You had better propose that to your grandfather."

"I have, but Aunt Isobel squashed me at once."

"She would."

And Aunt Grisel gave a little chuckle.

"Go on, Grisel, you'd turn my house into a hospital; what else? I suppose you would like me to do it. And I should be an outcast myself. Where should I go?"

"Oh, you could stay, and go round and see the sick soldiers when they came and write letters for them. It would be lovely, Aunt Grisel! And then you could ask me and Lynette over sometimes, and we would bring them flowers and talk to them and hear a little. Do you think you might possibly be able to do it? It would be simply too lovely if you could?"

I dropped my knitting in my excitement.

Then Aunt Grisel got up.

"Well, come over the house, and see if it could be done. Come along."

I wondered if she were in fun or earnest. But it is one of the things I love about her, she does things so quickly. We say that grown-up people never do, it's because they think so much, I suppose. We hardly ever think out a thing before we do it.

"Now," she said, "I'll show you the whole house, Grisel, and you shall say what you think about it."

I could have hugged her!

When we got upstairs, I looked up and down the long corridor; there were big, sunny rooms on one side, and several of the rooms led into one another.

"Wouldn't these make lovely wards?" I said. "I used to go into a hospital near Lincoln. It was a small one, and they had rooms leading into each other like this. And then how nice it would be for the wounded soldiers to walk up and down this corridor, and go out upon that broad stone balcony at the end."

"But they would want kitchens and bathrooms, and surgeries, and goodness knows what else! And these are my best rooms."

"I would give my very best to the soldiers," I said.

Lady Grisel looked at me and laughed. "I believe you would, but I'm a selfish old woman, and you're an enthusiastic, romantic child."

Then I went on, and we planned out where a lift could come up from the kitchen at one end of the corridor, and where another bathroom could be made, and we even counted the beds that might be put in each room, and the little bedrooms for the nurses, and a little sitting-room for them when they were off duty, and another small room for the doctor to consult, and at last Aunt Grisel said that I had tired her out, so we went downstairs to the big drawing-room.

When my time came to leave her, I said: "Thank you for the fun we had planning out a hospital."

"Ah!" she said, shaking her head at me. "It may be fun to you, but it is not to me."

When I came home I thought no more about it, but to-day, to my astonishment and great delight, I got this letter:

"MY DEAR, ROMANTIC GODDAUGHTER,

"You are responsible for it all, and I feel like the hen who was invited to put her head inside the fox's mouth to see his gold tooth. The War Office wired to-day to accept my offer to put up convalescent soldiers. And I have only a fortnight or so to prepare for them. I'm wiring for nurses, and beds, and blankets, and for carpenters and workmen by the score, and if I tear out the few grey hairs I have left, in my agony of soul, it is you I have to thank for it. The least you can do is to come over and help me. If I had not an old friend who is going to run it for me, I should be at my wit's end. She is arriving to-morrow. I expect you over next Saturday to join in the fray.

"Your distracted godmother,

"GRISEL."

I showed this letter to grandfather.

He seemed quite amused at it.

"It will give Grisel something to think of besides her own comfort. I suppose Lydia Fawcett will run it for her."

"Who is she, grandfather?"

"A very handsome woman," said grandfather, with a twinkle in his eye. "She's been matron at some London hospital, and then had to leave it on account of ill-health. I wish I had her energy!"

Lynette and I are very interested in this new hospital. To think that we should soon have soldiers who have actually been fighting close to us seems too good to be true.

Lynette longs to go with me to Aunt Grisel's next Saturday, and begs me to get an invitation for her. But I don't feel I can. Perhaps Aunt Grisel may send a message to her.

I answered the letter; I said:

"MY DEAREST GODMOTHER,

"I felt inclined to dance when I read your letter, and I'm longing for next Saturday to come. I hope it is not a great trouble to you. Shall we make some bed-socks for them? How many will you have? I am so glad you have a friend to help you. I wish I could be with you altogether, but as Lynette says, lessons always stop fun. Lynette would like to help too. Can we do anything now for you?

"With my best love,

"Your loving

"GRISEL."

And now I am just counting the hours till Saturday.

CHAPTER XIII

OUR SEARCH

WELL—Saturday came, and when Aunt Grisel's car came over for me there was a note inside, asking Lynette too; so she was delighted.

When we got there, we were introduced to Miss Fawcett. She was very tall, with grey hair rolled up off her forehead and beautiful big blue eyes, and she had a jolly comfortable smile that you were not afraid of.

She set us to work at once. We went upstairs to the linen-room, and she told us how to make bandages out of some old linen sheets. Aunt Grisel came in and helped us. She pretended she was quite overcome with her house being turned topsy-turvy, but I think she rather liked it, and then she showed us a side-wing of the house which was just as sunny as the front of it, and which Miss Fawcett thought would suit the soldiers much better, because it was shut off from the rest of the house by a thick baize door.

"It's like our wing at grandfather's," I said.

"Yes, it is, and it was the children's wing when my husband was a boy," said Aunt Grisel. "I am glad I haven't to turn out all my best furniture. It is so cumbersome that it would have been difficult to find rooms big enough for it in other parts of the house."

Workmen seemed busy in every direction, and Miss Fawcett was directing them all.

When we sat down to lunch she said:

"And who is the originator of this hospital scheme?"

Aunt Grisel waved her hand towards me, and I felt my cheeks getting extremely red and hot.

"I only wish I could be one of the nurses," I said.

And Lynette joined in:

"I would rather clean the rooms than nurse; don't you think our lessons might be stopped till after the war is over?"

"Your time will come, girls," Miss Fawcett said. "Don't hurry to grow up too soon. I think your help may be more wanted a few years later than it is now. A good many of us may be worn out by that time, and the young will have to take our places. You can train yourselves now for all emergencies."

"I love emergencies," said Lynette. "What kind do you think will come?"

"Just the kind we don't expect," said Miss Fawcett, laughing. "Learn all you can now. Languages will help you, so will habits of order and neatness and thoroughness. Be able to turn your hand to anything, from making a poultice to cooking light puddings for invalids. The wounded will be with us for several years yet, I am afraid."

"Don't you think," said Lynette, turning to Aunt Grisel, "that we may possibly get a lot of wounded sailors here? You see, we are almost opposite the Kiel Canal, and we must have a naval battle before long."

"The German Fleet won't come out. It dare not," said Aunt Grisel. "No, we shall get nerve cases from France, I should think, and those who want thorough rest and quiet. London is not a good place for nerves."

"Oh," said Lynette, "but I hope proper wounded soldiers will come to you. I shan't care to see any of those others."

"They are often the most to be pitied," said Miss Fawcett. "When you young people grow older, you will realise that nerves are a very serious matter."

After lunch, we went upstairs and helped Aunt Grisel to empty some drawers and cupboards in the rooms that were being got ready for the soldiers. Such funny old things we turned out. Old-fashioned children's frocks, and baby's feeding-bottles, and a box of lead soldiers, and books and papers and letters, and wax flowers, and samplers, and pincushions, and dear little boxes of all shapes and sizes. Lynette and I exclaimed so often at what we found that Aunt Grisel told us we could take anything away that we took a fancy to. It was very good of her. And when we got home, we unpacked a large box of odds and ends which we had been allowed to bring away, and gave Puff a lot of them.

Aunt Grisel promised to let us know when her first soldiers came, and then Miss Fawcett asked us if we would make some scrap-books for them, and we have started doing it. She said there was nothing that invalids liked better than looking at pictures.

Miss Garton helps us, and really, with our knitting and lessons and ambulance work, and now these scrap-books, we are as busy as we can be.

There has been great talk lately in the newspapers about spies in our midst, especially along the sea-coasts. And some visitors of grandfather's told him that one had been caught not so far off from us only a few days ago. It is all very exciting, but everything is that now. What with the air-ships and Zeppelins and torpedoes and submarines, and the awful bombs and shells, and this wicked wicked gas that the enemy is just beginning to use, I don't see how any of our soldiers have a chance of coming back to us safely. And I'm beginning to think that war is not glorious after all!

Lynette and I talk a lot together about these spies. They say submarines are helped to get their oil by traitors on our coasts, who flash lights to them, where the oil is hid, and then they come and get it. There's an old coastguardsman who loves to talk about it; he says he'd ferret a spy out a hundred miles off, and he's thankful that none are in our part. His name is David Grier, and he smells a good deal of whisky. Lynette says he drinks too much to be a good coastguardsman. He lives in a dear little house on the cliff by himself, and he has been there for nearly twenty years, they say.

Grandfather says Government is going to have a proper up-to-date guard all round our coast soon, but they take a long time to settle anything. I suppose they have such a terrible lot to think of, that they can't get through. I think my brain would burst, if I was in the Government now.

Miss Garton is rather sad about her brother, who is going to the front some time next week. She is going home from Saturday to Tuesday to wish him good-bye, and we shall have all Monday and Tuesday for holidays as well as Saturday. It will be very jolly. And Lynette and I mean to do some coastguarding on our own. We think it quite necessary. And we can manage a boat quite well now. Both of us can row, and Aunt Isobel doesn't mind us going out alone when the sea is smooth, if we're very careful. On Saturday we're going over to Aunt Grisel. She hasn't got her soldiers yet, but we're getting ready for them.

When Lynette and I go to bed at night, we always look-out of our windows, and watch for a flash-light. We see a good many lights from distant lighthouses, and sometimes we see a lantern bobbing along.

That is David going his rounds.

We were talking about it last night, and Lynette suddenly said:

"Grisel, do you know where would be a splendid place for a spy to hide oil?"

"On the island," I said thoughtfully; "I've thought of that."

"Yes, on the other side of the island in those caves. You see, if any one flashed a light from there, we shouldn't see it. They could flash it low down through those holes in the cliff, or they could burn a coloured light."

"I wonder if David goes round there?" I said.

"Oh, don't mention it to him. Don't tell any one. Just fancy, Grisel, if you and I could catch a spy or a traitor at work, wouldn't it be ripping! That would be doing work for one's country with a vengeance. Let us keep it secret from every one, and just watch ourselves with all our main and might!"

"Yes," I cried, "we'll row across there and have a good search when Miss Garton goes. On Monday we'll do it."

"What should we do if we found a man there?" Lynette questioned. "Could we shoot him?"

"Oh no, nobody is shot without a trial. We should just have to creep away without his seeing us and send the police to him."

"But I should like to do something to him. It's a pity we don't know how to make bombs. We could leave one to blow him up, and the oil too. It would save a lot of trouble!"

"Oh, Lynette, how can you!"

"I feel I could do anything to make such a traitor meet with his deserts!" said Lynette grandly.

We are quite anxious now for Monday to come. I would really like to do something for my country, and so would Lynette.

*****

This poor old diary.

We're living in such exciting times that I don't feel inclined to sit down and write. I haven't the time, to begin with. But it's a wet day to-day, and, after all that has happened, I really think I ought to set it down for the sake of our great-grandchildren who will talk about their grandmother's remembering the Great War.

I must go back to the Monday when Miss Garton was away from us. First on Sunday night, Lynette and I were staring out of our windows when we thought we saw a twinkling light in the direction of the island. It might have been fancy, but we both saw it at the same moment. It went out at once. But it gave us distinct hope that something might be going on there. And Monday morning we were busy preparing things. We didn't tell a soul. Aunt Isobel was driving out to see Aunt Grisel, and grandfather was going with her. It seemed to leave the coast clear for us. There was Puff certainly, but he was always happy playing by himself.

Lynette insisted on us taking some rope with us. "To tie him up, if we find him," she said.

I took some food, and some ends of candle, and four boxes of matches. You can't have too many matches for those caves, and then I remembered that Denys had left his beautiful little electric torch behind him. It was in his room, so I took it with joy. We took some paper with us too, in case we should want a fire.

And then Lynette wanted to take a couple of old pistols that were hung up in our upstair passage. But I thought she had better not.

"It would frighten any one if they saw us with pistols," she said. "They wouldn't know they weren't loaded."

"We shouldn't stand a chance if we started fighting them, or trying to frighten them," I said. "We're really only going to spy out the land."

"I shall be frightfully disappointed if nobody's there," Lynette said.

We determined to start for the island directly after our early dinner. It was a bright sunny day, and the sea was like a mill-pond. Everything was in our favour. The tide had been going out for some time. I knew it was only when it was high tide that the currents were dangerous, and we calculated that we should be back before that.

We put all our things in the boat, and I put some biscuits and some apples in it too, for I thought we might get hungry. But we found that we should have to get some one to push the boat into the water for us, because the tide was low. Davey, who has taught us all to steer and row, has left us to enlist, but I ran up to the stable and got two of the stable lads to come down and help us.

We told them we were going out for a row, and they thought nothing of it.

Then Lynette and I both took an oar, and rowed steadily in the direction of the cave island, where Pat and the boys had been all night. It wasn't very hard rowing. We were both silent; for, now we had started, it seemed a bigger thing than when we had just talked it over. And the island seemed farther off than we had thought. We thought we should never reach it.

We did come to the beach at last, and we rowed fast and furiously then, driving our boat right up on the shingle like the boys do. Lynette jumped out like lightning and tied the boat-rope round one of the stakes that was there for the purpose. The seagulls flew round our heads shrieking, as if to complain at being disturbed. Otherwise, it seemed very still and silent.

And a lonely kind of feeling came over me. I would not have told Lynette, but I didn't feel as if I wanted to go into the dark caves and search there. And then I was ashamed of myself; for we had always declared we should never be afraid of anything, if it concerned our King and country. And this was real important duty, what Lynette and I were doing. Then we took out two baskets in which we had packed our things; and we came to the first entrance to the cave.

"Now," I said as I lighted my candle. "I'll go first as I'm the eldest, and remember, Lynette, we mustn't speak a word, but keep our ears and eyes well open and very busy."

Lynette nodded.

"Isn't it thrilling?" she said. "Oh, I do hope we shall find somebody or something."

But for a long time we found nothing at all. There was a big passage that went right through the cliff and out at the extreme end of the island, and we went along this, and searched two or three little kinds of rooms that went off it; we had been over so often with the boys that we knew the caves quite well. Then suddenly, as we were coming towards the light again, Lynette threw up her head and whispered excitedly:

"I smell tobacco smoke!"

I stopped still and sniffed.

"Well," I whispered, "boys and men do come over here, you know, for seagulls' eggs."

I certainly smelt smoke. Somebody had been smoking along here.

The next thing we found was a pipe.

Lynette stumbled against it. She put it in her pocket. "We may find this a most important piece of evidence," she said grandly.

Then we came to an inner cave just before the outlet that led to the beach again. Here there was something else. A lot of rotten old boards stood up on end, and formed a kind of door to it. And there was an old barrel that used not to be there, and the seaweed that was on it did not belong to it, it had either been put there or had been washed up by the tide. We were quick to notice all this.

Yet even when my heart was beginning to thump with suspense, Lynette whispered in a pleased sort of way:

"Curiouser, and curiouser!"

"We must take away one of these boards," I said, "and see what is behind."

So we tugged and pulled, and it was real hard work, but the thought of what "might" be there gave us the will and the strength to move them. We got two away, and then with our electric torch we crept through.

Then indeed we stood and stared at each other. It seemed like a dream. For there were tins and great barrels packed up against the wall. Dead seaweed covered them, but we soon pulled that off. There was no mistake about it—we had found the oil! We put our fingers round the cork of one and smelt them. They smelt of motor-oil! I think, though we had imagined a lot, we never really thought we should find it.

"What are we to do now?" I said, for I really felt, quite helpless.

"We must go on and find out some more," said Lynette.

"No," I said; "I think we had better fly back as quickly as possible, and send the police and coastguards."

"But who has brought it here?" said Lynette.

I was just going to reply when we heard a man cough, and the cough was not very far away. Instantly I pulled hold of Lynette, and we crouched down behind the barrel. I put out my torch at the same moment. I really, honestly never felt more frightened in my whole life than I did then. My heart was thumping against my ribs, and I heard Lynette breathing very quickly.

"He'll kill us," she whispered, "and drown our bodies, and nobody will ever know!"

She wasn't exactly comforting.

I knew that when he saw the boards had been moved, all would be up; and then I peeped out over the barrel. In the distance we could see the opening of the cave and the sun shining upon the sea. There was silence, and then a strong whiff of tobacco reached us; in another moment, a man's figure blocked the opening. But his back was towards us, and he was looking out to sea. He just looked an ordinary fisherman in big seaboots and a blue jersey and a knitted cap. He was smoking a pipe. We felt we hardly dare breathe, but we were thankful that, so far, he did not know of our being on the island.

"He'll find our boat, and then he'll hunt for us," said Lynette. "Oh, Grisel, I do wish we hadn't come. I do wish we were safe home again."

I tried to brace myself up.

"Look here, Lynette, the longer we wait here the worse it will be. We must get back at once before he finds us out, and tell the coastguards. This is our chance of serving our country. We mustn't be cowards. We will wait a moment to see if he will go, and the moment he does, we must creep out and dash along the passage back to our boat."

"He'll run after us and catch us!" cried Lynette. "And then I shall die of fright."

"Nonsense! We can pretend we know nothing. After all, we have as much right on this island as he has."

We watched him breathlessly. Once we thought he was going to turn round and come towards us, but presently he walked away along the beach.

Then we crept out of our hiding-place, but I daren't light the torch. We took hold of each other's hands and ran along the broad passage as fast as we could. Twice we stumbled, and once Lynette grazed her knee against a bit of rock. It seemed years to us till we saw the light appearing in front of us.

Half dazed with fright and with the darkness, we dashed out into the sunshine—and then, to our unutterable horror, we met that burly man face to face!

CHAPTER XIV

THE FIND

WE had no time to scream. He seized hold of both of us, and then, it was very strange—all my fright went, and I knew I must keep my head very very clear, and not funk a little tiny bit.

He was a stranger to us, but he wasn't a German, that I was thankful for, and he didn't look any different from the fishermen close to us, who were always kind to us.

"Where be ye from noo?" he said angrily.

"We often come over here in our boat," I said, trying to speak carelessly; "who are you? We've never seen you before?"

"What may ye be doin' in yon passage?" he demanded.

"Playing about in it," I said, and as I spoke I looked warningly at Lynette.

It's all very well to take a rope out to tie up a big man like this, and accuse him to his face of being a traitor, but when you're actually in his power, you know you can't do these things!

WE HAD NO TIME TO SCREAM—HE SEIZED
HOLD OF BOTH OF US.

He looked at us with scowling suspicious eyes.

Then Lynette took heart. She knew she must play the game too, and she laughed her merry laugh.

"What are you afraid of?" she said. "We shan't hurt you? Are you fishing here? We're just going home."

"And who else be wi' ye?" he asked.

"Nobody," I said. "Why are you asking us all these questions?"

He did not answer; he had us in his grip, one each side of him. And he made us walk along the beach with him till he came to the farther entrance of the caves. Then he looked in, and he saw the boards had been moved away.

"Ye've been meddlin' with my property," he said; "how daur ye! I've come ower here to paint up my boat, and ye've been meddlin' with my paint-pots."

"As if we want your old paint-tins!" I said scornfully. "We just peeped in behind the boards, but we never touched one of your paint-pots. What should we want with them!"

"Now look ye here!" the man said, scowling harder than ever. "I'd think nothin' of droppin' both of ye into the sea for meddlin' with my affairs! I be come ower here, as I say, to be quiet and paint me boat, and I dinna want the other chaps to—to ken where I be. 'Tis a bit of a wager 'twixt me and my mate, and I be gettin' the better of him in the paintin' way. If either o' you young leddies let drop a single wor-rd of my bein' ower here, I'll come an' murder ye in yer beds sure enough, and not a body will kep ye from my vengeance!"

"What a lot of fuss about painting a boat!" I said. "We shan't say a word about that of course. Why should we?"

"Ye swear?"

"I swear," I said firmly.

And Lynette hastily repeated after me "I swear too."

"Then off ye go!" said the man, releasing us.

"But I'll reckon with you, if I hang for it, if you daur to breek your word!"

He marched us back to where our boat was. We got in, and both of us kept brave faces to the last. Our rowing was very shaky. We hardly dared look at each other as long as he stood on the beach watching us.

But, as we got away from the island, Lynette began to sob.

"I want to roar and cry!" she said.

"Oh, don't! He may change his mind and come after us. Row for your life, Lynette! I've been praying all the time that we might escape! But we must row our hardest!"

So Lynette fought with her feelings, and we never rowed so hard and fast in all our lives as we did then. It seemed quite strange to hear our stable clock sounding over the water and striking four. It seemed as if we had been away days, instead of only a couple of hours.

The tide was on the turn, but we got back safely at last, and when we got upon the beach, and had driven our boat in on the shingle, I said: "We must thank God for having saved us, Lynette."

She nodded. Then we knelt down behind a rock where nobody could see us, and thanked Him, and then we took hold of each other's hands and raced up to the house as fast as we could.

"I suppose—" gasped Lynette, as she ran, "I suppose he wasn't painting a boat!"

"Not he!" I said. "Why should he have been so angry at seeing us? Now we'll go and tell grandfather at once if he's in. He is a magistrate, so he'll know what to do."

"But—but—supposing if the man is caught," said Lynette, "I'll never sleep in my bed in comfort again. I feel sure he will come and murder us. You were very clever how you swore, Grisel; of course we needn't say a word about his painting a boat, but that's only a clever way of cheating him!"

"What does it matter," I said, "what happens to us! If we prevent a submarine from getting that oil, Lynette, it will prevent them sinking some of our ships. We've always wanted to die for our country, so that would be the way that we should die! Besides, if the man is caught, he will be imprisoned or shot, and how can he hurt us then?"

"He might escape."

Lynette drew a long breath.

"Well, I won't be a coward, but it's not a pleasant thing to think about."

"Don't think about it. We must do what is right, and God guards us every night, Lynette. He won't let us be killed unless it's really the best thing for us!"

So then we went into the house and asked Peggy if grandfather was in. She said he was resting from his drive, and no one must disturb him.

But we knew we must disturb him, for not a moment must be lost; so we crept quietly downstairs past Aunt Isobel's room, and then knocked boldly at the library door.

"He'll have to put his teeth in first," said Lynette with a little frightened giggle. "I'm just as frightened of grandfather, when he's angry, as of that old sailor man!"

There was no answer. We knocked again louder, and then—I'm sorry to write it—but grandfather spoke angry words. Still, he didn't tell us to come in. We waited a moment, then we knocked again, and this time turned the door-handle and walked boldly in.

Grandfather was sitting up in his arm-chair; he had his teeth in. He scowled at us, and asked us what we meant by disturbing him at this hour.

It was funny how frightened Lynette was of him. She shrank behind me, but I was so worked up that I didn't mind his crossness a bit. I only thought of the oil upon the island, and how we must prevent a submarine getting it.

"We have something very important to tell you, grandfather," I said; "it has to do with our country, and something ought to be done at once."

"Speak out!" snapped grandfather.

Then I said:

"Lynette and I have discovered a lot of hidden oil in the caves on the island, and it's just waiting there for a submarine to fetch it!"

"Bosh!" said grandfather.

But he listened to me.

I told him how Lynette and I had gone out in the boat, and found the tins and barrels stored away.

"It's just your fancy—a few old empty tins perhaps."

Lynette was angry that he should treat it so lightly, and she forgot to be frightened. "There's a strange man over there with it," she said.

Then grandfather sat up straight in his chair and began to question us, and cross-examine us. I pity the people who come before him to be tried. He wanted to know every word that the man had said to us, and we tried not to tell him. Then at last I said desperately:

"He pretended to us that he was using those tins for a purpose of his own, but we can't tell you what that purpose was, because he made us swear we wouldn't tell, and we swore we wouldn't. But we didn't swear we wouldn't tell that the oil-tins were there, and we thought you could send for the police and let them go over. They could soon find out if it is true. And the sooner they go, the better."

"It's all a pack of nonsense," said grandfather testily. "Here, let me get to the telephone. I'll set Major Streatfield on to it!"

Major Streatfield is the Chief Constable of our part of the world, and he's one of grandfather's friends. I was quite relieved when grandfather told him about it through the telephone. We didn't hear what he said, for it was a one-sided shout through the tube, but we guessed from what we heard that the major was going to do something. And then grandfather sat back in his chair and looked at us.

"You had better keep a quiet tongue in your heads over this business. If there's anything in it, we don't want it proclaimed all over the village. Can you keep your mouths shut, do you think?"

"We have managed to keep them shut, grandfather, even to you about one thing," said Lynette, who had quite recovered her assurance. "Grisel and I want to keep it quiet. And if that man is caught, he will escape and murder us; he said he would. So you'll know who has done it, when it is done!"

Lynette's voice was tragic, and grandfather laughed for the first time. Then he sent us away.

We couldn't settle to anything for the rest of that day. We longed that the boys were home, for they would have gone out with the police to take away the oil. Nobody could have prevented them being in it. That is the worst of girls: whatever they do, and however brave they try to be, nobody thinks anything of them when real danger comes.

We sat in the schoolroom and talked over our adventure; it was all we could do. We tried to think what we could have done better. If we had only found his boat, before we found the man, we might have made a hole in the bottom of it, or let it loose and drift out to sea. But then he would have taken ours, if he had found it out before we had left.

"And all our preparations for emergencies were no good," said Lynette. "Our matches and paper and food and rope were all of no use; they just came back again with us."

"Things never happen exactly as we think," I said, "but the wonderful thing is that the oil was really there just as we imagined it. I really think God made us think of it. I have prayed so much that we might be given some work to do for our country!"

"Perhaps it isn't oil," said Lynette.

"It must be—it must be. Oh, I wish we could know what they're doing."

But we didn't know, and though it was a dark still night, and we stayed at our bedroom windows till we were too sleepy to hold our heads up any more, we saw no lights, nor boats, nor heard any noise at all.

When I fell asleep, I dreamt of that sailor running after us with a hatchet in his hand. I had awful dreams all the night through! I was quite glad to wake up in the morning and find myself safe and well.

After our breakfast, grandfather sent us a message to say that he wanted to see us. We were delighted, for we hoped to hear news. And when he saw us, there was a pleased smile on his face, and we knew that our story had proved true.

"Streatfield has just phoned through," he said; "I thought you would like to know. They captured the oil, but there was no man. He's coming round at ten o'clock, and wants you to describe the man to him."

"Oh," I said, "then we have done some good, grandfather."

"You have indeed."

"I only hope the man isn't hiding there still," said Lynette. "He really will come and kill us, if he knows we sent the police. Grisel says it doesn't matter about us, but I'd rather be shot in battle than murdered in my bed."

"Tut!" said grandfather impatiently. "Be a sensible lass, and don't be frightened of a man's idle threat. He is away without a doubt, for there is no boat, they say. Streatfield knows those caves well."

"Why haven't the men been watching them then?" I said.

"There's carelessness somewhere," said grandfather. "Don't chatter any more, but be ready to see Major Streatfield when he comes."

"Aren't we important people!" Lynette said as she skipped out of the room.

In a very little time we were down again, but this time it was in the library, and grandfather was up and dressed. He had told Aunt Isobel about it, and she cautioned us before we saw the major that we must be most accurate and careful in what we said.

"It's like a police court!" said Lynette.

Major Streatfield was very jolly with us. Not a bit like grandfather. And we described the man as well as we could. He nodded his head as we finished.

"That's the chap. He was implicated in the other affair higher up the coast, but he's a beggar for escaping. I think we shall catch him this time though."

And then Lynette showed him the pipe she had picked up. She had forgotten all about it till now.

Major Streatfield was awfully interested in it. He took it over to the window and examined it, and then took a magnifying glass out of his pocket, and looked at it, and then he made grandfather look, and they nodded their heads together.

"Well, I have him safe in custody," the major said. "I don't know if he's deeply implicated in it, or whether, for a bribe, he promised to keep clear of that part."

We asked whose pipe it was, and grandfather's answer was:

"David Grier's. His name is scratched upon it."

We gasped.

"But he may have been walking along innocently like us," I said, "and dropped his pipe."

"If he had been doing his duty, would he not have discovered what you did?" said Major Streatfield. "We only got it away in the nick of time. What do you think we found, sir?"

And he turned to grandfather as he spoke:

"We found a light with a slow-burning fuse attached, set in one of the open clefts in the cave. Grier ought to have seen that light. He ought to have stationed his men where they had command of that beach."

Lynette and I were not allowed to stay much longer, but Major Streatfield shook hands with us before we went out of the room, and said:

"You showed great courage and presence of mind. Your grandfather must be proud of you!"

And Lynette and I came up to the schoolroom, and felt awfully pleased with ourselves.

Now the oil was secured, there was not so much secrecy wanted. We were allowed to tell Miss Garton all about it when she came back, and she was most interested.

But that evening, Lynette nearly got into trouble again. When grandfather and Aunt Isobel were at dinner, she actually crept down to the hall and unfastened some of the bits of armour that were on the wall. She got hold of a shield and a kind of collar and was bringing it upstairs, when she stumbled and fell, and the shield went crashing down the stairs with an awful clanging noise. Miss Garton and I rushed out, and grandfather and Aunt Isobel, and then there was an awful row, and Lynette stood up in front of grandfather red and defiant.

"I deserve to have it! You oughtn't to grudge it to me. I was going to wear it under my nightdress in bed every night to save me from being murdered! Grisel and I will always go to sleep in fear of our lives. And you know why, grandfather!"

Grandfather began to laugh. But he wouldn't let Lynette have the armour. And, as I told her, it was not as if the man had been caught. I dare say he thought the oil had been taken off by the submarine. That was why the police tried to keep it as quiet as possible.

After a few nights, Lynette left off being nervous. And I never was at all. Because I know that God has me fast in His Hand. And I told Lynette that she ought to look at her foot and remember the letters on it.

"Yes," she said, "but I'm not so good as you, and I take my hand out of God's a hundred times a day. I forget so, and I'm in such a hurry to do what I want, that I never stop to think whether God wants me to do it, and generally He doesn't!"

We wondered if anything would be said in the newspapers about us and the oil, but there wasn't a word except one local paper which said:

"We understand that our Chief Constable is very active on our coast, and has had reason to suspect in more than one place connivance with the enemy. We can safely trust him to guard all exposed points."

Miss Garton said so much was suppressed now, and she thought it was very wise to be cautious.

"Yes," said Lynette, who had never forgotten the strange sailor; "and it wouldn't do for him to see it in the papers, would it, Grisel? But I should like for once in my life to see my name in the paper. It would sound so lovely. It might be headed:

"Two heroic defenders of our shores!"

She wrote a long letter to Denys and Aylwin about it. We thought there was no harm in doing that, and we had some awfully jolly letters from them wishing that they had been here to join in the fun.

Old David Grier quietly disappeared, and another coastguardsman took his place. The fishermen said he was too old for his job, but we knew a little more than they did.

Aunt Grisel heard about it, and when we went over to her, she was the only one who praised us up to the skies! She's getting her soldiers now, but they are five wounded officers, and we don't think them as interesting as the men.

Yet if Pat or Denys got wounded, we should think them interesting. But we know them, and strange officers are different. They would look upon us as children, and I should be afraid to go near them.

Miss Garton is teaching us to make swabs for the hospital. Lynette and I are getting quite clever at it. The war keeps us busy, but it seems to get more and more awful. I never knew that war could be so horribly cruel!

CHAPTER XV

AN OLD FRIEND

I HAVE had a great surprise.

Last Saturday I went over to Aunt Grisel's. And when I got there, she asked me to arrange some flowers for her wounded soldiers.

I had seen none of them, for they had been kept very quiet. Miss Fawcett was generally with them.

I love arranging flowers, especially when one is allowed to pick what one chooses from the greenhouses. And when I had filled all the vases, Aunt Grisel asked me to come with her and place them in the rooms.

I felt a little bit shy. And as we were going upstairs, she told me about them. One had been wounded in the head, and, though it wasn't a very dangerous wound, it had left him partly paralysed all down one side; another was deaf and dumb from shock, one was suffering from gas poisoning, and the two others were suffering from nerves. It all seemed dreadfully sad. The first one we saw was the one who had been poisoned by gas. He was lying in bed breathing rather heavily. Aunt Grisel spoke very brightly to him.

"I have brought you some flowers which my little goddaughter here has arranged. Put them on that table, Grisel!"

In an instant, a smooth dark head raised itself from the pillow. And, to my amazement and delight, I saw that it was actually Gervas Carrington!

He smiled all over his face when he saw me.

"I thought there weren't many Grisels in the world," he said, in a weak husky voice.

"Oh, Gervas," I said, going over to his bed, "how delightful to see you! And yet I'm sorry too! Are you very ill! Too ill for me to talk to you? Aunt Grisel, Gervas is a very old friend of ours. He lives in Lincolnshire."

"Or did," put in Gervas. "My mother is with my father in India now, so I have no home. Otherwise, I might not be here."

"Don't make him talk too much, child, or Miss Fawcett may forbid our visits altogether. But you can sit down and talk to him a little if you like, whilst I take the flowers to the other rooms."

She left us. I took the chair by the bedside, and Gervas put out a very thin brown hand and took hold of mine.

"Little Grisel!" he said in a low voice. "I would rather see you than any one else in the world—next to my mother."

And then my eyes suddenly filled with tears. When last I had seen him he was so strong and well, and now he seemed so frail and feeble!

"It's my lungs," he said, "but I'm better, and longing to be out in your fresh pure Scotch air. I haven't been out in France a month. It's hard luck!"

"Isn't it strange your being sent up here?" I said.

"How do you come here? Do you know it was your Empire League that took me to Sandhurst? I was filled up with enthusiasm to serve. I haven't done much serving, but I did my best."

He seemed to speak with difficulty.

"Don't talk, Gervas," I said. "Let me tell you what has been happening to all of us. Our lives have been altered altogether since father's death."

Then I told him everything. All about father's Charge to me, and how we are trying to keep it, and about Pat, and grandfather and Aunt Isobel. And then by the time I had finished about the oil in the caves, Miss Fawcett came in. Everybody calls her "Sister" now. And she is dressed in a nurse's cap and apron.

"You're not tiring my patient, Grisel?" she said.

"She's doing me pounds of good," said Gervas.

Miss Fawcett smiled. She brought him a cup of beef-tea on a tray, and he sat up and took it, but his cough was dreadful, and he moved like a weary old man. I sat silent till he had taken his beef-tea, and then I was going to follow Miss Fawcett out of the room, when Gervas asked me to stay a little longer.

"You're a bit of home," he said. "I won't talk."

So Miss Fawcett left us. I didn't want to go and see any of the other invalids.

I told Gervas about Denys being at Woolwich.

"He may get leave at Christmas," I said, "but they're working very hard. He's longing to get out to the front. Somehow or other, the glory of war is fading away. I used to long that it might come and give us something to do and dare for our country, but women can dare nothing. They only read the papers and hear about the awful, things going on."

Gervas looked at me thoughtfully with his great dark eyes.

"You're growing up," he said.

"I suppose I am. I think this war makes one grow. I mean I can't tear about so wildly as I used to do. I wonder sometimes that we can ever laugh."

"You must look on to the end," he said.

"I suppose," I said slowly, "it's very awful out at the front, Gervas?"

"It isn't play. But it's time we English woke up. We were taking it too easy all round."

"Oh, I do hope you will soon be well again," I cried.

"I'd like to do a bit more," said Gervas, "but you and I know that everything that happens to us is all right, so I shan't worry!"

I remembered how good Gervas used to be, and I felt my heart warm right up.

"Yes, we do know that, Gervas," I said. "I wish we were all as good as you. I'm trying to remember that God wants to hold us all fast if we will let Him. But I often wonder what they must think in heaven about the war. I should think the angels must weep."

"I think," said Gervas slowly, "that they're very busy out in the trenches, guarding and guiding and comforting and carrying souls over the river."

Then he coughed, and I begged him not to talk. It was difficult to keep to Miss Fawcett's orders.

Very soon Aunt Grisel came back and took me away. Gervas gripped hold of my hand when he said good-bye.

"I shall see you again?" he asked.

"She comes over every Saturday," said Aunt Grisel. "I hope you'll be up next week. We're going to make a cure of you here. I must tell you that you would not be here except for Grisel. She persuaded her self-indulgent old aunt to turn her house into a hospital."

Gervas looked at me.

"She always inspires!" he said.

I hardly like to write this down. I don't think it is quite true, but it made me very happy. We always felt that same thing with Gervas when we knew him in Lincolnshire. He gave us a spurt on—the boys used to say.

But I came away from his room feeling very sad, and downstairs I told Aunt Grisel all about him.

"He will get well, won't he?" I said.

"We'll hope so, but he won't be fit to go back and fight for a long long time. We'll do our best for him here. You may be sure of that."

When I got home and told Lynette, she was awfully excited.

"I must go and see him next Saturday. Do ask Aunt Grisel to have me. I want to ask him about Beatrice and Clarice. If it's only his chest that is the matter, he'll soon get well. It isn't like having bullets in you, or smashing your arms and legs. Poor Gervas! What a shame he has no home! Perhaps, when he gets better, Aunt Isobel would ask him here. It's a pity he's come back from the war before he had a chance to be a hero and get a V.C. If Pat doesn't get a V.C. pretty soon, I shall be disgusted with him. Did you ask Gervas if he had done anything?"

"If you saw him lying there, gasping his life out," I said severely, "you would think he had done enough!"

Lynette wasn't much impressed. She rattled on:

"Did you tell him what you and I had been doing? I am sure we deserve a V.C. for finding that oil and braving death when we met that man!"

"I told him about it," I said, "but I hope I didn't brag about it as you are so fond of doing. We really were too frightened to do much. If we had caught the man and tied him up, and got nearly killed by him for doing it, that would have been something to be proud of! You're as bad as Puff sometimes!"

We always snub Puff, because he is so cocky.

Lynette laughed.

"You're such a prig, Grizzy!"

And then I went out of the room and banged the door behind me, for I hate being called a prig, and Lynette knows it.

This morning I actually had a letter from Pat. It came from France, and had the censor's ticket on it. I do love Pat's letters. He writes just like he talks, only he has never written to me before, but I have seen his letters to the boys.

"DEAR LITTLE MOTHER GRISEL,

"Here's the top of the morning to you, me darling! And what a morning for us! Sure 'tis the cart before the horse in this war! We are buried in our graves first, then we get out to fight. Send along all the grave-diggers you can find to help us with the pick and shovel, for them is the boys for us! 'Tis cruel work standing in ice and water up to your middle, and only lifting your nose and eyes up to the daylight once in a blue moon to get a squint at your foes. But we've had a dash on occasions, and then Huroosh for the Oirish boys! We've driven 'em back no end o' times! Our major is real grand at shouting. He's the very mischief when there's a real scrimmage, but his language—ahem—'tis hot enough and no mistake.

"The other morning a starched, stiff British general came by, and our major was in his best form tackling recruits, and rating them fast and furiously. The old general asked his name. 'McAndrew,' he was told. 'Make a note that in Major McAndrew's trenches there is no scarcity of fire or fuel,' he said, and passed on. And our poor major heard it, and was dumb for a whole day after.

"Well, and how is yourself? I've had two letters only, and letters out here, I can tell you, are as nectar! I'm trying hard to H.F. you'll like to know, and my little mascot is taken out and looked at every blessed day. Say a prayer for your poor Pat! Sure and he knows he wants it. For the shaves he has had from shot and shell would fill a book! And we're up against death every minute of the day, and it makes a fellow think of the world we're blown into, at such short summons. How is the Puffer! My love to the Scaramouche.

"Your worthless

"PAT."

The Scaramouche is Lynette. I shall write to Pat every week. Miss Garton says I may. I am so glad he reads his Testament. Oh, I do hope God will keep him safely!

*****

Our Christmas holidays have come and Aylwin is home, and Denys is coming for a week next Tuesday. Scotch people don't make anything of Christmas. It seems so strange; only New Year's Day. That is the most important season to them. Gervas is much better. He walks about, but he has still got an awful cough, and says he is as weak as a chicken. He was awfully pleased to see Aylwin, and Lynette has been over several Saturdays with me. Aunt Isobel is going to ask Gervas over to dine and sleep with us on New Year's Day, for Denys will be with us then.

We had great excitement yesterday. An aeroplane came over the house, and alighted in one of grandfather's fields.

A Captain Hugh Gordon was in it. Aunt Isobel knew him, and, as there was something the matter with his machine, she asked him to come into the house. He stayed to lunch, and after lunch we were allowed to go out to the field and see him start again. His man had been repairing it, and it was all right again. He told us he was going to patrol the East Coast of England, where the Zeppelins are coming over. Aylwin begged him to take him up for a ride, and Lynette and I were wild to go too. I think it must be too lovely for words to go sailing through the sky, with the world at your feet. Captain Gordon said he would take Aylwin up for a few minutes, but not us girls.

"You are too precious!" he said, laughing.

"But," I cried, "that is just what we are not. It is boys and men who are precious now, because they can fight, and girls cannot. Our country might be the worse for want of Aylwin in a year or two, but not for us. Lynette and I could easily be spared!"

He only laughed at us.

"Our soldiers will want you to nurse them or marry them," he said. "No, you can't be spared."

And then Aylwin got into the car, and we watched them start the engine and run right along the field like a motor, and then suddenly rise, and rise, till they looked like some big bird. We caught our breath as we watched them.

Puff was with us.

"Why," he said, with big awed eyes, "they might be able to find their way into heaven if they flew high enough. What would happen then?"

We laughed at him, and I said:

"Nobody can find heaven, Puff."

"But we find it quick when we die," he said; "and it would be very nice to find it when we're alive."

We said no more to him, we were so busy watching the aeroplane, and then swiftly it came down and down and got bigger and bigger, until we saw the car and two little heads peeping out, and then in another minute it had come to the ground again.

Aylwin got out. He looked rather pale, and we thought it was with excitement, and we felt he was almost a hero.

Puff dashed forward to Captain Gordon. "Can you fly up out of sight," he asked, "through the clouds?"

"Yes, and very wet and cold they are."

Then Puff said in an eager whisper, for he did not want us to hear:

"Do try and find out heaven when you're up there. Even if you don't want to go inside just yet. Do you know if any flying man has found the way there yet?"

Captain Gordon did not smile; he looked at him long and seriously.

"Yes, little chap, some find their way there, we'll hope!"

"When they're flying?"

"When they have a tumble."

And then Captain Gordon waved his hand to us, and got into his car again, and his man got in with him, and away they went, and we watched them with craning necks and strained eyes till they were out of sight.

Then we asked Aylwin to describe his feelings. But he's stupid at that kind of thing.

"It was A1," he said. "At first you feel rather as you do when you try to smoke. I've quite made up my mind that when I leave school, I'll go into the Flying Corps."

"That will be ripping!" said Lynette. "And then you can bring your machine home and take us flying trips. I don't see why we shouldn't learn to fly."

"You!" said Aylwin contemptuously. "You're only good for nursing or marrying!"

And he laughed.

I felt angry.

"That's just like men," I said; "they're so small-minded."

"Well, what do you think you will do when you grow up?" Aylwin demanded.

"I shan't be a nurse," cried Lynette; "nothing so tame! I couldn't walk round beds and shake pillows and give medicine all day long. And I shan't marry any man if he wants me to stay at home all day, and keep the house, and order his dinners, and mend his socks for him. I shall earn some money first, and then I shall travel all over the world with a faithful native servant who is ready to die for me. And when I've seen every corner of the world, I shall come home, and choose the very handsomest man I can find for a husband. He must be a V.C. at the tip-top of the Army, and must have a coat covered with bars and medals and glory! That's going to be my life!"

"I should be willing to marry," I said, "if my husband was a soldier and would let me share his camp life and all his hardships. I should love to make him comfortable, and cheer him up when he was downhearted."

"You've no ambition at all!" said Lynette scornfully.

And sometimes I wonder if I have. I know I have, great ambition for the boys, and for Gervas and for Pat. I want them to do noble great things before they die, and I believe they will. Both Denys and Pat have a splendid chance of doing something. But as to myself—lately I'm beginning to see that women are at great disadvantage.

I don't like the noisy women in the world. When I look at mother's picture, I feel all I want is to live and die as she did. And I ask God that I may, and that He will hold my hand fast to the very end.

CHAPTER XVI

SAD NEWS

WAR is not glorious. It is hideous! Awful! And I hope this will be the very last war till the end of the world.

It is a long time since I have written in this diary, and I must go back first to where I left off.

We had a very happy New Year's Eve. Gervas came over, but he wasn't really himself till he came up into our schoolroom and had tea with us. We were all to dine downstairs in the dining-room for a treat, even Puff, and he was nearly off his head with delight. It is funny how fond he and grandfather are of each other. If Puff can be in the same room with him, he is perfectly happy.

Well, Gervas asked to come upstairs, for Aunt Isobel was going to give him tea in the drawing-room, but I think she was rather relieved than otherwise when we carried him off with us. In spite of having been to the front, he seemed a boy to us still, and Denys is half a head taller than he is.

How we talked! Chiefly about old times when we were in our dear old Rectory home.

He chaffed Lynette, and played with Puff, and talked "shop" with Denys. Denys had only come home the day before. He was just inclined—a tiny bit—to put on airs, but Gervas stopped that by telling him of some bounders in his regiment.

"You can always tell them by their 'swank,'" he said. "They've never been gentlemen before, and don't know that the A B C of a soldier is simplicity and humility."

And then he began to tell us little interesting bits about his life at the front in the trenches.

He did not touch on the horrors, though Aylwin tried to make him. He told us nice things about the French children, and animals, and old people that they came across, and he told us of an old woman who was living in her ruined cottage, and all her bits of furniture were broken by shells, and she only had her garden left, but that was untouched. And one Sunday morning, she stripped it of all her last flowers, and took them to lay on some fresh soldiers' graves a little distance off.

"It is only my 'thank you' to the dear boys," she said to Gervas when he asked her why she had done it.

I thought it was so sweet of her!

Gervas was better. He did not cough so much. He said he hoped he would soon be well enough to go back to his regiment. But Miss Fawcett said he would have to have at least six months more leave in England, only she did not tell him that.

We talked over our Empire League, and laughed at some of our recollections. And then he told us that he had seen Captain Rogers in town.

"He seemed pretty sick—poor chap!—that he could do nothing, but I think he is getting some clerk's job at the War Office."

"I should so like to see him again," I said. "He used to be so kind to us, and it was he who put it into the boys' heads to start that Empire League."

"Yes, he asked after you all. He said he had never met such an entertaining lot as you were, either before or since his visit to Lincolnshire. I remember the same thing struck me. You all convulsed me—especially when you tried to be solemn."

"We're growing up now," I said with a sigh. "Denys has left school, and in another year or two, I shall have done with lessons."

"Don't be grown-up too soon," Gervas said, looking at me with a little smile. "I like you as you are."

"I know one thing," said Lynette in her eager impulsive way: "that I don't mean to stop having fun when I'm grown-up. It's all nonsense to be so stiff and starched! Look at Aunt Isobel! She's not able to move her head round. She's like a poker!"

So we talked away, and were quite sorry when we had to dress for dinner.

Lynette and I wore some soft white silk dresses, with black sashes, for we were still in mourning for father. The boys smartened themselves up and Denys was in his first evening dress suit. He looked awfully nice, we thought, but he had a good many pinches from us on his way downstairs.

It was a splendid dinner, but we were just a family party, except that Aunt Grisel came over and was amongst us. She seemed to make things much more lively, and grandfather was in the best of humours, so that before dinner was over we were all laughing and talking freely.

We had some games in the drawing-room afterwards, and a little music, and then we all stayed up till twelve o'clock, and went outside on the terrace and sang "Auld Lang Syne."

As we heard the stable clock strike twelve, we were very silent. And all sorts of thoughts rushed through my mind. I looked up at the stars. God seemed so near to us that it was quite easy to speak to Him, and I asked that in the coming year He would help us all to remember father's Charge.

Gervas put his hand on my shoulder and startled me.

"Come back from the clouds, Grisel. Your spirit is wanted here."

"It is here," I said with a little laugh, "but we have begun a new year already, Gervas, and it brings solemn thoughts."

Gervas looked up into the sky.

"And the clash of arms is ringing out all over the world," he said. "I sometimes feel it won't be over till the King comes into His own again."

"Oh, Gervas, do you feel that? If only it could be! If only we could believe it!"

A little thrill came into my heart. Then I said:

"It would make us get ready, all of us, wouldn't it, Gervas, if we really believed it?"

"It would indeed," he said.

And then one of the boys came up, and we said no more. But I have been thinking about the Second Coming ever since. Why don't people talk about it more? Perhaps they have forgotten that it is really bound to come.

That was a very jolly time till Denys left us again, and then the holidays soon came to an end, and lessons began, and things went on pretty well as they did before.

One day Miss Douglas came over in great delight. She had heard from Pat that he had been offered a commission in another Irish regiment. His cousin wrote to her too, and said that Pat was getting on splendidly. Everybody loved him, and he said he would make the best kind of officer, for he would win the affection and confidence of all the men.

"So my wild laddie is going to do something yet," Miss Douglas said.

But I saw she had tears in her eyes as she spoke. We were awfully glad to hear that Pat was a proper officer now. He was too good to be anything else, and he was a born leader, we all agreed. Not quite so wise as Denys, but always so lovable! I can quite imagine the soldiers being ready to die for him.

And we all wrote a round robin to him of congratulations. Then, as time went on, and country after country began to join in, and more and more soldiers and guns were wanted, and greater numbers than ever were being killed, we began almost to wish that Denys would not be in such a hurry to go.

They were pushing them through Woolwich as fast as they could—Denys thought he might be through at the end of a six months' training. And of course we all pretended to be delighted. I think grandfather really was. He was proud of Denys at last; he saw what a fine fellow he was, and he liked to think that he would have a grandson fighting at the front.

It was just before Easter; Miss Garton had gone home, and Aylwin had come back again. I shall never forget the day. It was wild and stormy. The sea was booming and roaring, and dashing over the rocks on the beach with a sound like thunder. We were all in the schoolroom. Aylwin and Lynette were making a small model of a flying machine. Aylwin is still wild over air-ships. Puff was making a scrap-book for soldiers in hospital, and I was sitting upon the window-sill knitting a pair of mittens for Pat, and singing softly almost under my breath:

"Land of our birth, our faith, our pride,
For whose dear sake our fathers died;
Oh, Motherland! we pledge to thee
Head, heart, and hand through the years to be!"

Suddenly the door opened, and Aunt Isobel walked in.

I saw at once that something had happened. She looked quite agitated, quite unlike her calm cool self.

"Your grandfather has heard from Miss Douglas on the telephone," she said. Then she stopped as if she couldn't go on.

"Something about Pat!" I gasped, and jumped down from my perch, and let my knitting drop on the floor in my excitement.

"Yes," Aunt Isobel said, speaking very quietly now. "She has had bad news. He was killed yesterday. I thought I had better come and tell you."

Then she turned to the door, and left the room, but Lynette dashed after her.

I was literally stunned. I stood staring at the machine Aylwin was making, wondering if I were in a dream.

Pat! Jolly, laughing, reckless Pat! Pat, with his mischievous blue eyes, and brilliant smile, and curly head, lying dead and cold and still! I could not, would not believe it. There was a mistake. He could not go out of our life so suddenly. It must be another of the same name. Oh, it couldn't be Pat, he was too full of life, too young to be taken away like this!

Why did not Aunt Isobel come back and say she had made a mistake!

Aylwin sat looking at me with a white, horrified face. Puff was the only one of us who took it quietly.

"Poor dear Pat!" he said, shaking his head sadly. "I liked Pat, and now he's gone just like father!"

Then I fled to my room. I could not stand being with the others. I flung myself on my bed and sobbed and sobbed, until I was exhausted.

Then Lynette crept in. She had been crying too, for her eyes were very red.

"I think it was horrid of Aunt Isobel to go off like that! But I made her tell me all she knew. Miss Douglas had only just had a wire from the War Office saying they regretted to tell her that Pat was killed yesterday. Oh, Grisel, isn't it awful? I somehow never thought that anybody belonging to us would be killed. It was bad enough to see Gervas after his gas poisoning, but it is impossible to believe that Pat is dead! Now I feel that Denys will be killed too, directly he goes out. It's horrible! Why doesn't God strike the Kaiser dead, or swallow the Germans up with an earthquake, or do something to stop this cruel war!"

"Oh, do be quiet," I said; "and go away and leave me alone. You never stop chattering."

"It's no good to be cross. Aylwin is writing to Denys about it, and Puff has run off down to grandfather. I've nobody to talk to. Lying on your bed and crying won't bring Pat back. Do talk to me, Grisel, and say something nice. I'm perfectly miserable!"

I got off my bed. It was no good being selfish. I washed my face, and then sat down by the window, and looked out at the storm.

"I'm glad it is raining and blowing like this," I said. "At any rate, the weather does not mock at us. I should hate it to be a bright sunny day."

Lynette came and sat down by me.

"Grisel," she said in a low voice, "you wouldn't call Pat a good boy exactly, would you?"

I didn't answer for a moment, then I said stoutly:

"Lynette, I have prayed for Pat twice every day since he went out. I don't believe God would be deaf and not hear me. And you know what Pat said in his first letter to me. I showed it to you."

"Get the letter and read it again," said Lynette.

I took it out of a little box I keep my treasures in; I had read it many times myself, but I read it to Lynette again.

And we both felt comforted by it. He said he was trying to "hold fast" and read his Testament every day. That was a good deal for him to say.

"I wish—I wish we knew more about him," I said. "It seems so awful to have him die, and be buried out there just with a lot of others, and nobody belonging to him to be there."

"I hate this war," said Lynette, stamping her foot. "It ought to be stopped."

"We used to talk a good deal about sparing and sending those we loved to fight," I said. "But it was easy to talk; it's different now we have to do it. And Pat has died for his King and country. He is a hero. He couldn't do more. And if Denys dies too, we must be glad and willing, Lynette, about it."

"We never could be glad," said Lynette; "that's all humbug."

"Then we are not true patriots," I said, "and all our Empire League teaching goes for nothing. We must be glad, Lynette. If we lose Denys and Aylwin and Puff and have no brothers left, you and I must be willing, and say: 'Thank God they went to the front! Thank God we never kept them back, or darkened their last hours at home by tears and reproaches!'"

I had worked myself up by this time to a proper spirit for an English girl.

Lynette stared at me.

"Now you're in heroics!" she said. "You're trying to talk like a book. You don't really feel like that, you're only pretending!"

"Perhaps," I said, feeling in my heart that what she said was true, "perhaps if we go on pretending, we shall make it real. We have got to make ourselves brave citizens, Lynette. If we don't, we shall never be able to inspire boys and men to go and fight."

"We can be brave," said Lynette, "but we can't be glad that Pat is dead; you're not glad. You would be inhuman if you were! And we aren't acting before an audience, Grisel, so you may just as well be natural. You know quite well that you can't be glad about Pat!"

And I knew she was right. I never could be glad. I felt that I should never be happy again, with dear, merry Pat gone away from us, and if we lost Denys, there would be nothing left to live for.

For the next few days we hoped and hoped that we should hear something, but any news that came was only to say that somebody else was killed or wounded.

Peggy heard that a nephew of hers was killed, and a son of cook's was wounded, and a cousin of one of the housemaids a prisoner, and down in the village there were three different families mourning for a soldier belonging to them. I used to be so fond of Easter, but now it all seemed a mockery until we began to think of the end of the world and all the dead coming to life; then that seemed to cheer us up a little.

And then, a week later, Miss Douglas came over with letters. She and Aunt Isobel are great friends, and she always comes to show her and tell her everything. But she knew how fond we all were of Pat, and how much he was with us before he went away, so I was not a bit surprised when I was sent for to the drawing-room.

Miss Douglas kissed me when I came in, and Aunt Isobel left us and went away. I think that was very nice of her, for it is always easier for two to talk than three. Aunt Isobel had heard from Pat's Irish cousin and the colonel of his regiment and from a nurse at the base hospital. The colonel said he was one of the most promising of his young officers, and there wasn't a single man in his regiment who did not love him.

That we knew already. The colonel said that they were storming a trench, and had a terrific fire poured into them from the enemy's guns. The captain and senior subalterns were all shot, and the men wavered, and in another moment would have retreated in a panic when Pat rallied them, and led them on triumphantly. They got the trench from the Germans, and Pat was hit just when the fighting was over. That seemed so sad. But I suppose he had done his work—and then was taken.

The colonel said he had never seen Pat without a smile on his face. His cheery spirit had kept them all heartened up even on the blackest days. And then his cousin wrote, for he had discovered one of the stretcher-bearers who carried him to hospital. Pat knew he was dying. He asked them twice to put him down and take up some others who might have a chance, but they wouldn't listen to him. He was unconscious when they got him to hospital. He was shot through both lungs. But just before he lapsed into unconsciousness, he murmured, with his bright smile, "Rather dull work for you fellows—ever so much obliged to you. You've carried me A1."

Then the nurse wrote, and before she read her letter, Miss Douglas put a little parcel into my hand.

"It's for you, Grisel. It's the little book come back to you which you gave him."

I took it in my hand, struggling with my tears. The nurse's letter was the nicest of all. I'm sure she must be a good woman. She said that his patience and sweetness were miraculous. He lived for four hours after she had got him to bed. But he couldn't talk much. This was the message he gave her:

"Tell Grisel—first leaf in Testament—made good to me. And I've found the Hand to H.F. to."

He sent his love to his aunt, and then he turned his head on his pillow and "just fell asleep," said the nurse.

I was crying fast as Miss Douglas read this to me.

"What did the dear boy mean by the 'first leaf?'" she asked me.

I opened the little Testament and showed it to her. It had a horrid stain upon it, and I knew what the stain meant, but I read the verse out loud:

"'I the LORD have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee!'"

"And what did he mean by 'H.F.'?" she asked.

"Hold fast," I said, choked by my sobs.

Miss Douglas cried with me.

"I never taught him to be religious," she said. "I couldn't get hold of him. I don't know how he learnt it."

"God taught him," I said.

And I'm perfectly certain God did, and, though I was so sad, a joyful feeling came into my heart that God had listened to, and answered, my prayers. It made me feel I could and would pray for anybody and everybody now. God was so very very good to listen to me.

When Miss Douglas went away, I went upstairs and told Lynette all about it, and we cried again together, and I wrapped up the dear little Testament and put it into my treasure box with Pat's letter, and I shall keep them both there till I die.

*****

I can't go on with this diary any more. Somehow or other the war seems to stop us from doing so many things.

And to-day Denys has left us for France. He came down in khaki looking so brave and handsome. He had only twenty-four hours' leave. I know I shall never have a happy moment till he is home again. But oh, I am so certain and so glad that he is ready for whatever may happen to him.

Pat's death has sobered us. We should have sent Denys off with shouts of laughter and cheers before, quite expecting him to come back with the V.C. Now we know that he may never return; and Denys knows it too.

"Grisel," he said, as he kissed me good-bye in the porch—I was standing behind the others—"Grisel, if I share Pat's fate, you'll know I shall be quite willing. I hope I may be spared to fight the whole war through, but if I'm not, you'll see that Aylwin takes my place as soon as he can. He's only a year behind me."

"Oh, Denys—I do hope you will be kept safe. But I know it will be all right, and that you will H.F. to the last."

Denys smiled. As he drove off we gave him three cheers—and grandfather joined us.

Denys waved his cap in the air, and then he did—what only Lynette and I understood. He held up his left wrist and gripped it with his right.

And we knew that he was telling himself and us to keep father's Charge.

FINIS

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Table of Contents

- "US, AND OUR CHARGE"
- CHAPTER I
- CHAPTER II
- CHAPTER III
- CHAPTER IV
- CHAPTER V
- CHAPTER VI
- CHAPTER VII
- CHAPTER VIII
- CHAPTER IX
- CHAPTER X
- CHAPTER XI
- CHAPTER XII
- CHAPTER XIII
- CHAPTER XIV
- CHAPTER XV
- CHAPTER XVI
- THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE