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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Peterkin, by Mary Louisa Molesworth
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Peterkin
+
+Author: Mary Louisa Molesworth
+
+Illustrator: H. R. Millar
+
+Release Date: August 15, 2008 [EBook #26322]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PETERKIN ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Chris Curnow, Lindy Walsh, Emmy, and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+PETERKIN
+
+[Illustration: MAMMA . . . HUGGED HIM AS IF HE'D BEEN LOST FOR A YEAR.
+
+[_Frontispiece._]
+
+
+
+
+PETERKIN
+
+
+BY
+
+
+MRS. MOLESWORTH
+
+
+AUTHOR OF 'CARROTS,' 'CUCKOO CLOCK,' 'TELL ME A STORY'
+
+
+_WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY H. R. MILLAR_
+
+          =London=
+          MACMILLAN AND CO., LIMITED
+          NEW YORK: THE MACMILLAN COMPANY
+          1902
+
+
+          _All rights reserved_
+
+
+
+
+          TO
+
+          "ALEX"
+
+          ALEXANDER DOBREE HERRIES
+
+          I DEDICATE THIS LITTLE STORY
+
+
+          155 SLOANE STREET, S.W.
+          _May Day_ 1902
+
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+  CHAP.                                             PAGE
+
+     I. WHAT _CAN_ HAVE BECOME OF HIM?                 1
+
+    II. FOUND                                         19
+
+   III. AN INVITATION                                 34
+
+    IV. VERY MYSTERIOUS                               50
+
+     V. 'STRATAGEMS'                                  69
+
+    VI. MARGARET                                      84
+
+   VII. THE GREAT PLAN                               101
+
+  VIII. A TERRIBLE IDEA                              118
+
+    IX. IN A FOG                                     135
+
+     X. BERYL                                        149
+
+    XI. DEAR MAMMA                                   165
+
+   XII. NO MYSTERY AFTER ALL                         182
+
+
+
+
+ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+
+  MAMMA . . . HUGGED HIM AS IF HE'D BEEN LOST FOR A YEAR  _Frontispiece_
+
+  OUR MISSING PETERKIN                                 _To face page_ 13
+
+  NO SOONER DID HE CATCH SIGHT OF US TWO WITH HIS UGLY
+    ROUND BEADY EYES . . . THAN HE SHUT UP                   "   "    52
+
+  PETE HELD OUT HIS BROWN-PAPER PARCEL. 'THIS IS THE
+    POETRY-BOOK,' HE SAID                                    "   "    97
+
+  WE HAD NO DIFFICULTY IN FINDING HER BATH-CHAIR             "   "   108
+
+  HE LOOKED AT THE TICKETS . . . 'HOW'S THIS?' HE SAID       "   "   145
+
+  'NOW,' SHE BEGAN . . . DRAWING MARGARET TO HER, 'TELL
+    ME ALL ABOUT IT'                                         "   "   159
+
+  THE FRILLS HAD WORKED UP ALL ROUND HIS FACE                "   "   173
+
+
+
+
+PETERKIN
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+WHAT _CAN_ HAVE BECOME OF HIM?
+
+
+WE were all at tea in the nursery. All except him. The door burst open
+and James put his head in.
+
+'If you please, Mrs. Brough,' he began,--'Mrs. Brough' is the servants'
+name for nurse. Mamma calls her 'Brough' sometimes, but we always call
+her 'nurse,' of course,--'If you please, Mrs. Brough, is Master Peterkin
+here?'
+
+Nurse looked up, rather vexed. She doesn't like burstings in.
+
+'Of course not, James,' she said. 'He is out driving with his mamma. You
+must have seen them start.'
+
+'It's just that,' said James, in his silly way. 'It's his mamma that
+wants to know.'
+
+And then we noticed that James's face was much redder than usual. It may
+have been partly that he had run upstairs very fast, for he is really
+very good-natured, but it looked as if he was rather in a fuss, too.
+
+Nurse sat very bolt up in her chair, and _her_ face began to get queer,
+and her voice to get vexeder. Lots of people get cross when they are
+startled or frightened. I have noticed it.
+
+'What do you mean, James? Please to explain,' she said.
+
+'I can't stop,' he said, 'and I don't rightly understand, myself. His
+mamma sent Master Peterkin home before her, half-an-hour ago or more,
+but he hasn't come in, not as I've seen, nor nobody else, I'm afraid. So
+where he's got to, who can say?'
+
+And James turned to go.
+
+Nurse stopped him, getting up from her place as she spoke.
+
+'Was he in the carriage?' she asked.
+
+'Of course not. Beckett would have seen him in, all right, if he had
+been,' said James, in a very superior tone. 'He was to run home by
+himself a bit of a way, as I take it,' he added, as he hurried off at
+last.
+
+'I must go downstairs to your mamma,' said nurse. 'Miss Blanchie, my
+dear, will you look after Miss Elvira, and see that she doesn't spill
+her tea?'
+
+'_Nursie_,' said Elvira, in a very offended tone, 'you know I never
+spill my tea now.'
+
+'Not since the day before yesterday,' I was beginning to say, but I
+didn't. For I thought to myself, if there was any real trouble about
+Peterkin, it wouldn't be at all a good time to tease each other. I don't
+think Elf--that's Elvira's pet name--had understood about him being
+lost. Indeed, I don't think I had quite taken it in myself, till I saw
+how grave the two eldest ones were looking.
+
+'Clem,' I said, 'do you think there can really be anything the matter?'
+
+Clement is the eldest of us all, and he is always the one we go to first
+if we are in any trouble. But he is sometimes rather slow; he is not as
+quick and clever as Blanche, and she often puts him down at first,
+though she generally comes round to his way in the end. She answered for
+him now, though I hadn't spoken to her.
+
+'How can there not be something the matter?' she said sharply. 'If
+Peterkin has been half-an-hour or an hour, perhaps, wandering about the
+streets, it shows he has at least lost his way, and who knows where he's
+got to. I wish you wouldn't ask such silly questions, Giles.'
+
+Then, all of a sudden, Elf burst out crying. It may have been partly
+Blanche's sharp tone, which had startled her, and made her take more
+notice of it all.
+
+'Oh, Clem, Clem,' she wailed, 'could he have been stolened?'
+
+'No, no, darling,' said Clement, dabbing her face with his
+pocket-handkerchief. 'There are kind policemen in the streets, you know.
+They wouldn't let a little boy like Peterkin be stolen.'
+
+'But they does take little boys to pison,' said Elf. 'I've see'd them.
+It's 'cos of that I'm frightened of them for Peterkin.'
+
+That was not quite true. She had never thought of policemen till,
+unluckily, Clem spoke of them in his wish to comfort her. She did not
+mean to say what was not true, of course, but there never was such a
+child as Elf for arguing, even then when she was only four years old.
+Indeed, she's not half as bad now that she is eight, twice as old, and I
+often tell her so. Perhaps that evening it wasn't a bad thing, for the
+talking about policemen stopped her crying, which was even worse than
+her arguing, once she started a good roar.
+
+'It's just because of that, that I'm so frightened about dear sweet
+little Peterkin,' she repeated.
+
+'Rubbish, Elf,' I began, but Clem looked at me and I stopped.
+
+'You needn't be frightened that Peterkin will be taken to prison,
+Elfie,' he said in his kind, rather slow way. 'It's only naughty little
+boys that the policemen take to prison, and Peterkin isn't naughty,' and
+then he wiped Elf's eyes again, and she forgot to go on crying, for just
+then nurse came upstairs. _She_ was not actually crying, of course, but
+she did look very worried, so Clem and Blanche's faces did not clear up
+at all. Nor did mine, I suppose. I really did not know what to think, I
+was waiting to see what the others thought, for we three younger ones
+looked up to Clement and Blanche a good deal, and we still do. They are
+twins, and they seem to mix together so well. Blanche is quick and
+clever, and Clement is awfully sensible, and they are both very kind,
+though Clem is the gentlest. They are nearly sixteen now, and I am
+thirteen past, so at the time I am writing about they were twelve and I
+was going to be ten my next birthday, and Peterkin was eight and Elvira
+five. I won't say much about what sort of a boy Peterkin was, for as my
+story is mostly about him and the funny things he did and thought, it
+will show of itself.
+
+He _was_ a funny child; a queer child in some ways, I mean, and he still
+is. Mamma says it is stupid to say 'funny' when we mean queer or odd,
+but I think it says it better than any other word, and I am sure other
+children will think so too.
+
+Blanche was the first to speak to nurse.
+
+'Is mamma really frightened about Peterkin, nurse?' she asked. 'Tell us
+what it is.'
+
+But nurse had caught sight of her darling pet baby's red eyes.
+
+'Miss Blanchie,' she said, 'I asked you to look after Miss Elvira, and
+she's been crying.'
+
+'You asked me to see that she didn't spill her tea, and she hasn't spilt
+it. It's some nonsense she has got in her head about policemen taking
+strayed children to prison that she has been crying about,' replied
+Blanche, rather crossly.
+
+'I only wish,' began nurse, but the rest of her sentence she mumbled to
+herself, though I heard part of it. It was wishing that the policemen
+_had_ got Peterkin safely.
+
+'Of course, your poor mamma is upset about it,' she went on, though I
+could see she did not want to say very much for fear of Elf's beginning
+to cry again. 'It was this way. Your mamma had to go round by Belton
+Street, and she did not want to keep Master Peterkin out so late to miss
+his tea, so she dropped him at the corner of Lindsay Square, and told
+him to run home. It's as straight as straight can be, and he's often run
+that far alone. So where he's got to or gone to, there's no guessing.'
+
+'And what is mamma doing?' asked Blanche.
+
+'She has sent Mr. Drew and James off in different directions,' said
+nurse, 'and she has gone herself again in the carriage to the station,
+as it's just time for your papa's train, and he will know what more to
+do.'
+
+We did not live in London then; papa went up and down every day from the
+big town by the sea where our home was. Clement thinks perhaps I had
+better not say what town it is, as some people might remember about us,
+and I _might_ say things that would vex them; so I won't call it
+anything, though I must explain that it is not at all a little place,
+but quite big enough for any one to lose their way in, if they were
+strangers. But Peterkin wasn't a stranger; and the way he had to come
+was, as nurse said, as straight as straight.
+
+We all listened with grave faces to what nurse told us. Suddenly Clement
+got up--I can't say 'jumped up,' for he was always rather slow.
+
+'Nurse,' he said, 'mamma's out, so I can't ask her leave. But I've got
+an idea about Peterkin. Will you give me leave to go out for
+half-an-hour or so? I promise you I won't go far, but I would rather not
+tell you where I want to go, as it may be all nonsense.'
+
+Nurse looked at him doubtfully. She trusted Clem the most of us all, I
+know, and she had good reason to do so, for he was and is very
+trustworthy. And it was nice of him to ask her leave, considering he was
+twelve years old and quite out of the nursery, except that he still
+liked having tea there when he came in from school every evening.
+
+'Well, Master Clement,' said nurse, 'I don't quite know. Supposing you
+go out and don't get back as soon as you expect? It would be just a
+double fright for your poor mamma.'
+
+'Let me go too!' I exclaimed, and I jumped up so suddenly that I made
+all the cups rattle and nearly threw over the table altogether. 'Then if
+anything stops Clem getting back quickly, I can run home and explain.
+Anyway you'd be more comfortable if you knew the two of us were on the
+hunt together. You don't mind my coming, do you, Clem?'
+
+'No,' said Clem, 'but do let's go.'
+
+'And you won't be long?' pleaded nurse.
+
+Clem shook his head.
+
+'I don't think we can be--not if there's anything in my idea', he called
+out, as we ran off.
+
+We didn't take a minute to pull on our coats, which were hanging in the
+hall. I daresay I should never have thought of mine at all, if Clem
+hadn't reminded me, even though it was late in November and a cold
+evening. And as soon as we were outside and had set off at a good pace,
+I begged Clem to tell me what his idea was, and where we were going to
+look for Peterkin.
+
+'It's the parrot,' he replied; 'the parrot in Rock Terrace.'
+
+'I don't know what you mean,' I said. 'I never heard of a parrot, and I
+don't know where Rock Terrace is.'
+
+'Nonsense,' said Clem, stopping for a moment. 'You must have forgotten.'
+
+'I haven't indeed,' I said.
+
+'Not about the parrot that Peterkin has been dreaming of ever since we
+passed it on Saturday, when we were out with mamma--next door to old
+Mrs. Wylie's?' Clem exclaimed.
+
+'No,' I repeated. 'I wasn't with you that day, and----'
+
+'No more you were,' said Clem.
+
+'And,' I went on, 'I don't know where Mrs. Wylie lives, though I've
+often seen her herself at our house. And you know, Clement, that's just
+like Peterkin. If he's got anything very much in his head, he often
+doesn't speak of it, except to any one who knows about it already.'
+
+'He hasn't said very much about it, even to me,' said Clement. 'But, all
+the same, I know he has got it tremendously in his head.'
+
+'How do you mean? Is he making up fairy stories about it?'
+
+'Perhaps! You see he had never heard a parrot speaking. I'm not sure if
+he knew they ever did. But he wanted very much to see it again, and it
+just came into my mind all at once, that if he had a chance he might
+have run round there and lost his way. I don't suppose he _meant_ to
+when mamma told him to go home. It may just have struck him when he got
+to the corner of Lindsay Square.'
+
+I did not answer. We were walking so fast that it was not easy to go on
+speaking. But I did think it was very clever of Clement to have thought
+of it. It was so like Peterkin.
+
+Clement hurried on. It was quite dark by now, but the lamps were
+lighted, and Clem seemed quite sure of his way. In spite of feeling
+rather unhappy about Peterkin, I was enjoying myself a little. I did not
+think it possible that he was really badly lost, and it was very
+exciting to rush along the streets after dark like this, and then I
+could not help fancying how triumphant we should feel if we actually
+found him.
+
+It was not very surprising that I did not know where Rock Terrace was,
+or that I had never even heard of it. It was such a tiny little row of
+such tiny houses, opening out of one corner of Lindsay Square. The
+houses were rather pretty; at least, very neat-looking and
+old-fashioned, with a little bit of garden in front, and small iron
+gates. They looked as if old maids lived in them, and I daresay there
+were a good many.
+
+Clement hurried along till he was close to the farther off end. Then he
+stopped short, and for the first time seemed at a loss.
+
+'I don't know the number,' he said, 'but I'm sure it was almost the end
+house. And--yes--isn't that a big cage on the little balcony, Giles?
+Look well.'
+
+I peeped up. The light of the lamps was not very good in Rock Terrace.
+
+'Yes,' I said. 'It is a big cage, but I can't see if there's a bird in
+it.'
+
+'Perhaps they take him in at night,' said Clement. Then he looked up
+again at the balconies.
+
+'Let me see,' he went on, 'which side is Mrs. Wylie's? Mamma went in at
+the--' but before he had time to finish his sentence his doubts were set
+at rest--his doubts and all our fears about Peterkin. For the door on
+the left of the parrot's home opened slowly, letting out what seemed, in
+contrast with the darkness outside, a flood of light, just within which,
+in the small hall or lobby of the miniature house, stood two
+figures--the one, that of a short thin old lady with white hair, dressed
+all in black; the other, a short fat little boy in a thick coat--our
+missing Peterkin!
+
+[Illustration: OUR MISSING PETERKIN.--p. 13.]
+
+They were speaking to each other most politely.
+
+'So pleased to have seen you, my dear,' said Mrs. Wylie. 'Give my love
+to your dear mamma. I will not forget about the parrot, you may be sure.
+He shall have a proper invitation. And--you are quite certain you can
+find your way home? Oh, dear!--that poor child must have been bemoaning
+herself again! Polly always knows.'
+
+And as we stood there, our minds scarcely made up as to what we should
+do, we heard a queer croaking voice, from inside the house on the right
+of Mrs. Wylie--the parrot's voice, of course, calling out--
+
+'I'm so tired, Nana; I'm so tired. I won't be good; no, I won't.'
+
+Mrs. Wylie and Peterkin both stood silent for a moment, listening. So
+did we. Then Clement opened the gate and ran up the two or three steps,
+I following him.
+
+'Peterkin!' he exclaimed, 'mamma has been so frightened about you.'
+
+And Peterkin turned round and looked up in his face with his big blue
+eyes, apparently quite astonished.
+
+'Has mamma come back?' he said. 'I've only been here for a minute or
+two. I just wanted to look at the parrot.'
+
+Mrs. Wylie was a quick-witted old lady. She took it all in, in a moment.
+
+'Dear, dear!' she said. 'I am afraid it is my fault. I saw the dear boy
+looking up at the parrot next door when I came in from my stroll round
+to the pillar-box with a letter, and he told me he was one of Mrs.
+Lesley's little sons, and then we got talking. But I had no idea his
+mamma would be alarmed. I am afraid it has been much more than a few
+minutes. I _am_ sorry.'
+
+It was impossible to say anything to trouble the poor old lady: she
+looked as if she were going to cry.
+
+'It will be all right now,' said Clement. 'Mamma will be so delighted to
+see him safe and sound. But we had better hurry home. Come along,
+Peterkin.'
+
+But nothing would make Peterkin forget his good manners. He tugged off
+his sailor cap again, which he had just put on, and held out his hand,
+for the second or third time, I daresay, as he and his old lady had
+evidently been hobnobbing over their leave-takings for some minutes
+before we made our appearance.
+
+'Good-bye!' he said; 'and thank you very much. And I'll ask mamma to let
+me come whenever you fix the day for the parrot. And please tell me all
+he tells you about the little girl. And--thank you very much.'
+
+They were the funniest pair. She so tiny and thin and white, with bright
+dark eyes, like some bird's, and Peterkin so short and sturdy and rosy,
+with his big dreamy ones looking up at her. She was just a little taller
+than he. And suddenly I saw his rosy face grow still rosier; crimson or
+scarlet, really. For Mrs. Wylie made a dash at him and kissed him, and
+unluckily Peterkin did not like being kissed, except by mamma and Elf.
+His politeness, however, stood him in good stead. He did not pull away,
+or show that he hated it, as lots of fellows would have done. He stood
+quite still, and then, with another tug at his cap, ran down the steps
+after Clem and me.
+
+Clement waited a moment or two before he spoke. It was his way; but just
+now it was a good thing, as Mrs. Wylie did not shut the door quite at
+once, and everything was so quiet in that little side street, in the
+evening especially, that very likely our voices would have carried back
+to her. I, for my part, was longing to shake Peterkin, though I felt
+very inclined to burst out laughing, too. But I knew it was best to
+leave the 'rowing' to Clem.
+
+'Peterkin,' he began at last, 'I don't know what to say to you.'
+
+Peterkin had got hold of Clem's hand and was holding it tight, and he
+was already rather out of breath, as Clem was walking fast--very fast
+for him--and he has always been a long-legged chap for his age, thin and
+wiry, too; whereas, in those days--though, thank goodness, he is growing
+like a house on fire _now_--Peterkin was as broad as he was long. So to
+keep up with Clement's strides he had to trot, and that sort of pace
+soon makes a kid breathless, of course.
+
+'I--I never thought mamma'd be flightened,' he managed to get out at
+last. He had been a long time of saying his 'r's' clearly, and now they
+still all got into 'l's' if he was bothered or startled. 'I never
+thought she'd be flightened.'
+
+'Then you were a donkey,' I burst out, and Clement interrupted me.
+
+'How could she not have been frightened?' he went on. 'She told you to
+run straight home, which wouldn't have taken you five minutes, and you
+have been at least an hour.'
+
+'I thought it wouldn't be no farther to come this way,' replied
+Peterkin, 'and I only meant to look at the pallot one minute. And it
+would have been very lu--_rude_ not to speak to the old lady, and go
+into her house for a minute when she asked me. Mamma always says we
+mustn't be rude,' said Peterkin, plucking up some spirit.
+
+'Mamma always says we must be _obedient_' replied Clement, severely.
+
+Then he relapsed into silence, and his quick footsteps and Peterkin's
+short trotty ones were the only sounds.
+
+'I believe,' I couldn't help murmuring, half to myself, half to
+Peterkin--'I believe you've got some rubbish in your head about the
+parrot being a fairy. If I were mamma I'd stop your----' but at that I
+stopped _myself_. If Clement had heard me he would have been down upon
+me for disrespectfulness in saying to a baby like Pete what I thought
+mamma should or should not do; and I didn't care to be pulled up by
+Clement before the little ones.
+
+Peterkin was as sharp as needles in some ways. He guessed the end of my
+unfinished sentence.
+
+'No,' he half whispered, 'mamma'd _never_ stop me reading faily
+stolies--you know she wouldn't, Gilly, and it's velly unkind of you to
+say so.'
+
+'I didn't say so,' I replied.
+
+'Be quiet, both of you,' said Clem, 'and hurry on,' for we had slackened
+a little.
+
+But in spite of the breathlessness of the pace, I heard another gasp
+from Peterkin--
+
+'It _is_ velly like the blue-bird,' were the words I distinguished.
+
+And 'I knew I was right,' I thought to myself triumphantly.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+FOUND
+
+
+THE carriage was standing waiting at our own house when we got there.
+And there was some bustle going on, for the front door was not shut, and
+we could see into the hall, which of course was brightly lighted up.
+
+Papa was there, speaking to some one; he had his hat on, as if he was
+just coming out again. And--yes--it was Drew he was speaking to, and
+James too, I think--but behind them was poor mamma, looking so
+dreadfully unhappy. It did make me want to shake Peterkin again.
+
+They did not see us as quickly as we saw them, for it was dark outside
+and they were all talking: papa giving directions, I fancy.
+
+So they did jump when Clem--hurrying for once--rushed up the steps,
+dragging Peterkin after him.
+
+'We've found him--we've found him!' he shouted. 'In with you, Pete: show
+yourself, quick.'
+
+For mamma had got quite white, and looked as if she were going to faint
+or tumble down in some kind of a fit; but luckily before she had time
+for anything, there was that fat boy hugging and squeezing her so tight
+that she'd have been clever to move at all, though if she _had_ tumbled
+down he would have made a good buffer.
+
+'Oh, mamma, mamma--oh, mummy,' he said, and by this time he was howling,
+of course, 'I never meant to flighten you. I never did. I thought I'd
+been only five minutes, and I thought it was nearly as quick home that
+way.'
+
+And of course mamma didn't scold him! She hugged him as if he'd been
+lost for a year, and as if he was the prodigal son and the good brother
+mixed up together.
+
+But papa looked rather stern, and I was not altogether sorry to see it.
+
+'Where have you been, Peterkin?' he said. And then he glanced up at us
+two--Clem and me--as Peterkin seemed too busy crying to speak. 'Where
+has he been?' papa repeated. 'It was very clever of you to find him, I
+must say.'
+
+And mamma's curiosity began to awaken, now that she had got old Pete
+safe in her arms again. She looked up with the same question in her
+face.
+
+'Where--' she began.
+
+And I couldn't help answering.
+
+'It was all Clem's idea,' I said, for it really was only fair for Clem
+to get some praise. 'He thought of the parrot.'
+
+'The _parrot_', mamma repeated, growing more puzzled instead of less.
+
+'Yes,' said Clement. 'The parrot next door to Mrs. Wylie's. Perhaps you
+don't remember, mamma. It was the day Peterkin and I were out with
+you--Giles wasn't there--and you went in to Mrs. Wylie's and we waited
+outside, and the parrot was in a cage on the balcony, and we heard it
+talk.'
+
+'Yes,' said Peterkin, 'he _talked_,' as if that was an explanation of
+everything.
+
+Mamma's face cleared.
+
+'I think I do remember something about it,' she said. 'But I have never
+heard you mention it since, Peterkin?'
+
+'No,' said Peterkin, getting rather red.
+
+'He has spoken of it a little to me,' said Clement; 'that's how I knew
+it was in his mind. But Peterkin often doesn't say much about what he's
+thinking a lot about. It's his way.'
+
+'Yes,' said Peterkin, 'it's my way.'
+
+'And have you been planning all these days to run off to see the parrot
+again?' asked mamma. I wasn't quite sure if she was vexed or not, but
+_I_ was; it seemed so queer, queer as Pete often was, for him not to
+have confided in somebody.
+
+But we were mistaken.
+
+'No, no, truly, mamma,' he said, speaking in a much more determined way
+now, and shaking his curly head. 'I didn't ever think of it till after
+I'd got out of the calliage and I saw it was the corner of the big
+square where the little houses are at one end, and then I only meant to
+go for one minute. I thought it was nearly as quick that way, and I ran
+fast. I never meant to flighten you, mamma,' he repeated again, his
+voice growing plaintive. 'I wasn't planning it a bit all these days. I
+only kept thinking it _were_ like the blue-bird.'
+
+The last sentence was almost in a whisper; it was only a sort of honesty
+that forced him to say it. As far as Clement and I were concerned, he
+needn't have said it.
+
+'I knew he'd got some fairy-story rubbish in his head,' I muttered, but
+I don't think Peterkin heard me, though papa and mamma did; for I saw
+them glance at each other, and papa said something under his breath, of
+which I only caught the words 'getting too fanciful,' and 'schoolboy,'
+which made mamma look rather unhappy again.
+
+'I don't yet understand how old Mrs. Wylie got mixed up in it all,' said
+papa.
+
+'She lives next door to the parrot,' said Clem, and we couldn't help
+smiling at the funny way he said it.
+
+'And she saw me when she was coming back from the post, and she was very
+kind,' Peterkin went on, taking up the story again, as the smile had
+encouraged him. 'She 'avited me to go in, up to her drawing-room, so
+that I could hear him talking better. And he said lots of things.'
+
+'Oh yes, by the bye,' I exclaimed, 'there was something about a little
+girl, Mrs. Wylie said. What was it, Pete?'
+
+But Peterkin shut up at this.
+
+'I'll tell you the next time I go there. Mummy, you will let me go to
+see that old lady again, won't you?' he begged. 'She was so kind, and I
+only thought I'd been there five minutes. Mayn't I go again to see
+her?'
+
+'_And_ the parrot,' said mamma, smiling. She was sharp enough to take in
+that it was a quarter for Mrs. Wylie and three quarters for the parrot
+that he wanted so to go back to Rock Terrace. 'Well, you must promise
+never to pay visits on your own account again, Peterkin, and then we
+shall see. Now run upstairs to the nursery as fast as you can and get
+some tea. And I'm sure Clem and Giles will be glad of some more. I hope
+poor nurse and Blanche and Elfie know he is all right,' she added,
+glancing round.
+
+'Yes, ma'am. I took the liberty of going up to tell the young ladies and
+Mrs. Brough, when Master Peterkin first returned,' said James in his
+very politest and primmest tone.
+
+'That was very thoughtful of you,' said mamma, approvingly, which made
+James get very red.
+
+We three boys skurried upstairs after that. At least I did. Clement came
+more slowly, but as his legs were long enough to take two steps at a
+time, he got to the top nearly as soon as I did, and Peterkin came
+puffing after us. I was rather surprised that Blanche and Elf had been
+content to stay quietly in the nursery, considering all the excitement
+that had been going on downstairs, and I think it was very good of
+Blanche, for she told me afterwards that she had only done it to keep
+Elvira from getting into one of her endless crying fits. They always say
+Elf is such a nervous child that she can't help it, but _I_ think it's a
+good bit of it cross temper too.
+
+Still she is rather growing out of it, and, after all, that night there
+was something to cry about, and there might have been worse, as nurse
+said. She had been telling the girls stories of people who got lost,
+though she was sensible enough to make them turn up all right at the
+end. She can tell very interesting stories sometimes, but she keeps the
+_best_ ones to amuse us when we are ill, or when mamma's gone away on a
+visit, or something horrid like that has happened.
+
+They all three flew at Peterkin, of course, and hugged him as if he'd
+been shipwrecked, or putting out a fire, or something grand like that.
+And he took it as coolly as anything, and asked for his tea, as if he
+deserved all the petting and fussing.
+
+That was another of his little 'ways,' I suppose.
+
+Then, as we were waiting for the kettle to boil up again to make fresh
+tea, if you please, for his lordship--though Clem and I were to have
+some too, of course, and we did deserve it--all the story had to be
+told over for the third or fourth time, of the parrot, and old Mrs.
+Wylie meeting Pete as she came in, and his thinking he'd only been there
+about five minutes, and all the rest of it.
+
+'And what did the Polly parrot talk about?' asked Elf. She had a picture
+of a parrot in one of her books, and some rhymes about it.
+
+'Oh,' answered Peterkin,' he said, "How d'ye do?" and "Pretty Poll," and
+things like that.'
+
+'He said queerer things than that; you know he--' I began. I saw Pete
+didn't want to tell about the parrot copying the mysterious child that
+Mrs. Wylie had spoken of, so I thought I'd tease him a bit by reminding
+him of it. I felt sure he had got some of his funny ideas out of his
+fairy stories in his head; that the little girl--for Mrs. Wylie had
+spoken of a 'her'--was an enchanted princess or something like that, and
+I wasn't far wrong, as you will see. But I didn't finish my sentence,
+for Peterkin, who was sitting next me, gave me a sort of little kick,
+not to hurt, of course, and whispered, 'I'll tell you afterwards.' So I
+felt it would be ill-natured to tease him, and I didn't say any more,
+and luckily the others hadn't noticed what I had begun. Blanchie was on
+her knees in front of the fire toasting for us, and Elf was putting
+lumps of sugar into the cups, to be ready.
+
+Pete was as hungry as a hunter, and our sharp walk had given Clem and me
+a fresh appetite, so we ate all the toast and a lot of plum-cake as
+well, and felt none the worse for it.
+
+And soon after that, it was time to be tidied up to go down to the
+drawing-room to mamma. Peterkin and Elvira only stayed half-an-hour or
+so, but after they had gone to bed we three big ones went into the
+library to finish our lessons while papa and mamma were at dinner.
+Sometimes we went into the dining-room to dessert, and sometimes we
+worked on till mamma called us into the drawing-room: it all depended on
+how many lessons we'd got to do, or how fast we had got on with them.
+Clement and Blanche were awfully good about that sort of thing, and went
+at it steadily, much better than I, I'm afraid, though I could learn
+pretty quickly if I chose. But I did not like lessons, especially the
+ones we had to do at home, for in these days Clem and I only went to a
+day-school and had to bring books and things back with us every
+afternoon. And besides these lessons we had to do at home for school, we
+had a little extra once or twice a week, as we had French conversation
+and reading on half-holidays with Blanche's teachers, and they sometimes
+gave us poetry to learn by heart or to translate. We were not exactly
+_obliged_ to do it, but of course we didn't want Blanche, who was only a
+girl, to get ahead of us, as she would very likely have done, for she
+did grind at her lessons awfully. I think most girls do.
+
+It sounds as if we were rather hard-worked, but I really don't think we
+were, though I must allow that we worked better in those days, and
+learnt more in comparison, than we do now at--I won't give the name of
+the big school we are at. Clement says it is better not--people who
+write books never do give the real names, he says, and I fancy he's
+right. It is an awfully jolly school, and we are as happy as sand-boys,
+whatever that means, but I can't say that we work as Blanche does,
+though she does it all at home with governesses.
+
+That part of the evening--when we went back to the drawing-room to
+mamma, I mean--was one of the times I shall always like to remember
+about. It is very jolly now, of course, to be at home for the holidays,
+but there was then the sort of 'treat' feeling of having got our lessons
+done, and the little ones comfortably off to bed, and the
+grown-up-ness.
+
+Mamma looked so pretty, as she was always nicely dressed, though I liked
+some of her dresses much better than others--I don't like her in black
+ones at all; and the drawing-room was pretty, and then there was mamma's
+music. Her playing was nice, but her singing was still better, and she
+used to let us choose our favourite songs, each in turn. Blanche plays
+the violin now, very well, they say, and mamma declares she is really
+far cleverer at music than she herself ever was; but for all that, I
+shall never care for her fiddle anything like mamma's singing; if I live
+to be a hundred, I shall never forget it.
+
+It is a great thing to have really jolly times like those evenings to
+think of when you begin to get older, and are a lot away from home, and
+likely to be still less and less there.
+
+But I must not forget that this story is supposed to be principally
+about Peterkin and his adventures, so I'll go on again about the night
+after he'd been lost.
+
+He and I had a room together, and he was nearly always fast asleep, like
+a fat dormouse, when I went up to bed. He had a way of curling himself
+round, like a ball, that really did remind you of a dormouse. I believe
+it kept him from growing; I really do, though I did my best to pull him
+out straight. He didn't like that, ungrateful chap, and used to growl at
+me for it, and I believe he often pretended to be asleep when he wasn't,
+just to stop me doing it; for one night, nurse had come in to know what
+the row was about, and though she agreed with me that it was much better
+for him to lie properly stretched at his full length, she said I wasn't
+to wake him up because of it.
+
+But if he was generally fast asleep at night when I came to bed, he
+certainly made up for it by waking in the morning. I never knew anything
+like him for that. I believe he woke long before the birds, winter as
+well as summer, and then was his time for talking and telling me his
+stories and fancies. Once I myself was well awake I didn't mind, as it
+was generally rather interesting; but I couldn't stand the being
+awakened ages before the time. So we made an agreement, that if I didn't
+wake him up at night, he'd not bother me in the morning till I gave a
+sign that I was on the way to waking of myself. The sign was a sort of
+snort that's easy to make, even while you're still pretty drowsy, and it
+did very well, as I could lie quiet in a dreamy way listening to him.
+He didn't want me to speak, only to snort a little now and then till I
+got quite lively, as I generally did in a few minutes, as his stories
+grew more exciting, and there came something that I wanted him to alter
+in them.
+
+That night, however, when I went up to bed there was no need to think of
+our bargain, for Peterkin was as wide awake as I was.
+
+'Haven't you been to sleep yet?' I asked him.
+
+'Not exactly,' he said. 'Just a sort of half. I'm glad you've come,
+Gilley, for I've got a lot of things in my head.'
+
+'You generally have,' I said, 'but _I'm_ sleepy, if you're not. That
+scamper in the cold after you, my good boy, was rather tiring, I can
+tell you.'
+
+'I'm very sorry,' said he, in a penitent tone of voice, 'but you know,
+Giles, I never meant to----'
+
+'Oh, stop that!' I exclaimed; 'you've said it twenty times too often
+already. Better tell me a bit of the things in your head. Then you can
+go to sleep, and dream them out, and have an interesting story ready for
+me in the morning.'
+
+'Oh, but--' objected Pete, sitting up in bed and clasping his hands
+round his knees, his face very red, and his eyes very blue and bright,
+'they're not dreamy kind of things at all. There's really something
+very misterist--what is the proper word, Gilley?'
+
+'"Mysterious," I suppose you mean,' I said.
+
+'Yes, misterous,' repeated he, 'about what the parrot said, and I'm
+pretty sure that old lady thinks so too.'
+
+'Didn't she explain about it, at all?' I asked him. I began to think
+there _was_ something queer, perhaps, for Peterkin's manner impressed
+me.
+
+'Well, she did a little,' he replied. 'But I'd better tell you all,
+Gilley; just what I first heard, before she came up and spoke to me, you
+know, and----'
+
+Just then, however, there came an interruption.
+
+Mamma put her head in at the door.
+
+'Boys,' she said, 'not asleep yet? At least _you_ should be, Peterkin.
+You didn't wake him, I hope, Giles?'
+
+I had no time for an indignant 'No; of course, not,' before Pete came to
+my defence.
+
+'No, no, mummy! I was awake all of myself. I wanted him to come very
+much, to talk a little.'
+
+'Well, you must both be rather tired with all the excitement there has
+been,' mamma said. 'So go to sleep, now, and do your talking in the
+morning. Promise,--both of you--eh?'
+
+'Yes,' we answered; 'word of honour, mamma,' and she went away, quite
+sure that we would keep our promise, which was sealed by a kiss from
+her.
+
+Dear little mother! She did not often come up to see us in bed, for fear
+of rousing us out of our 'beauty' sleep, but to-night she had felt as if
+she must make sure we were all right after the fuss of Peterkin's being
+lost, you see.
+
+And of course we were as good as our word, and only just said
+'Good-night!' to each other; Pete adding, 'I'll begin at the beginning,
+and tell you everything, as soon as I hear your first snort in the
+morning, Giles.'
+
+'You'd better wait for my second or third,' I replied. 'I'm never very
+clear-headed at the first, and I want to give my attention, as it's
+something real, and not one of your make-ups,' I said. 'So, good-night!'
+
+It is awfully jolly to know that you are trusted, isn't it?
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+AN INVITATION
+
+
+I SLEPT on rather later than usual next morning. I suppose I really was
+tired. And when I began to awake, and gradually remembered all that had
+happened the night before, I heartily wished I hadn't promised Peterkin
+to snort at all.
+
+I took care not to open my eyes for a good bit, but I couldn't carry on
+humbugging that I was still asleep for very long. Something made me open
+my eyes, and as soon as I did so I knew what it was. There was
+Pete--bolt upright--as wide awake as if he had never been asleep,
+staring at me with all his might, his eyes as round and blue as could
+be. You know the feeling that some one is looking at you, even when you
+don't see them. I had not given one snort, and I could not help feeling
+rather cross with Peterkin, even when he exclaimed--
+
+'Oh, I am so glad you're awake!'
+
+'You've been staring me awake,' I said, very grumpily. 'I'd like to know
+who could go on sleeping with you wishing them awake?'
+
+'I'm very sorry if you wanted to go on sleeping,' he replied meekly. He
+did not seem at all surprised at my saying he had wakened me. He used to
+understand rather queer things like that so quickly, though we counted
+him stupid in some ways.
+
+'But as I am awake you can start talking,' I said, closing my eyes
+again, and preparing to listen.
+
+Pete was quite ready to obey.
+
+'Well,' he began, 'it was this way. Mamma didn't want me to be late for
+tea, so she stopped at the end of that big street--a little farther away
+than Lindsay Square, you know----'
+
+'Yes, Meredith Place,' I grunted.
+
+'And,' Pete went on, 'told me to run home. It's quite straight, if you
+keep to the front, of course.'
+
+'And you did run straight home, didn't you?' I said teasingly.
+
+'No,' he replied seriously, but not at all offended. 'When I got to the
+corner of the square I looked up it, and I remembered that it led to
+the funny little houses where Clem and I had seen the parrot. So, almost
+without settling it in my mind, I ran along that side of the square till
+I came to Rock Terrace. I ran _very_ fast----'
+
+'I wish I'd been there to see you,' I grunted again.
+
+'And I thought if I kept round by the back, I'd get out again to the
+front nearly as soon--running all the way, you see, to make up. And I'd
+scarcely got to the little houses when I heard the parrot. His cage was
+out on the balcony, you know. And it is very quiet there--scarcely any
+carts or carriages passing--and it was getting dark, and I think you
+hear things plainer in the dark; don't you think so, Gilley?'
+
+I did not answer, so he went on.
+
+'I heard the parrot some way off. His voice is so queer, you know. And
+when I got nearer I could tell every word he said. He kept on every now
+and then talking for himself--real talking--"Getting cold. Polly wants
+to go to bed. Quick, quick." And then he'd stop for a minute, as if he
+was listening and heard something I couldn't. _That_ was the strange
+part that makes me think perhaps he isn't really a parrot at all,
+Giles,' and here Pete dropped his voice and looked very mysterious. I
+had opened my eyes for good now; it was getting exciting.
+
+'What did he say?' I asked.
+
+'What you and Clement heard, and a lot more,' Peterkin replied. 'Over
+and over again the same--"I'm so tired, Nana, I won't be good, no I
+won't."'
+
+'Yes, that's what we heard,' I said, 'but what was the lot more?'
+
+'Oh, perhaps there wasn't so _very_ much more,' said he, consideringly.
+'There was something about "I won't be locked up," and "I'll write a
+letter," and then again and again, "I won't be good, I'm so tired." That
+was what you and Clement heard, wasn't it?'
+
+'Yes,' I said.
+
+'And one funny thing about it was that his voice, the parrot's, sounded
+quite different when he was talking his own talking, do you see?--like
+"Pretty Poll is cold, wants to go to bed"--from when he was copying the
+little girl's. It was always croaky, of course, but _squeakier_,
+somehow, when he was copying her.'
+
+Peterkin sat up still straighter and looked at me, evidently waiting for
+my opinion about it all. I was really very interested, but I wanted
+first to hear all he had in his head, so I did not at once answer.
+
+'Isn't it very queer?' he said at last.
+
+'What do you think about it?' I asked.
+
+He drew a little nearer me and spoke in a lower voice, though there was
+no possibility of any one ever hearing what he said.
+
+'P'raps,' he began, 'it isn't _only_ a parrot, or p'raps some fairy
+makes it say these things. The little girl might be shut up, you see,
+like the princess in the tower, by some _bad_ fairy, and there might be
+a _good_ one who wanted to help her to get out. I wonder if they ever do
+invite fairies to christenings now, and forget some of them,' he went
+on, knitting his brows, 'or not ask them, because they are bad fairies?
+I can't remember about Elf's christening feast; can you, Gilley?'
+
+'I can remember hers, and yours too, for that matter,' I replied. 'You
+forget how much older I am. But of course it's not like that now. There
+are no fairies to invite, as I've often told you, Pete. At least,' for,
+in spite of my love of teasing, I never liked to see the look of
+distress that came over his chubby face when any one talked that sort of
+common sense to him, 'at least, people have got out of the way of seeing
+them or getting into fairy-land.'
+
+'But we _might_ find it again,' said Peterkin, brightening up.
+
+And I didn't like to disappoint him by saying I could not see much
+chance of it.
+
+Then another idea struck me.
+
+'How about Mrs. Wylie?' I said. 'Didn't she explain it at all? You told
+her what you had heard, didn't you? Yes, of course, she heard some of it
+herself, when we were all three standing at the door of her house.'
+
+'Well,' said Peterkin, 'I was going to tell you the rest. I was
+listening to the parrot, and it was much plainer than _you_ heard,
+Gilley, for when you were there you only heard him from down below, and
+I was up near him--well, I was just standing there listening to him,
+when that old lady came up.'
+
+'I know all about that,' I interrupted.
+
+'No, you don't, not nearly all,' Peterkin persisted. He could be as
+obstinate as a little pig sometimes, so I said nothing. 'I was just
+standing there when she came up. She looked at me, and then she went in
+at her own gate, next door to the parrot's, you know, and then she
+looked at me again, and spoke over the railings. She said, "Are you
+talking to the parrot, my dear?" and I said, "No, I'm only listening to
+him, thank you"; and then she looked at me again, and she said, "You
+don't live in this terrace, I think?" And I said, "No, I live on the
+Esplanade, number 59." Then she pulled out her spectacles--long things,
+you know, at the end of a turtle-shell stick.'
+
+'Tortoise-shell,' I corrected.
+
+'Tortoise-shell,' he repeated, 'and then she looked at me again. "If you
+live at 59," she said, "I think you must be one of dear Mrs. Lesley's
+little sons," and I said, "That's just what I am, thank you." And then
+she said, "Won't you come in for a few minutes? You can see the Polly
+from my balcony, and it is getting cold for standing about. Are you on
+your way home from school?" So I thought it wouldn't be polite not to go
+in. She was so kind, you see,' and here his voice grew 'cryey' again, 'I
+never thought about mamma being flightened, and I only meant to stay a
+min----'
+
+'Shut up about all that,' I interrupted. 'We've had it often enough, and
+I want to hear what happened.'
+
+'Well,' he said, quite briskly again, 'she took me in, and up to her
+drawing-room. The window was a tiny bit open, and she made me stand just
+on the ledge between it and the balcony, so that I could see the parrot
+without his seeing me, for she said if he saw me he'd set up screeching
+and not talk sense any more. He knows when people are strangers. The
+cage was close to the old lady's end of the balcony, so that I could
+almost have touched it, and then I heard him say all those queer things.
+I didn't speak for a good while, for fear of stopping him talking. But
+after a bit he got fidgety; I daresay he knew there was somebody there,
+and then he flopped about and went back to his own talking, and said he
+was cold and wanted to go to bed, and all that. And somebody inside
+heard him and took him in. And then--' Pete stopped to rest his voice, I
+suppose. He was always rather fond of resting, whatever he was doing.
+
+'Hurry up,' I said. 'What happened after that?'
+
+'The old lady said I'd better come in, and she shut up the window--I
+suppose she felt cold, like the parrot--and she made me sit down; and
+then I asked her what made him say such queer things in his squeakiest
+voice; and she said he was copying what he heard, for there was a little
+girl in the _next_ house--not in his own house--who cried sometimes and
+seemed very cross and unhappy, so that Mrs. Wylie often is very sorry
+for her, though she has never really seen her. And I said, did she think
+anybody was unkind to the little girl, and she said she hoped not, but
+she didn't know. And then she seemed as if she didn't want to talk about
+the little girl very much, and she began to ask me about if I went to
+school and things like that, and then I said I'd better go home, and she
+came downstairs with me and--I think that's all, till you and Clement
+came and we all heard the parrot again.'
+
+'I wonder what started him copying the little girl again, after he'd
+left off,' I said.
+
+'P'raps he hears her through the wall,' said Pete. 'P'raps he hears
+quicker than people do. Yes,' he went on thoughtfully, 'I think he must,
+for the old lady has never heard exactly what the little girl said. She
+only heard her crying and grumbling. She told me so.'
+
+'I daresay she's just a cross little thing,' I said. 'And I think it was
+rather silly of Mrs. Wylie to let you hear the parrot copying her. It's
+a very bad example. And you said Mrs. Wylie seemed as if she didn't want
+to talk much about her.'
+
+'I think she's got some plan in her head,' said Peterkin, eagerly, 'for
+she said--oh, I forgot that--she said she was going to come to see
+mamma some day very soon, to ask her to let me go to have tea with her.
+And I daresay she'll ask you too, Gilley, if we both go down to the
+drawing-room when she comes.'
+
+'I hope it'll be a half-holiday, then,' I said, 'or, anyway, that she
+will come when I'm here. It is very funny about the crying little girl.
+Has she been there a long time? Did your old lady tell you that?'
+
+Peterkin shook his head.
+
+'Oh no, she's only been there since Mrs. Wylie came back from the
+country. She told me so.'
+
+'And when was that?' I asked, but Pete did not know. He was sometimes
+very stupid, in spite of his quickness and fancies. 'It's been long
+enough for the parrot to learn to copy her grumbling,' I added.
+
+'That wouldn't take him long,' said Peterkin, in his whispering voice
+again, '_if_ he's some sort of a fairy, you know, Gilley.'
+
+This time, perhaps, it was a good thing he spoke in a low voice, for at
+that moment nurse came in to wake us, or rather to make us get up, as we
+were nearly always awake already, and if she had heard the word
+'fairy,' she would have begun about Peterkin's 'fancies' again.
+
+Some days passed without our hearing anything of the parrot or the old
+lady or Rock Terrace. We did not exactly forget about it; indeed, it was
+what we talked about every morning when we awoke. But I did not think
+much about it during the day, although I daresay Pete did.
+
+So it was quite a surprise to me one afternoon, about a week after the
+evening of all the fuss, when, the very moment I had rung the front
+bell, the door was opened by Pete himself, looking very important.
+
+'She's come,' he said. 'I've been watching for you. She's in the
+drawing-room with mamma, and mamma told me to fetch you as soon as you
+came back from school. Is Clem there?'
+
+'No,' I said, 'it's one of the days he stays later than me, you know.'
+
+Peterkin did not seem very sorry.
+
+'Then she's come just to invite you and me,' he said. 'Clement _is_ too
+big, but she might have asked him too, out of polititude, you know.'
+
+He was always fussing about being polite, but I don't think I answered
+her in that way.
+
+'Bother,' I said, for I was cross; my books were heavier than usual,
+and I banged them down; 'bother your politeness. Can't you tell me what
+you're talking about? Who is "she" that's in the drawing-room? I don't
+want to go up to see her, whoever she is.'
+
+'Giles!' said Peterkin, in a very disappointed tone. 'You can't have
+forgotten. It's the old lady next door to the parrot's house, of course.
+I told you she meant to come. And she's going to invite us, I'm sure.'
+
+In my heart I was very anxious to go to Rock Terrace again, to see the
+parrot, and perhaps hear more of the mysterious little girl, but I was
+feeling rather tired and cross.
+
+'I must brush my hair and wash my hands first,' I said, 'and I daresay
+mamma won't want me without Clement. She didn't say me alone, did she?'
+
+'She said "your brothers,"' replied Peterkin, 'but of course you must
+come. And she said she hoped "they" wouldn't be long. So you must come
+as you are. I don't think your hands are very dirty.'
+
+It is one of the queer things about Peterkin that he can nearly always
+make you do what he wants if he's really in earnest. So I had to give
+in, and he went puffing upstairs, with me after him, to the
+drawing-room, when, sure enough, the old lady was sitting talking to
+mamma.
+
+Mamma looked up as we came in, and I saw that her eyes went past me.
+
+'Hasn't Clement come in?' she asked, and it made me wish I hadn't given
+in about it to Pete.
+
+'No, mamma,' I said. 'It's one of his late days, you know. And Peterkin
+made me come up just as I was.'
+
+I felt very ashamed of my hair and crushed collar and altogether. I
+didn't mind so much about my hands; boys' hands _can't_ be like ladies'.
+But Mrs. Wylie was so awfully neat--she might have been a fairy herself,
+or a doll dressed to look like an old lady. I felt as clumsy and messy
+as could be. But she was awfully jolly; she seemed to know exactly how
+uncomfortable it was for me.
+
+'Quite right, quite right,' she said. 'For I must be getting back. It
+looks rather stormy, I'm afraid. It was very thoughtful of you both, my
+dear boys, to hurry. I should have liked to see Mr. Clement again, but
+that must be another time. And may we fix the day now, dear Mrs. Lesley?
+Saturday next we were talking of. Will you come about four o'clock, or
+even earlier, my dears? The parrot stays out till five, generally, and
+indeed his mistress is very good-natured, and so is her maid. They were
+quite pleased when I told them I had some young friends who were very
+interested in the bird and wanted to see him again. So you shall make
+better acquaintance with him on Saturday, and perhaps--' but here the
+old lady stopped at last, without finishing her sentence.
+
+Nevertheless, as each of us told the other afterwards, both Peterkin and
+I finished it for her in our own minds. We glanced at each other, and
+the same thought ran through us--had Mrs. Wylie got some plan in her
+head about the little girl?
+
+'It is very kind indeed of you, Mrs. Wylie,' said mamma. 'Giles and
+Peterkin will be delighted to go to you on Saturday, won't you, boys?'
+
+And we both said, 'Yes, thank you. It will be very jolly,' so heartily,
+that the old lady trotted off, as pleased as pleased.
+
+Of course, I ran downstairs to see her out, and Pete followed more
+slowly, just behind her. She had a very nice, rather stately way about
+her, though she was so small and thin, and it never suited Pete to hurry
+in those days, either up or down stairs; his legs were so short.
+
+We were very eager for Saturday to come, and we talked a lot about it. I
+had a kind of idea that Mrs. Wylie had said something about the little
+girl to mamma, though mamma said nothing at all to us, except that we
+must behave very nicely and carefully at Rock Terrace, and not forget
+that, though she was so kind, Mrs. Wylie was an old lady, and old ladies
+were sometimes fussy.
+
+We promised we would be all right, and Peterkin said to me that he
+didn't believe Mrs. Wylie was at all 'fussy.'
+
+'She is too fairyish,' he said, 'to be like that.'
+
+That was a very 'Peterkin' speech, but I did not snub him for it, as I
+sometimes did. I was really so interested in all about the parrot and
+the invisible little girl that I was almost ready to join him in making
+up fanciful stories--that there was an ogre who wouldn't let her out, or
+that any one who tried to see her would be turned into a frog, or things
+like that out of the old fairy-tales.
+
+'But Mrs. Wylie _has_ seen her,' said Peterkin, 'and _she_ hasn't turned
+into a frog!'
+
+That was a rather tiresome 'way' of his--if I agreed about fairies and
+began making up, myself, he would get quite common-sensical, and almost
+make fun of my ones.
+
+'How do you know that she doesn't turn into a frog half the day?' I
+said. 'That's often the way in enchantments.'
+
+And then we both went off laughing at the idea of a frog jumping down
+from Mrs. Wylie's drawing-room sofa, and saying, 'How do you do, my
+dears?' instead of the neat little old lady.
+
+So our squabble didn't come to anything that time.
+
+Blanchie and Elf were rather jealous of our invitation, I think, though
+Blanche always said she didn't care to go anywhere without Clement. But
+Elf made us promise that some day we would get leave to take her round
+by the parrot's house for her to see him.
+
+Of course we never said anything to any one but ourselves about the
+shut-up little girl, and Clement had forgotten what he had heard that
+evening. He was very busy just then working extra for some prize he
+hoped to get at school--I forget what it was, but he did get it--and
+Blanche was helping him.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+VERY MYSTERIOUS
+
+
+SATURDAY came at last. Of course jolly things and times _do_ come,
+however long the waiting seems. But the worst of it is that they are so
+soon gone again, and then you wish you were back at the looking forward;
+perhaps, after all, it is often the jolliest part of it.
+
+Clement says I mustn't keep saying 'jolly'; he says 'nice' would be
+better in a book. He is looking it over for me, you see. _I_ think
+'nice' is a girl's word, but Clem says you shouldn't write slang in a
+book, so I try not to; though of course I don't really expect this story
+ever to be made into an actual book.
+
+Well, Saturday came, and Peterkin and I set off to Mrs. Wylie's. She was
+a very nice person to go to see; she seemed so really pleased to have
+us. And she hadn't turned into a frog, or anything of the kind. She was
+standing out on the little balcony, watching for us, with a snowy-white,
+fluffy shawl on the top of her black dress, which made her seem more
+fairyish, or fairy-godmotherish, than ever. I never did see any one so
+beautifully neat and spotless as she always was.
+
+As soon as the front door was opened, we heard her voice from upstairs.
+
+'Come up, boys, come up. Polly and I have both been watching for you,
+and he is in great spirits to-day, and so amusing.'
+
+We skurried up, and nearly tumbled over each other into the
+drawing-room. Then, of course, Peterkin's politeness came into force,
+and he walked forward soberly to shake hands with his old lady and give
+her mamma's love and all that sort of thing, which he was much better at
+than I. She had just stepped in from the balcony, but was quite ready to
+step out again at the parrot's invitation.
+
+'Come quick,' he said, 'Polly doesn't like waiting.'
+
+[Illustration: NO SOONER DID HE CATCH SIGHT OF US TWO WITH HIS UGLY
+ROUND BEADY EYES . . . THAN HE SHUT UP.--p. 52.]
+
+Really it did seem wonderful to me, though he wasn't the first parrot I
+had ever seen, and though I had heard him before--it did seem wonderful
+for a bird, only a bird, to talk so sensibly, and I felt as if there
+might be something in Peterkin's idea that he was more than he seemed.
+And to this day parrots, clever ones, still give me that feeling.
+
+They are very like children in some ways. They are so 'contrairy.' You'd
+scarcely believe it, but no sooner did the creature catch sight of us
+two with his ugly, round, painted-bead-looking eyes--I don't like
+parrot's eyes--than he shut up, and wild horses couldn't have made him
+utter another word, much less Mrs. Wylie.
+
+I was quite sorry for her, she seemed so disappointed.
+
+It was just like a tiresome baby, whose mamma and nurse want to show off
+and bring it down to the drawing-room all dressed up, and it won't go to
+anybody, or say 'Dada,' or 'Mam-ma,' or anything, and just screeches. I
+can remember Elvira being like that, and I daresay we all were.
+
+'It is too bad,' said our old lady. 'He has got to know me, and I have
+been teaching him some new words. And his mistress and her maid are out
+this afternoon, so I thought we should have him all to ourselves, and it
+would be so amusing. But'--just then a bright idea struck
+her--'supposing you two go back into the room, so that he can't see
+you, and I will say "Good-bye, my dears," very loud and plainly, to make
+him think you have gone. Then I will come out again, and you shall
+listen from behind the curtain. I believe he will talk then, just as he
+has been doing.'
+
+Pete and I were most willing to try--we were all three quite excited
+about it. It was really quite funny how his talking got the Polly
+treated as if he was a human being. We stalked back into the
+drawing-room, Mrs. Wylie after us, saying in a very clear tone--
+
+'Good-bye, then, my dears. My love to your mamma, and the next time you
+come I hope Poll-parrot will be more friendly.'
+
+And then I shut the door with a bang, to sound as if we had gone,
+though, of course, it was all 'acting,' to trick the parrot. Peterkin
+and I peeped out at him from behind the curtain, and we could scarcely
+help laughing out loud. He looked so queer--his head cocked on one side,
+listening, his eyes blinking; he seemed rather disgusted on the whole, I
+thought.
+
+Then Mrs. Wylie stepped out again.
+
+'Polly,' she said, 'I'm ashamed of you. Why couldn't you be kind and
+friendly to those nice boys who came to see you?'
+
+'Pretty Poll,' he said, in a coaxing tone.
+
+'No,' she replied; 'not pretty Poll at all. Ugly Poll, I should say.'
+
+'Polly's so tired; take Polly in. Polly's cold,' he said, in what we
+called his natural voice; and then it seemed as if the first words had
+reminded him of the little girl, for his tone suddenly changed, and he
+began again: 'I'm so tired, Nana. No, I won't be good; no, I won't. I'll
+write a letter, and I won't be locked up,' in the squeakier sort of
+voice that showed he was copying somebody else.
+
+'Nonsense!' said Mrs. Wylie. 'You are not tired or cold, Polly, and
+nobody is going to lock you up.'
+
+He was silent for a moment, and peeping out again, we saw that he was
+staring hard at the old lady.
+
+Then he said very meekly--I am not sure which voice it was in--
+
+'Polly be good! Polly very sorry!'
+
+Mrs. Wylie nodded approvingly.
+
+'Yes,' she said, 'that's a much prettier way to talk. Now, supposing we
+have a little music,' and she began to sing in a very soft, very thin,
+old voice a few words of 'Home, Sweet Home.'
+
+There was something very piteous about it. I think there is a better
+word than 'piteous'--yes, Clement had just told it me. It is 'pathetic.'
+I felt as if it nearly made me cry, and so did Peterkin. We told each
+other so afterwards, and though we were so interested in the parrot and
+in hearing him, I wished he would be quiet again, and let Mrs. Wylie go
+on with her soft, sad little song. But of course he didn't. He started,
+too, a queer sort of whistle, not very musical, certainly, but yet, no
+doubt, there was a bit of the tune in it, and now and then sounds rather
+like the words 'sweet' and 'home.' I do think, altogether, it was the
+oddest musical performance that ever was heard.
+
+And when it was over, there came another voice. It was the maid next
+door, who had stepped quietly on to the balcony--
+
+'I'm afraid, ma'am, I must take him in now,' she said, very
+respectfully. 'It is getting cold, and it would never do for him to get
+a sore throat just as he's learning to sing so. You are clever with him,
+ma'am; you are, indeed: there's quite a tune in his voice.'
+
+Mrs. Wylie gave a little laugh of pleasure.
+
+'And did the young gentlemen you were speaking of never come, after
+all?' the maid asked, as she was turning away, the big cage in her hand.
+
+'Oh yes,' said Mrs. Wylie, 'they are here still. But Polly was very
+naughty,' and she explained about it.
+
+'He's learnt that "won't be good" from next door,' said the girl, 'and I
+do believe he knows what it means.'
+
+'I very sorry; I be good,' here said the parrot.
+
+They both started.
+
+'Upon my word!' exclaimed the maid.
+
+'Has he learnt _that_ from next door?' said Mrs. Wylie, in a lower
+voice.
+
+'I hope so. It's very clever of him, and it's not unlikely. The child is
+getting better, I believe, and there's not near so much crying and
+complaining.'
+
+'So I have heard,' said the old lady, and we fancied she spoke rather
+mysteriously, 'and I hope,' she went on, but we could not catch her next
+words, as she dropped her voice, evidently not wishing us to hear.
+
+Peterkin squeezed my hand, and I understood. There _was_ a mystery of
+some kind!
+
+Then Mrs. Wylie came in and shut the glass door. She was smiling now
+with pleasure and satisfaction.
+
+'I did get him to talk, did I not?' she said. 'He _is_ a funny bird. By
+degrees I hope he will grow quite friendly with you too.'
+
+I did not feel very sure about it.
+
+'I'm afraid,' I said, 'that he will not see us enough for that. It isn't
+like you, Mrs. Wylie, for I daresay you talk to him every day.'
+
+'Yes,' she replied, 'I do now. I have felt more interested in him
+since--' here she hesitated a little, then she went on again--'since the
+evening I found Peterkin listening to him,' and she smiled very kindly
+at Pete. 'Before that, I had not noticed him very much; at least, I had
+not made friends with him. But he has a wonderful memory; really
+wonderful, you will see. He will not have forgotten you the next time
+you come, and each time he will cock his head and pretend to be shy, and
+gradually it will get less and less.'
+
+This was very interesting, but what Peterkin and I were really longing
+for was some news of the little girl. We did not like to ask about her.
+It would have seemed rather forward and inquisitive, as the old lady did
+not mention her at all. We felt that she had some reason for it, and of
+course, though we could not have helped hearing what she and the
+parrot's maid had said to each other, we had to try to think we _hadn't_
+heard it. Clement says that's what you should do, if you overhear things
+not meant for you, unless, sometimes, when your having heard them might
+really matter. _Then_, he says, it's your duty--you're in honour
+bound--to tell that you've heard, and _what_ you've heard.
+
+'Now,' said our old lady, 'I fancy tea will be quite ready. I thought it
+would be more comfortable in the dining-room. So shall we go
+downstairs?'
+
+We were quite ready, and we followed her very willingly. The dining-room
+was even smaller than the drawing-room, and that was tiny enough. But it
+was all so neat and pretty, and what you'd call 'old-fashioned,' I
+suppose. It reminded me of a doll-house belonging to one of our
+grandmothers--mamma's mother, who had kept it ever since she was a
+little girl, and when we go to stay with her in the country she lets us
+play with it. Even Peterkin and I are very fond of it, or used to be so
+when we were smaller. There's everything you can think of in it, down to
+the tiniest cups and saucers.
+
+The tea was very jolly. There were buns and cakes, and awfully good
+sandwiches. I remember that particular tea, you see, though we went to
+Mrs. Wylie's often after that, because it was the first time. The cups
+_were_ rather small, but it didn't matter, for as soon as ever one was
+empty she offered us more. I would really be almost ashamed to say how
+many times mine was filled.
+
+And Mrs. Wylie was very interesting to talk to. She had never had any
+children of her own, she told us, and her husband had been dead a long
+time. I think he had been a sailor, for she had lots of curiosities:
+queer shells, all beautifully arranged in a cabinet, and a book full of
+pressed and dried seaweed, and stuffed birds in cases. I don't care for
+stuffed birds: they look too alive, and it seems horrid for them not to
+be able to fly about and sing. Peterkin took a great fancy to some of
+the very tiny ones--humming-birds, scarcely bigger than butterflies;
+and, long afterwards, when we went to live in London, Mrs. Wylie gave
+him a present of a branch with three beauties on it, inside a glass
+case. He has it now in his own room. And she gave me four great big
+shells, all coloured like a rainbow, which I still have on my
+mantelpiece.
+
+Once or twice--I'm going back now to that first time we went to have tea
+with her--I tried to get the talk back to the little girl. I asked the
+old lady if she wouldn't like to have a parrot of her own. I thought it
+would be so amusing. But she said No; she didn't think she would care to
+have one. The one next door was almost as good, and gave her no trouble
+or anxiety.
+
+And then Peterkin asked her if there were any children next door. Mrs.
+Wylie shook her head.
+
+'No,' she said. 'The parrot's mistress is an old maid--not nearly as old
+as I am, all the same, but she lives quite alone; and on the other side
+there are two brothers and a sister, quite young, unmarried people.'
+
+'And is the--the little girl the only little girl or boy in _her_
+house?' asked Peterkin.
+
+He did stumble a bit over asking it, for it had been very plain that
+Mrs. Wylie did not want to speak about her; but I got quite hot when I
+heard him, and if we had been on the same side of the table, or if his
+legs had been as long as they are now, I'd have given him a good kick to
+shut him up.
+
+Our old lady was too good-natured to mind; still, there was something in
+her manner when she answered that stopped any more questions from Pete.
+
+'Yes,' she said, 'there are no other children in that house, or in the
+terrace, except some very tiny ones, almost babies, at the other end. I
+see them pass in their perambulators, dear little things.'
+
+It was quite dark by the time we had finished tea, and the lamps were
+lighted upstairs in the drawing-room, where Mrs. Wylie showed us some of
+the curiosities and things that I have already written about.
+
+They were rather interesting, but I think we've got to care more for
+collections and treasures like that, now, than we did then. Perhaps we
+were not quite old enough, and, I daresay, it was a good deal that the
+great reason we liked to go to Mrs. Wylie's was because of the parrot
+and the mysterious little girl. At least, _Peterkin's_ head was full of
+the little girl. I myself was beginning to get rather tired of all his
+talk about her, and I thought the parrot very good fun of himself.
+
+So when the clock struck six, and Mrs. Wylie asked us if mamma had fixed
+any time for us to be home by--it wasn't that she wanted to get rid of
+us, but she was very afraid of keeping us too late--we thought we might
+as well go, for mamma had said, 'soon after six.'
+
+'Is any one coming to fetch you?' Mrs. Wylie said.
+
+I didn't quite like her asking that: it made me seem so babyish. I was
+quite old enough to look after Pete, and the fun of going home by
+ourselves through the lighted-up streets was one of the things we had
+looked forward to.
+
+But I didn't want Master Peterkin to begin at me afterwards about not
+being polite, so I didn't show that I was at all vexed. I just said--
+
+'Oh no, Peterkin will be all right with me!'
+
+And then we said good-bye, and 'thank you very much for inviting us.'
+And Pete actually said--
+
+'May we come again soon, please?'
+
+His ideas of politeness were rather original, weren't they?
+
+But Mrs. Wylie was quite pleased.
+
+'Certainly, my dear. I shall count on your doing so. And I am glad you
+spoke of it, for I wanted to tell you that I am going to London the end
+of this next week for a fortnight. Will you tell your dear mamma so, and
+say that I shall come to see her on my return, and then we must fix on
+another afternoon? I am very pleased to think that you care to come,
+and I hope you feel the same,' she went on, turning to me.
+
+She was so kind that I felt I had been rather horrid, for I _had_
+enjoyed it all very much. And I said as nicely as I could, that I'd like
+to come again, only I hoped we didn't bother her. She beamed all over at
+that, and Peterkin evidently approved of it too, for he grinned in a
+queer patronising way he has sometimes, as if I was a baby compared to
+him.
+
+I was just going to pull him up for it after we had got on our coats and
+caps, and were outside and the door shut, but before I had got farther
+than--'I say, youngster,'--he startled me rather by saying, in a very
+melancholy tone--
+
+'It's too bad, Giles, isn't it? Her going away, and us hearing nothing
+of the little girl. I really thought she'd have asked her to tea too.'
+
+'How you muddle your "her's" and "she's"!' I said. But of course I
+understood him. 'I think you muddle yourself too. If there's a mystery,
+and you know you'd be very disappointed if there wasn't, you couldn't
+expect the little girl to come to tea just as if everything was quite
+like everybody else about her.'
+
+'No, that's true,' said he, consideringly. 'P'raps she's invisible
+sometimes, or p'raps she's like the "Light Princess," that they had to
+tie down for fear she'd float away, or p'raps----'
+
+'She's invisible to us, anyway,' I interrupted, for, as I said, I was
+getting rather tired of Pete's fancies about the little girl, 'and
+so----'
+
+But just as I got so far, we both stopped--we were passing the railing
+of the little girl's house at that moment, and voices talking rather
+loudly caught our ears. Peterkin touched my arm, and we stood quite
+still. No one could see us, it was too dark, and there was no lamp just
+there, though some light was streaming out from the lower windows of the
+house. One of them, the dining-room one, was a little open, even though
+it was a chilly evening.
+
+It was so queer, our hearing the voices and almost seeing into the room,
+_just_ as we had been making up our minds that we'd never know anything
+about the little girl; it seemed so queer, that we didn't, at first,
+think of anything else. It wasn't for some minutes, or moments,
+certainly, that it came into my head that we shouldn't stay there
+peeping and listening. I'm afraid it wasn't a very gentlemanly sort of
+thing to do. As for Peterkin, I'm pretty sure he never had the
+slightest idea that we were doing anything caddish.
+
+What we heard was this--
+
+'No, I don't want any more tea. I'd better go to bed. It's so dull,
+Nana.'
+
+Then another voice replied--it came from some one further back in the
+room, but we could not distinguish the words--
+
+'There aren't any stars. You may as well shut the window. And stars
+aren't much good. I want some one to play with me. Other little--' but
+just then we saw the shadow of some one crossing the room, and the
+window--it was a glass-door kind of window like the ones up above, which
+opened on to the balcony, for there was a little sort of balcony
+downstairs too--was quickly closed. There was no more to be heard or
+seen; not even shadows, for the curtains were now drawn across.
+
+Pete gave a deep sigh, and I felt that he was looking at me, though it
+was too dark to see, and there was no lamp just there. He wanted to know
+what I thought.
+
+'Come along,' I said, and we walked on.
+
+'Did you hear?' asked Peterkin at last. 'She said she wanted somebody to
+play with her.'
+
+'Yes,' I said, 'it is rather queer. You'd think Mrs. Wylie might have
+made friends with her, and invited her to tea. But it's no good our
+bothering about it,' and I walked a little faster, and began to whistle.
+I did not want Pete to go on again talking a lot about his invisible
+princess, for such she seemed likely to remain.
+
+It was far easier, however, to get anything into Peterkin's fancy than
+to get it out again, as I might have known by experience. We had not
+gone far before I felt him tugging at my arm.
+
+'Don't walk so fast, Gilley,' he said--poor, little chap, he was quite
+breathless with trying to keep up with me, so I had to slacken a
+bit,--'and do let me talk to you. When we get home I shan't have a
+chance--not till to-morrow morning in bed, I daresay; for they'll all be
+wanting to hear about Mrs. Wylie, and what we had for tea, and
+everything.'
+
+I did not so much mind about _that_ part of it, but I did not want to be
+awakened before dawn the next morning to listen to all he'd got to say.
+So I thought I might as well let him come out with some of it.
+
+'What do you want to talk about?' I said.
+
+'Oh! of course, you know,' he replied. 'It's about the _poor_ little
+girl. I am so dreffully sorry for her, Gilley, and I want to plan
+something. It's no good asking Mrs. Wylie. We'll have to do something
+ourselves. I'm afraid the people she's with lock her up, or something.
+_P'raps_ they daren't let her go out, if there's some wicked fairy, or a
+witch, or something like that, that wants to run off with her.'
+
+'Well, then, the best thing to do _is_ to lock her up,' I said sensibly.
+
+But that wasn't Peterkin's way of looking at things.
+
+'It's never like that in my stories,' he said--and I know he was shaking
+his curly head,--'and some of them are very, very old--nearly as old as
+Bible stories, I believe; so they must be true, you see. There's always
+somebody that comes to break the--the--I forget the proper word.'
+
+'The enchantment, you mean,' I said.
+
+'No, no; a shorter word. Oh, I know--the spell,' he replied. 'Yes,
+somebody comes to break the _spell_. And that's what we've got to do,
+Gilley. At least, I'm sure I've got to, and you must help me. You see,
+it's all been so funny. The parrot knows, I should think, for I'm sure
+he's partly fairy. But, very likely, he daren't say it right out, for
+fear of the bad fairy, and----'
+
+'Perhaps he's the bad fairy himself,' I interrupted, half joking, but
+rather interested, all the same, in Peterkin's ideas.
+
+'Oh no,' he replied, 'I know he's not, and I'm sure Mrs. Wylie has
+nothing to do with the bad fairy.'
+
+'Then why do you think she won't talk about the little girl, or invite
+her, or anything?' I asked.
+
+Pete seemed puzzled.
+
+'I don't know,' he said. 'There's a lot to find out. P'raps Mrs. Wylie
+doesn't know anything about the spell, and has just got some stupid,
+common reason for not wanting us to play with the little girl, or
+p'raps'--and this was plainly a brilliant idea--'_p'raps_ the spell's
+put on her without her knowing, and stops her when she begins to speak
+about it. Mightn't it very likely be that, Giles?'
+
+But I had not time to answer, for we had got to our own door by now, and
+it was already opened, as some tradesman was giving James a parcel. So
+we ran in.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+'STRATAGEMS'
+
+
+I REALLY don't quite know what made me listen to Peterkin's fancies
+about his invisible princess, as I got into the habit of calling her. It
+was partly, I suppose, because it amused me--we had nothing much to take
+us up just then: there was no skating that winter, and the weather was
+dull and muggy--and partly that somehow he managed to make me feel as if
+there might really be something in it. I suppose when anybody quite
+believes in a thing, it's rather catching; and Peterkin's head was so
+stuffed and crammed with fairy stories that at that time, I think, they
+were almost more real to him than common things.
+
+He went about, dreaming of ogres and magicians, and all the rest, so
+much, that I scarcely think anything marvellous would have surprised
+him. If I had suddenly shot up to the ceiling, and called out that I
+had learnt how to fly, I don't believe he would have been startled; or
+if I had shown him a purse with a piece of gold in it, and told him that
+it was enchanted, and that he'd always find the money in it however
+often he spent it, he'd have taken it quite seriously, and been very
+pleased.
+
+So the idea of an enchanted little girl did not strike us as at all out
+of the way.
+
+We did not talk about her any more that night after we had been at Mrs.
+Wylie's, for we had to hurry up to get neat again to come down to the
+drawing-room to mamma. Blanche and Elf were already there when we came
+in, and they, and mamma too, were full of questions about how we'd
+enjoyed ourselves, and about the parrot, and what we'd had for tea--just
+as I knew they would be; I don't mean that mamma asked what we'd had for
+tea, but the girls did.
+
+And then Pete and Elf went off to bed, and when I went up he was quite
+fast asleep, and if he hadn't been, I could not have spoken to him
+because of my promise, you know.
+
+He made up for it the next morning, however.
+
+I suppose he had had an extra good night, for I felt him looking at me
+long before I was at all inclined to open my eyes, or to snort for him
+to know I was awake. And when at last I did--it's really no good trying
+to go to sleep again when you feel there's somebody fidgeting to talk to
+you--there he was, his eyes as bright and shiny as could be, sitting
+bolt up with his hands round his knees, as if he'd never been asleep in
+his life?
+
+I couldn't help feeling rather cross, and yet I had a contradictory sort
+of interest and almost eagerness to hear what he had to say. I suppose
+it was a kind of love of adventure that made me join him in his fancies
+and plans. I knew that his fancies were only fancies really, but still I
+felt as if we might get some fun out of them.
+
+He was too excited to mind my being grumpy.
+
+'Oh, Gilley!' he exclaimed at my first snort, 'I am so glad you are
+awake at last.'
+
+'I daresay you are,' I said, 'but I'm not. I should have slept another
+half-hour if you hadn't sat there staring me awake.'
+
+'Well, you needn't talk,' he went on, in a 'smoothing-you-down' tone;
+'just listen and grunt sometimes.'
+
+I did grunt there and then. There was one comfortable thing about
+Peterkin even then, and it keeps on with him now that he is getting big
+and sensible. He always understands what you say, however you say it, or
+half say it. He was not the least surprised at my talking of his staring
+me awake, though he had not exactly meant to do so.
+
+'It has come into my mind, Giles,' he began, very importantly, 'how
+queer and lucky it is that the old lady is going away for a fortnight. I
+should not wonder if it had been managed somehow.'
+
+He waited for my grunt, but it turned into--
+
+'What on earth do you mean?'
+
+'I mean, perhaps it's part of the spell, without her knowing, of course,
+that she should have to go to London. For if she was still there, we
+couldn't do anything without her finding out.'
+
+'I don't know what you mean about doing anything,' I said. 'And please
+don't say "we." I haven't promised to join you. Most likely I'll do my
+best to stop whatever it is you've got in that rummy head of yours.'
+
+'Oh no, you won't!' he replied coolly. 'I don't know that you could if
+you tried, without telling the others. And you can't do that, of course,
+as I've trusted you. It's word of honour, you see, though I didn't
+exactly make you say so. And it's nothing naughty or mischievous, else I
+wouldn't plan it.'
+
+'What is it, then? Hurry up and tell me, without such a lot of
+preparation,' I grumbled.
+
+'I can't tell you very much,' he answered, ''cos, you see, I don't know
+myself. It will show as we go on--I'm certain you'll help me, Gilley.
+You remember the prince in the "Sleeping Beauty" did not know exactly
+what he would do--no more did the one in----'
+
+'Never mind all that,' I interrupted.
+
+'Well, then, what we've got to do is to try to talk to her ourselves
+without any one hearing. That's the first thing. We will tell her what
+the parrot says, and then it will be easy to find out if she knows
+herself about the spell.'
+
+'But what do you think the spell is?' I asked, feeling again the strange
+interest and half belief in his fancies that Peterkin managed to put
+into me. 'What do you suppose your bad fairies, or whatever they are,
+have done to her?'
+
+'There are lots of things, it might be,' he replied gravely. 'They may
+have made her not able to walk, or very queer to look at--p'raps turned
+her hair white, so that you couldn't be sure if she was a little girl
+or an old woman; or made her nose so long that it trails on the floor.
+No, I don't think it's that,' he added, after stopping to think a
+minute. 'Her voice sounds as if she was pretty, even if it's rather
+grumbly. P'raps she turns into a mouse at night, and has to run about,
+and that's why she's so tired. It might be that.'
+
+'It would be easy to catch her, then, and bring her home in your pocket,
+if you waited till the magic time came,' I suggested, half joking again,
+of course.
+
+'It might be,' agreed Pete, quite seriously, 'or it might be very, very
+difficult, unless we could make her understand at the mouse time that we
+were friends. We can't settle anything till we see her, and talk to her
+like a little girl, of course.'
+
+'You certainly couldn't talk to her like anything else,' I said; 'but
+I'm sure I don't see how you mean to talk to her at all.'
+
+'I do,' said Peterkin. 'I've been planning it since last night. We can
+go round that way once or twice to look at the parrot, and just stand
+about. Nobody would wonder at us if they saw we were looking at him. And
+very likely we'd see _something_, as she lives in the very next-door
+house. P'raps she comes to the window sometimes, and she might notice
+us if we were looking up at the parrot. It would be easiest if she was
+in the downstairs room.'
+
+'I don't suppose she is there all day,' I said. 'The parrot would not
+have heard her talking so much if she were. I think she must have been
+out on the balcony sometimes when it was warmer.'
+
+'Yes,' Peterkin agreed. 'I thought of that. Very likely she only comes
+downstairs for her dinner and tea. It's the dining-room, like Mrs.
+Wylie's.'
+
+'And if she only comes down there late she wouldn't see us in the dark,
+and, besides, the parrot wouldn't be out by then. And besides that,
+except for going to tea to Mrs. Wylie's, we'd never get leave to be out
+by ourselves so late. At least _you_ wouldn't. Of course, for me, it's
+sometimes nearly dark when I come home from school.'
+
+I really did not see how Pete did mean to manage it. But the
+difficulties I spoke of only seemed to make him more determined. I could
+not help rather admiring him for it: he quite felt, I fancy, as if he
+was one of his favourite fairy-tale princes. And in the queer way I have
+spoken of already, he somehow made me feel with him. I did not go over
+all the difficulties in order to stop him trying, but because I was
+actually interested in seeing how he was going to overcome them.
+
+He was silent for a moment or two after my last speech, staring before
+him with his round blue eyes.
+
+Then he said quietly--
+
+'Yes; I'd thought of most of those things. But you will see. We'll
+manage it somehow. I daresay she comes downstairs in the middle of the
+day, too, for she's sure to have dinner early, and the parrot will be
+out then, if we choose a fine day.'
+
+'But we always have to be in for our own dinner by half-past one,' I
+said.
+
+'Well, p'raps _she_ has hers at one, or even half-past twelve, like we
+used to, till you began going to school,' said he hopefully. 'And a
+_very_ little talking would do at the first beginning. Then we could be
+very polite, and say we'd come again to see the parrot, and p'raps--'
+here Peterkin looked rather shy.
+
+'Perhaps what? Out with it!' I said.
+
+'We might take her a few flowers,' he answered, getting red, 'if--if we
+could--could get any. They're very dear to buy, I'm afraid, and we
+haven't any of our own. The garden is so small; it isn't like if we
+lived in the country,' rather dolefully.
+
+'You wouldn't have known anything about Rock Terrace, or the invisible
+princess, or the parrot, if we lived in the country,' I reminded him.
+
+'No,' said Pete, more cheerfully, 'I hadn't thought of that.'
+
+'And--' I went on, 'I daresay I could help you a bit if it really seemed
+any good,' for I rather liked the idea of giving the little girl some
+flowers. It made it all look less babyish.
+
+Peterkin grinned with delight.
+
+'You _are_ kind, Gilley!' he exclaimed. 'I knew you would be. Oh,
+bother! here's nurse coming, and we haven't begun to settle anything
+properly.'
+
+'There's no hurry,' I said; 'you've forgotten that we certainly can't go
+there again till Mrs. Wylie's out of the way. And she said, "the end of
+the week"; that means Saturday, most likely, and this is--oh dear! I was
+forgetting--it's Sunday, and we'll be late.'
+
+Nurse echoed my words as she came in--
+
+'You'll be late, Master Giles, and Master Peterkin, too,' she said. 'I
+really don't think you should talk so much on Sunday mornings.'
+
+It wasn't that we had to be any earlier on Sundays than any other day,
+but that dressing in your best clothes takes so much longer somehow,
+and we had to have our hair very neat, and all like that, because we
+generally went down to the dining-room, while papa and mamma and Clement
+and Blanche were at breakfast, after we had had our own in the nursery.
+
+There would be no good in trying to remember all our morning talks that
+week about Peterkin's plans. He did not get the least tired of them, and
+I didn't, for a wonder, get tired of listening to him, he was so very
+much in earnest.
+
+He chopped and changed a good bit in little parts of them, but still he
+stuck to the general idea, and I helped him to polish it up. It was
+really more interesting than any of his fairy stories, for he managed to
+make both himself and me feel as if we were going to be _in_ one of them
+ourselves.
+
+So I will skip over that week, and go on to the next. By that time we
+knew that Mrs. Wylie was in London, because mamma said something one day
+about having had a letter from her. Nothing to do with the little girl,
+as far as we knew; I think it was only about somebody who wanted a
+servant, or something stupid like that.
+
+It got on to the Monday of the next week _again_, and by that time Pete
+had got a sort of start of his plans. He had got leave to come to meet
+me at the corner of Lindsay Square, once or twice in the last few days.
+I used to get there about a quarter or twenty minutes to one. We were
+supposed to leave school not later than a quarter past twelve, but you
+know how fellows get fooling about coming out of a day-school, so,
+though it was really quite near, I was often later.
+
+Mamma was pleased for Peterkin to want to come to meet me. She was not
+at all coddling or stupid like that about us boys, though her being in
+such a fuss that evening Pete was lost may have seemed so. And she was
+always awfully glad for us to be fond of each other. She used to say she
+hoped we'd grow up 'friends' as well as brothers, which always reminded
+me of the verse about it in the Bible about 'sticking closer than a
+brother.' And I like to think that dear little mummy's hopes will come
+true for her sons.
+
+It wasn't exactly a fit of affection for me, of course, that made Pete
+want to get into the way of coming to meet me. Still, we _were_ very
+good friends; especially good friends just then, as you know.
+
+So that Monday, which luckily happened to be a very nice bright day, he
+had no difficulty in getting leave for it again. I had promised him to
+hurry over getting off from school, so we counted on having a good bit
+of time to spend in looking at the parrot and talking to him, and in
+'spying the land' generally, including the invisible princess, if we got
+a chance, without risking coming in too late for our dinner. We had
+taken care never to be late, up till now, for fear of Peterkin's coming
+to meet me being put a stop to; but we hadn't pretended that we would
+come straight home, and once or twice we had done a little shopping
+together, and more than once we had spent several minutes in staring in
+at the flower-shop windows, settling what kind of flowers would be best,
+and in asking the prices of hers from a flower-woman who often sat near
+the corner of the square. She was very good-natured about it. We
+shouldn't have liked to go into a regular shop only to ask prices, so it
+was a good thing to know a little about them beforehand.
+
+I remember all about that Monday morning particularly well. I did hurry
+off from school as fast as I could, though of course--I think it nearly
+always happens so--ever so many stupid little things turned up to keep
+me later than I often was.
+
+I skurried along pretty fast, you may be sure, once I did get out, and
+it wasn't long before I caught sight of poor old Pete eagerly watching
+for me at the corner of Lindsay Square. He did not dare to come farther,
+because, you see, he had promised mamma he never would, and that if I
+were ever very late he'd go home again.
+
+I didn't give him time to be doleful about it.
+
+'I've been as quick as I possibly could,' I said, 'and it's not so bad
+after all, Pete. We shall have a quarter of an hour for Rock Terrace at
+least, if we hurry now. Don't speak--it only wastes your breath,' for in
+those days, with being so plump and sturdy and his legs rather short, it
+didn't take much to make him puff or pant. He's in better training now
+by a long way.
+
+He was always very sensible, so he took my advice and we got over the
+ground pretty fast, only pulling up when we got to the end, or
+beginning, of the little row of houses.
+
+'Now,' said I, 'let's first walk right along rather slowly, and if we
+hear the Polly we can stop short, as if we were noticing him for the
+first time, the way people often do, you know.'
+
+Peterkin nodded.
+
+'I believe I see the corner of his cage out on the balcony,' he said,
+half whispering, 'already.'
+
+He was right. The cage was out.
+
+We walked past very slowly, though we took care not to look up as if we
+were expecting to see anything. The parrot was in the front of the cage,
+staring down, and I'm almost certain he saw us, and even remembered us,
+though, out of contradiction, he pretended he didn't.
+
+'Don't speak or turn,' I whispered to Pete. It was so very quiet along
+Rock Terrace, except when some tradesman's cart rattled past--and just
+now there was nothing of the kind in view--that even common talking
+could have been heard. 'Don't speak or seem to see him. They are awfully
+conceited birds, and the way to make them notice you and begin talking
+and screeching is to pretend you don't see them.'
+
+So we walked on silently to the farther end of the terrace, in a very
+matter-of-fact way, turning to come back again just as we had gone. And
+I could be positive that the creature saw us all the time, for the row
+of houses was very short, and he was well to the front of the balcony.
+
+Our 'stratagem'--I have always liked the word, ever since I read _Tales
+of a Grandfather_, which I thought a great take-in, as it's just a
+history book, neither more nor less, and the only exciting part is when
+you come upon stratagems--succeeded. As we got close up to the parrot's
+house, next door to Mother Wylie's, you understand, _and_, of course,
+next door to the invisible princess's, we heard a sound. It was a sort
+of rather angry squeak or croak, but loud enough to be an excuse for our
+stopping short and looking up.
+
+And then, as we still did not speak, Master Poll, his round eyes glaring
+at us, I felt certain, was forced to open the conversation.
+
+'Pretty Poll,' he began, of course. 'Pretty Poll.'
+
+'All right,' I called back. 'Good morning, Pretty Poll. A fine day.'
+
+'Wants his dinner,' he went on. 'I say, wants his dinner.'
+
+'Really, does he?' I said, in a mocking tone, which he understood, and
+beginning to get angry--just what I wanted.
+
+'Naughty boy! naughty boy!' he screeched, very loudly. Pete and I
+grinned with satisfaction!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+MARGARET
+
+
+THERE'S an old proverb that mamma has often quoted to us, for she's
+awfully keen on our all being 'plucky,' and, on the whole, I think we
+are--
+
+'Fortune favours the brave.'
+
+I have sometimes thought it would suit Peterkin to turn it into 'Fortune
+favours the determined.' Not that he's _not_ 'plucky,' but there's
+nothing like him for sticking to a thing, once he has got it into his
+head. And certainly fortune favoured him at the time I am writing about.
+Nothing could have suited us better than the parrot's screeching out to
+us 'naughty boy, naughty boy.'
+
+I suppose he had been taught to say it to errand-boys and boys like that
+who mocked at him. But we did not want to set up a row, so I replied
+gently--
+
+'No, no, Polly, good boys. Polly shall have his dinner soon.'
+
+'Good Polly, good Polly,' he repeated with satisfaction.
+
+And then--what _do_ you think happened? The door-window of the
+drawing-room of the next house, _the_ house, was pushed open a little
+bit, and out peeped a child's head, a small head with smooth short dark
+hair, but a little girl's head. We could tell that at once by the way it
+was combed, or brushed, even if we had not seen, as we did, a white
+muslin pinafore, with lace ruffly things that only a girl would wear. My
+heart really began to beat quite loudly, as if I'd been running fast--we
+had been so excited about her, you see, and afterwards Pete told me his
+did too.
+
+The only pity was, that she was up on the drawing-room floor. We could
+have seen her so much better downstairs. But we had scarcely time to
+feel disappointed.
+
+When she saw us, and saw, I suppose, that we were not errand-boys or
+street-boys, she came out a little farther. I felt sure by her manner
+that she was alone in the room. She looked down at us, looked us well
+over for a moment or two, and then she said--
+
+'Are you talking to the parrot?'
+
+She did not call out or speak loudly at all, but her voice was very
+clear.
+
+'Yes,' Peterkin replied. As he had started the whole business I thought
+it fair to let him speak before me. 'Yes, but he called out to us first.
+He called us "naughty boys."'
+
+'I heard him,' said the little girl, 'and I thought perhaps you _were_
+naughty boys, teasing him, you know, and I was going to call to you to
+run away. But--' and she glanced at us again. I could see that she
+wanted to go on talking, but she did not quite know how to set about it.
+
+So I thought I might help things on a bit.
+
+'Thank you,' I said, taking off my cap. 'My little brother is very
+interested in the parrot. He seems so clever.'
+
+At another time Pete would have been very offended at my calling him
+'little,' but just now he was too eager to mind, or even, I daresay, to
+notice.
+
+'So he is,' said the little girl. 'I could tell you lots about him, but
+it's rather tiresome talking down to you from up here. Wait a minute,'
+she added, 'and I'll come down to the dining-room. I may go downstairs
+now, and nurse is out, and I'm very dull.'
+
+We were so pleased that we scarcely dared look at each other, for fear
+that somehow it should go wrong after all. We did glance along the
+terrace, but nobody was coming. If only her nurse would stay out for ten
+minutes longer, or even less.
+
+We stood there, almost holding our breath. But it was not really--it
+could not have been--more than half a minute, before the dark head and
+white pinafore appeared again, this time, of course, on the ground
+floor; the window there was a little bit open already, to air the room
+perhaps.
+
+We would have liked to go close up to the small balcony where she stood,
+but we dared not, for fear of the nurse coming. And the garden was very
+tiny, we were only two or three yards from the little girl, even outside
+on the pavement.
+
+She looked at us first, looked us well over, before she began to speak
+again. Then she said--
+
+'Have you been to see the parrot already?'
+
+'Oh yes,' said Peterkin, in his very politest tone, 'oh yes, thank you.'
+I did not quite see why he said 'thank you.' I suppose he meant it in
+return for her coming downstairs. 'I've been here two, no, three times,
+and Giles,' he gave a sort of nod towards me, 'has been here two.'
+
+'Is your name Giles?' she asked me. She had a funny, little, rather
+condescending manner of speaking to us, but I didn't mind it somehow.
+
+'Yes,' I replied, 'and his,' and I touched Pete, 'is "Peterkin."'
+
+'They are queer names; don't you think so? At least,' she added quickly,
+as if she was afraid she had said something rude, 'they are very
+uncommon. "Giles" and "Perkin."'
+
+'Not "Perkin,"' I said, "Peterkin."'
+
+'Oh, I thought it was like a man in my history,' she said, 'Perkin
+War--something.'
+
+'No,' said Peterkin, 'it isn't in history, but it's in poetry. About a
+battle. I've got it in a book.'
+
+'I should like to see it,' she said. 'There's lots of _my_ name in
+history. My name is Margaret. There are queens and princesses called
+Margaret.'
+
+Pete opened his mouth as if he was going to speak, but shut it up again.
+I know what he had been on the point of saying,--'Are you a princess?'
+'a shut-up princess?' he would have added very likely, but I suppose he
+was sensible enough to see that if she had been 'shut-up,' in the way he
+had been fancying to himself, she would scarcely have been able to come
+downstairs and talk to us as she was doing. And she was not dressed like
+the princesses in his stories, who had always gold crowns on and long
+shiny trains. Still, though she had only a pinafore on, I could see that
+it was rather a grand one, lots of lace about it, like one of Elf's very
+best, and though her hair was short and her face small and pale, there
+was something about her--the way she stood and the way she spoke--which
+was different from many little girls of her age.
+
+Peterkin took advantage very cleverly of what she had said about his
+name.
+
+'I'll bring you my poetry-book, if you like,' he said. 'It's a quite old
+one. I think it belonged to grandmamma, and she's as old as--as old
+as--' he seemed at a loss to find anything to compare poor grandmamma
+to, till suddenly a bright idea struck him--'nearly as old as Mrs.
+Wylie, I should think,' he finished up.
+
+'Oh,' said Margaret, 'do you know Mrs. Wylie? I've never seen her, but I
+think I've heard her talk. Her house is next door to the parrot's.'
+
+'Yes,' said I, 'but I wonder you've never seen her. She often goes out.'
+
+'But--' began the little girl again, 'I've been--oh, I do believe that's
+my dinner clattering in the kitchen, and nurse will be coming in, and
+I've never told you about the parrot. I've lots to tell you. Will you
+come again? Not to-morrow, but on Wednesday nurse is going out to the
+dressmaker's. I heard her settling it. Please come on Wednesday, just
+like this.'
+
+'We could come a little earlier, perhaps,' I said.
+
+Margaret nodded.
+
+'Yes, do,' she replied, 'and I'll be on the look-out for you. I shall
+think of lots of things to say. I want to tell you about the parrot,
+and--about lots of things,' she repeated. 'Good-bye.'
+
+We tugged at our caps, echoing 'good-bye,' and then we walked on towards
+the farther-off end of the terrace, and when we got there we turned and
+walked back again. And then we saw that we had not left the front of
+Margaret's house any too soon, for a short, rather stout little woman
+was coming along, evidently in a hurry. She just glanced at us as she
+passed us, but I don't think she noticed us particularly.
+
+'That's her nurse, I'm sure,' said Peterkin, in a low voice. 'I don't
+think she looks unkind.'
+
+'No, only rather fussy, I should say,' I replied.
+
+We had scarcely spoken to each other before, since bidding Margaret
+good-bye. Pete had been thinking deeply, and I was waiting to hear what
+he had to say.
+
+'I wonder,' he went on, after a moment or two's silence,--'I wonder how
+much she knows?'
+
+'Why?' I exclaimed. 'What do you think there is to know?'
+
+'It's all very misterous, still,' he answered solemnly. 'She--the little
+girl--said she had lots to tell us about the parrot and other things.
+And she didn't want her nurse to see us talking to her. And she said she
+could come downstairs _now_, but, I'm sure, they don't let her go out.
+She wouldn't be so dull if they did.'
+
+'Who's "they"?' I asked.
+
+'I don't quite know,' he replied, shaking his head. 'Some kind of
+fairies. P'raps it's bad ones, or p'raps it's good ones. No, it can't be
+bad ones, for then they wouldn't have planned the parrot telling us
+about her, so that we could help her to get free. The parrot is a sort
+of messenger from the good fairies, I believe.'
+
+He looked up, his eyes very bright and blue, as they always were when he
+thought he had made a discovery, or was on the way to one. And I, half
+in earnest, half in fun, like I'd been about it all the time, let my
+own fancy go on with his.
+
+'Perhaps,' I said. 'We shall find out on Wednesday, I suppose, when we
+talk more to Margaret. We needn't call her the invisible princess any
+more.'
+
+'No, but she is a princess sort of little girl, isn't she?' he said,
+'though her hair isn't as pretty as Blanche's and Elf's, and her face is
+very little.'
+
+'She's all right,' I said.
+
+And then we had to hurry and leave off talking, for we had been walking
+more slowly than we knew, and just then some big clock struck the
+quarter.
+
+I think, perhaps, I had better explain here, that none of us--neither
+Margaret, nor Peterkin, nor I--thought we were doing anything the least
+wrong in keeping our making acquaintance a secret. What Margaret thought
+about it, so far as she did think of that part of it, you will
+understand as I go on; and Pete and I had our minds so filled with his
+fairies that we simply didn't think of anything else.
+
+It was growing more and more interesting, for Margaret had something
+very jolly about her, though she wasn't exactly pretty.
+
+I can't remember if it did come into my mind, a very little, perhaps,
+that we should tell somebody--mamma, perhaps, or Clement--about our
+visits to Rock Terrace even then. But if it did, I think I put it out
+again, by knowing that Margaret meant it to be a secret, and that, till
+we saw her again, and heard what she was going to tell us, it would not
+be fair to mention anything about it.
+
+We were both very glad that Wednesday was only the day after to-morrow.
+It would have been a great nuisance to have had to wait a whole week,
+perhaps. And we were very anxious when Wednesday morning came, to see
+what sort of weather it was, for on Tuesday it rained. Not very badly,
+but enough for nurse to tell Peterkin that it was too showery for him to
+come to meet me, and it would not have been much good if he had, as we
+couldn't have spoken to Margaret.
+
+Nor could we have strolled up and down the terrace or stood looking at
+the parrot, even if he'd been out on the terrace, which he wouldn't have
+been on at all on a bad day--if it was rainy. It would have been sure to
+make some of the people in the houses wonder at us; just what we didn't
+want.
+
+But Wednesday was fine, luckily, and this time I got off from school to
+the minute without any one or anything stopping me.
+
+I ran most of the way to the corner of Lindsay Square, all the same;
+and I was not too early either, for before I got there I saw Master
+Peterkin's sturdy figure steering along towards me, not far off. And
+when he got up to me I saw that he had a small brown-paper parcel under
+his arm, neatly tied up with red string.
+
+He was awfully pleased to see me so early, for his round face was
+grinning all over, and as a rule it was rather solemn.
+
+'What's that you've got there?' I asked.
+
+He looked surprised at my not knowing.
+
+'Why, of course, the poetry-book,' he said. 'I promised it her,
+and I've marked the poetry about "Peterkin." It's the Battle of
+Blen--Blen-hime--mamma said, when I learnt it, that that's the
+right way to say it; but Miss Tucker' ('Miss Tucker' was Blanche's
+and the little ones' governess) 'called it Blen_nem_, and I always
+have to think when I say it. I wish they didn't call him "_little_
+Peterkin," though,' he went on, 'it sounds so babyish.'
+
+'I don't see that it matters, as it isn't about you yourself,' I said.
+'I'd forgotten all about it; I think it's rather sharp of you to have
+remembered.'
+
+'I couldn't never forget anything I'd promised _her_,' said Pete, and
+you might really have thought by his tone that he believed he was the
+prince going to visit the Sleeping Beauty--after she'd come awake, I
+suppose.
+
+We did not need to hurry; we were actually rather too early, so we went
+on talking.
+
+'How about the flowers we meant to get for her?' I said suddenly.
+
+'_I_ didn't forget about them,' he answered, 'but we didn't promise
+them, and I thought it would be better to ask her first. She might like
+chocolates best, you know.'
+
+'All right,' I said, and I thought perhaps it was better to ask her
+first. You see, if she didn't want her nurse to know about our coming to
+see her it would have been tiresome, as, of course, Margaret could not
+have told a story.
+
+There she was, peeping out of the downstairs window already when we got
+there. And when she saw us she came farther out, a little bit on to the
+balcony. It was a sunny day for winter, and besides, she had a red shawl
+on, so she could not very well have caught cold. It was a very pretty
+shawl, with goldy marks or patterns on it. It was like one grandmamma
+had been sent a present of from India, and afterwards Margaret told me
+hers had come from India too. And it suited her, somehow, even though
+she was only a thin, pale little girl.
+
+She smiled when she saw us, though she did not speak till we were near
+enough to hear what she said without her calling out. And when we
+stopped in front of her house, she said--
+
+'I think you might come inside the garden. We could talk better.'
+
+So we did, first glancing up at the next-door balcony, to see if the
+parrot was there.
+
+Yes, he was, but not as far out as usual, and there was a cloth, or
+something, half-down round his cage, to keep him warmer, I suppose.
+
+He was quite silent, but Margaret nodded her head up towards him.
+
+'He told me you were coming,' she cried, 'though it wasn't in a very
+polite way. He croaked out--"Naughty boys! naughty boys!"'
+
+We all three laughed a little.
+
+'And now,' Margaret went on, 'I daresay he won't talk at all, all the
+time you are here.'
+
+'But will he understand what we say?' asked Peterkin, rather anxiously.
+
+Margaret shook her head.
+
+[Illustration: PETE HELD OUT HIS BROWN-PAPER PARCEL. 'THIS IS THE
+POETRY-BOOK,' HE SAID.--p. 97.]
+
+'I really don't know,' she replied. 'We had better talk in rather low
+voices. I don't _think_,' she went on, almost in a whisper, 'that he is
+fairy enough to hear if we speak very softly.'
+
+Peterkin gave a sort of spring of delight.
+
+'Oh!' he exclaimed, 'I am _so_ glad you think he is fairyish, too.'
+
+'Of course I do,' said she; 'that's partly what I wanted to tell you.'
+
+We came closer to the window. Margaret looked at us again in her
+examining way, without speaking, for a minute, and before she said
+anything, Pete held out his brown-paper parcel.
+
+'This is the poetry-book,' he said, 'and I've put a mark in the place
+where it's about my name.'
+
+He pulled off his cap as he handed the packet to her, and stood with his
+curly wig looking almost red in the sunlight, though it was not very
+bright.
+
+'Put it on again,' said Margaret, in her little queer way, meaning his
+cap. 'And thank you very much, Perkin, for remembering to bring it. I
+think I should like to call you "Perkin," if you don't mind. I like to
+have names of my own for some people, and I really thought yours was
+Perkin.'
+
+I wished to myself she would have a name of her own for _me_, but I
+suppose she thought I was too big.
+
+'I think you are very nice boys,' she went on, 'not "naughty" ones at
+all; and if you will promise not to tell any one what I am going to tell
+_you_, I will explain all I can. I mean you mustn't tell any one till I
+give you leave, and as it's only about my own affairs, of course you can
+promise.'
+
+Of course we did promise.
+
+'Listen, then,' said Margaret, glancing up first of all at the parrot,
+and drawing back a little into the inside of the room. 'You can hear
+what I say, even though I don't speak very loudly, can't you?'
+
+'Oh yes! quite well,' we replied.
+
+'Well, then, listen,' she repeated. 'I have no brothers or sisters, and
+Dads and Mummy are in India. I lived there till about three years ago,
+and then they came here and left me with my grandfather. That's how
+people always have to do who live in India.'
+
+'Didn't you mind awfully?' I said. 'Your father and mother leaving you,
+I mean?'
+
+'Of course I minded,' she replied. 'But I had always known it would have
+to be. And they will come home again for good some day; perhaps before
+very long. And I have always been quite happy till lately. Gran is very
+good to me, and I'm used to being a good deal alone, you see, except for
+big people. I've always had lots of story books, and not _very_ many
+lessons. So, after a bit, it didn't seem so very different from India.
+Only _now_ it's quite different. It's like being shut up in a tower, and
+it's very queer altogether, and I _believe_ she's a sort of a witch,'
+and Margaret nodded her head mysteriously.
+
+'_Who?_' we asked eagerly.
+
+'The person I'm living with--Miss Bogle--isn't her name witchy?' and she
+smiled a little. 'No, no, not nurse,' for I had begun to say the word.
+'_She_ is only rather a goose. No, this house belongs to Miss Bogle, and
+she's quite old--oh, as old as old! And she's got rheumatism, so she
+very seldom goes up and down stairs. And nurse does just exactly what
+Miss Bogle tells her. It was this way. Gran had to go away--a good way,
+though not so far as India, and he is always dreadfully afraid of
+anything happening to me, I suppose. So he sent me here with nurse, and
+he told me I would be very happy. He knew Miss Bogle long ago--I think
+she had a school for little boys once; perhaps that was before she got
+to be a witch. But I've been dreadfully unhappy, and I don't know
+what's going to happen to me if I go on like this much longer.'
+
+She stopped, out of breath almost.
+
+'Do you think she's going to enchanter you?' asked Peterkin, in a
+whisper. 'Do you think she wasn't asked to your christening, or anything
+like that?'
+
+Margaret shook her head again.
+
+'_Something_ like that, I suppose,' she replied. 'She looks at me
+through her spectacles so queerly, you can't think. You see, I was ill
+at Gran's before I came here: not very badly, though he fussed a good
+deal about it. And he thought the sea-air would do me good. But I've
+often had colds, and I never was treated like this before--never. For
+ever so long, _she_,' and Margaret nodded towards somewhere unknown,
+'wouldn't let me come downstairs at all. And then I cried--sometimes I
+_roared_, and luckily the parrot heard, and began to talk about it in
+his way. And you see it's through him that _you_ got to know about me,
+so I'm sure he's on the other side, and knows she's a witch, but----'
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+THE GREAT PLAN
+
+
+AT that moment the clock--a clock somewhere near--struck. Margaret
+started, and listened,--'One, two, three.' She looked pleased.
+
+'It's only a quarter to one,' she said. 'Half-an-hour still to my
+dinner. What time do you need to get home by?'
+
+'A quarter-past will do for us,' I said.
+
+'Oh, then it's all right,' she replied. 'But I must be quick. I want to
+know all that the parrot told you.'
+
+'It was more what he had said to Mrs. Wylie,' I explained, 'copying you,
+you know. And, at first, she called you "that poor child," and told us
+she was so sorry for you.'
+
+'But now she won't say anything. She pinched up her lips about you the
+other day,' added Peterkin.
+
+Margaret seemed very interested, but not very surprised.
+
+'Oh, then, Miss Bogle is beginning to bewitch her too,' she said. 'Nurse
+is a goose, as I told you. She just does everything Miss Bogle wants.
+And if it wasn't for the parrot and you,' she went on solemnly, 'I
+daresay when Gran comes home he'd find me turned into a pussy-cat.'
+
+'Or a mouse, or even a frog,' said Peterkin, his eyes gleaming; 'only
+then he wouldn't know it was you, unless your nurse told him.'
+
+'She wouldn't,' said Margaret, 'the witch would take care to stop her,
+or to turn her into a big cat herself, or something. There'd be only the
+parrot, and Gran mightn't understand him. It's better not to risk it.
+And that's what I'm planning about. But it will take a great deal of
+planning, though I've been thinking about it ever since you came, and I
+felt sure the good fairies had sent you to rescue me. When can you come
+again?'
+
+'Any day, almost,' said Pete.
+
+'Well, then, I'll tell you what. I'll be on the look-out for you passing
+every fine day about this time, and the first day I'm sure of nurse
+going to London again--and I know she has to go once more at least--I'll
+manage to tell you, and _then_ we'll fix for a long talk here.'
+
+'All right,' I said, 'but we'd better go now.'
+
+There was a sound of footsteps approaching, so with only a hurried
+'good-bye' we ran off.
+
+We did not need to stroll up and down the terrace to-day, as we knew
+Margaret's nurse was away; luckily so, for we only just got home in time
+by the skin of our teeth, running all the way, and not talking.
+
+I wish I could quite explain about myself, here, but it is rather
+difficult. I went on thinking about Margaret a lot, all that day; all
+the more that Pete and I didn't talk much about her. We both seemed to
+be waiting till we saw her again and heard her 'plans.'
+
+And I cannot now feel sure if I really was in earnest at all, as she and
+Peterkin certainly were, about the enchantment and the witch. I remember
+I laughed at it to myself sometimes, and called it 'bosh' in my own
+mind. And yet I did not quite think it only that. After all, I was only
+a little boy myself, and Margaret had such a common-sensical way, even
+in talking of fanciful things, that somehow you couldn't laugh at her,
+and Pete, of course, was quite and entirely in earnest.
+
+I think I really had a strong belief that _some_ risk or danger was
+hanging over her, and I think this was natural, considering the queer
+way our getting to know her had been brought about. And any boy would
+have been 'taken' by the idea of 'coming to the rescue,' as she called
+it.
+
+There was a good deal of rather hard work at lessons just then for me.
+Papa and mamma wanted me to get into a higher class after Christmas, and
+I daresay I had been pretty idle, or at least taking things easy, for I
+was not as well up as I should have been, I know. So Peterkin and I had
+not as much time for private talking as usual. I had often lessons to
+look over first thing in the morning, and as mamma would not allow us to
+have candles in bed, and there was no gas or electric light in our room,
+I had to get up a bit earlier, when I had work to look over or finish.
+And nurse was very good about that sort of thing: there was always a
+jolly bright fire for me in the nursery, however early I was.
+
+Our best time for talking was when Peterkin came to meet me. But we had
+two or three wet days about then. And Margaret did not expect us on
+rainy days, even if Pete had been allowed to come, which he wasn't.
+
+It was, as far as I remember, not till the Monday after that Wednesday
+that we were able to pass along Rock Terrace. And almost before we came
+in real sight of her, I felt certain that the little figure was standing
+there on the look-out.
+
+And so she was--red shawl and white pinafore, and small dark head, as
+usual.
+
+We made a sort of pretence of strolling past her house at first, but we
+found we didn't need to. She beckoned to us at once, and just at that
+moment the parrot, who was out in _his_ balcony, most luckily--or
+cleverly, Peterkin always declares he did it on purpose--screeched out
+in quite a good-humoured tone--
+
+'Good morning! good morning! Pretty Poll! Fine day, boys! Good morning!'
+
+'Good morning, Poll,' we called out as we ran across the tiny plot of
+garden to Margaret.
+
+'I'm so glad you've come,' she said, 'but you mustn't stop a minute.
+I've been out in a bath-chair this morning--I've just come in; and now
+I'm to go every day. It's horrid, and it's all nonsense, when I can
+walk and run quite well. It's all that old witch. I'm going again
+to-morrow and Wednesday; but I'm going to manage to make it later on
+Wednesday, so that you can talk to me on the Parade. Nurse is going to
+London all day on Wednesday, but I'm to go out just the same, for the
+bath-chair man is somebody that Miss Bogle knows quite well. So if you
+watch for me on the Parade, between the street close to here,' and she
+nodded towards the nearest side of Lindsay Square, 'and farther on
+_that_ way,' and now she pointed in the direction of our own house,
+'I'll look out for you, and we can have a good talk.'
+
+'All right,' we replied. 'On Wednesday--day after to-morrow, if it's
+fine, of course.'
+
+'Yes,' she said; 'though I'll _try_ to go, even if it's not _very_ fine,
+and you must try to come. I know now why nurse has to go to London. It's
+to see her sister, who's in an hospital, and Wednesday's the only day,
+and she's a dressmaker--that's why I thought nurse had to go to a
+dressmaker's. I'm going on making up my plans. It's getting worse and
+worse. After I've been out in the bath-chair, Miss Bogle says I'm to lie
+down most of the afternoon! Just fancy--it's so _dreadfully_ dull, for
+she won't let me read. She says it's bad for your eyes, when you're
+lying down. Unless I do something quick, I believe she'll turn me into
+a--oh! I don't know what,' and she stopped, quite out of breath.
+
+'A frog,' said Peterkin. He had enchanted frogs on the brain just then,
+I believe.
+
+'No,' said Margaret, 'that wouldn't be so bad, for I'd be able to jump
+about, and there's nothing I love as much as jumping about, especially
+in water,' and her eyes sparkled with a sort of mischief which I had
+seen in them once or twice before. 'No, it would be something much
+horrider--a dormouse, perhaps. I should hate to be a dormouse.
+
+'You shan't be changed into a dormouse or--or _anything_,' said
+Peterkin, with a burst of indignation.
+
+'Thank you, Perkins,' Margaret replied; 'but please go now and
+remember--Wednesday.'
+
+We ran off, and though we thought we had only been a minute or two at
+Rock Terrace, after all we were not home much too early.
+
+'We must be careful on Wednesday,' I said. 'I'm afraid my watch is
+rather slow.'
+
+[Illustration: WE HAD NO DIFFICULTY IN FINDING HER BATH-CHAIR.--p. 108.]
+
+'Dinner isn't always quite so pumptual on Wednesdays,' said Pete, 'with
+its being a half-holiday, you know.'
+
+It turned out right enough on Wednesday.
+
+Considering what a little girl she was then--only eight and a
+bit--Margaret was very clever with her plans and settlings, as we have
+often told her since. I daresay it was with her having lived so much
+alone, and read so many story-books, and made up stories for herself
+too, as she often did, though we didn't know that then.
+
+We had no difficulty in finding her bath-chair, and the man took it
+quite naturally that she should have some friends, and, of course, made
+no objection to our walking beside her and talking to her. He was a very
+nice kind sort of a man, though he scarcely ever spoke. Perhaps he had
+children of his own, and was glad for Margaret to be amused. He took
+great care of the chair, over the crossing the road and the turnings,
+and no doubt he had been told to be extra careful, but as Miss Bogle had
+no idea that Margaret knew a creature in the place I don't suppose 'the
+witch' had ever thought of telling him that he was not to let any one
+speak to her.
+
+It was a very fine day--a sort of November summer, and when you were in
+the full sunshine it really felt quite hot. There were bath-chairs
+standing still, for the people in them to enjoy the warmth and to stare
+out at the sea.
+
+Margaret did not want to stare at it, and no more did we. But it was
+more comfortable to talk with the chair standing still; for though to
+look at one going it seems to crawl along like a snail, I can tell you
+to keep up with it you have to step out pretty fast, faster than
+Peterkin could manage without a bit of running every minute or so, which
+is certainly _not_ comfortable, and faster than I myself could manage as
+well as talking, without getting short of breath.
+
+So we were very glad to pull up for a few minutes, though we had already
+got through a good deal of business, as I will tell you.
+
+Margaret had made up her mind to run away! Fancy that--a little girl of
+eight!
+
+Pete and I were awfully startled when she burst out with it. She could
+stand Miss Bogle and the dreadful dulness and loneliness of Rock Terrace
+no longer, she declared, not to speak of what might happen to her in the
+way of being turned into a kitten or a mouse or _something_, if the
+witch got really too spiteful.
+
+'And where will you go to?' we asked.
+
+'Home,' she said, 'at least to my nursey's, and that is close to home.'
+
+We were so puzzled at this that we could scarcely speak.
+
+'To your _nurse's_!' we said at last.
+
+'Yes, to my own nurse--my old nurse!' said Margaret, quite surprised
+that we didn't understand. And then she explained what she thought she
+had told us.
+
+'That stupid thing who is my nurse now,' she said, 'isn't my _real_
+nurse. I mean she has only been with me since I came here. She belongs
+to Miss Bogle--I mean Miss Bogle got her. My own darling nursey had to
+leave me. She stayed and stayed because of that bad cold I got, you
+know, but as soon as I was better she _had_ to go, because her mother
+was so old and ill, and hasn't _nobody_ but nursey to take care of her.
+And then when Gran had to go away he settled it all with that witchy
+Miss Bogle, and she got this goosey nurse, and my own nursey brought me
+here. And she cried and cried when she went away, and she said she'd
+come some day to see if I was happy, but the witch said no, she mustn't,
+it would upset me; and so she's never dared to; and now you can fancy
+what my life has been,' Margaret finished up, in quite a triumphant
+tone.
+
+Peterkin was nearly crying by this time. But I knew I must be very
+sensible. It all seemed so very serious.
+
+'But what will your grandfather say when he knows you've run away?' I
+asked, while Peterkin stood listening, with his mouth wide open.
+
+'He'd be very glad to know where I was, _I_ should say,' Margaret
+replied. 'My own nursey will write to him, and I will myself. It'll be a
+good deal better than if I stayed to be turned into something he'd never
+know was me. Then, what would Dads and Mummy say to _him_ for having
+lost me?'
+
+'The parrot'd tell, p'raps,' said Pete.
+
+'As if anybody would believe him!' exclaimed Margaret, 'except people
+who understand about fairies and witches and things like that, that you
+two and I know about.'
+
+She was giving _me_ credit for more believing in 'things like that' than
+I was feeling just then, to tell the truth. But what I did feel rather
+disagreeably sure of, was this queer little girl's determination. She
+sometimes spoke as if she was twenty. Putting it all together, I had a
+sort of instinct that it was best not to laugh at her ideas at all, as
+the next thing would be that she and her devoted 'Perkins' would be
+making plans without me, and really getting lost, or into dreadful
+troubles of some kind. So I contented myself with just saying--
+
+'Why should Miss Bogle want to turn you into anything?'
+
+'Because witches are like that,' said Peterkin, answering for his
+princess.
+
+'And because she hates the bother of having me,' added Margaret. 'She
+has written to Gran that I am very troublesome--nurse told me so; nurse
+can't hold her tongue--and I daresay I am,' she added truly. 'And so, if
+I seemed to be lost, she'd say it wasn't her fault. And as I suppose I'd
+never be found, there'd be an end of it.'
+
+'You couldn't but be found _now_,' said Peterkin, 'as, you see, _we'd_
+know.'
+
+'If she didn't turn _you_ into something too,' said Margaret, with the
+sparkle of mischief in her eyes again.
+
+Pete looked rather startled at this new idea.
+
+'The best thing to do is for me to go away to a safe place while I'm
+still myself,' she added.
+
+'But have you got the exact address? Do you know what station to go to,
+and all that sort of thing?' I asked. 'And have you got money enough?'
+
+'Plenty,' she said, nodding her head; 'plenty for all I've planned. Of
+course I know the station--it's the same as for my own home, and nursey
+lives in the village where the railway comes. Much nearer than _our_
+house, which is two miles off. And I know nursey will have me, even if
+she had to sleep on the floor herself. The only bother is that I'll have
+to change out of the train from _here_, and get into another at a place
+that's called a Junction. Nursey and I had to do that when we came here,
+and I heard Gran explain it all to her, and I know it's the same going
+back, for the nurse I have _now_ told me so. When she goes to London she
+stays in the same railway; but if you're _not_ going to London, you have
+to get into another one. And nursey and I had to wait nearly
+half-an-hour, I should think, and that's the part I mind,' and, for the
+first time, her eager little face looked anxious. 'The railway people
+would ask me who I was, and where I was going, as, you see, I look so
+much littler than I am; so I've planned for you two kind boys to come
+with me to that changing station, and wait till I've got into the train
+that goes to Hill Horton; that's _our_ station. I've plenty of money,'
+she went on hurriedly, for, I suppose, she saw that I was looking very
+grave, and Peterkin's face was pink with excitement.
+
+'It isn't that,' I said; 'it's--it's the whole thing. Supposing you got
+lost after all, it would be----'
+
+'No, no! I won't get lost,' she said, speaking again in her very
+grown-up voice. 'And remember, you're on your word of honour as
+_gentlemen_!--_gentlemen_!' she repeated, 'not to tell any one without
+my leave. If you do, I'll just run away by myself, and very likely get
+lost or stolen, or something. And how would you feel then?'
+
+'We are not going to break our promise,' I said. 'You needn't be
+afraid.'
+
+'I'm not,' she said, and her face grew rather red. 'I always keep _my_
+word, and I expect any one I trust to keep theirs.'
+
+And though she was such a little girl, not much older than Elvira, whom
+we often called a 'baby,' I felt sure she _would_ 'keep hers.' It
+certainly wouldn't mend matters to risk her starting off by herself, as
+I believe she would have done if we had failed her.
+
+It has taken longer to write down all our talking than the talking
+itself did, even though it was a little interrupted by the bath-chair
+man every now and then taking a turn up and down, 'just to keep Missy
+moving a bit,' he said.
+
+Margaret's plans were already so very clear in her head that she had no
+difficulty in getting us to understand them thoroughly, and I don't
+think I need go on about what she said, and what we said. I will tell
+what we fixed to do, and what we did do.
+
+Next Wednesday--a full week on--was the day she had settled for her
+escape from Rock Terrace. It was a long time to wait, but it was the day
+her nurse was pretty sure--really quite sure, Margaret thought--to go to
+London again, for she had said so. She went by a morning train, and did
+not come back till after dark in the evening, so there was no fear of
+our running up against her at the railway station. There was a train
+that would do for Hill Horton, after waiting a little at the Junction,
+at about three o'clock in the afternoon; and as it was my half-holiday,
+Peterkin and I could easily get leave to go out together if it was fine,
+and if it wasn't, we would have to come without! We trusted it would be
+fine; and I settled in my own mind that if we _had_ to come without
+asking, I'd leave a message with James the footman, that they weren't to
+be frightened about us at home, for I didn't want mamma and all the
+others to be in a fuss again, like the evening Peterkin was lost.
+
+Margaret said we needn't be away more than about an hour and a half. I
+don't quite remember how she'd got all she knew about the times of the
+trains. I think it was from the cook or housemaid at Miss Bogle's, for I
+know she said one of them came from near Hill Horton, and that she was
+very good-natured, and liked talking about Margaret's home and her own.
+
+So it was settled.
+
+Just to make it even more fixed, we promised to go round by Rock Terrace
+on Monday at the usual time, and Margaret was either to speak to us from
+the dining-room window, or, if she couldn't, she would hang out a white
+handkerchief somewhere that we should be sure to see, which would mean
+that it was all right.
+
+We were to meet her at the corner of her row of houses nearest Lindsay
+Square, at half-past two on Wednesday. How she meant to do about her
+bath-chair drive, and all the rest of it, she didn't tell us, and,
+really, there wasn't time.
+
+But I felt sure she would manage it, and Peterkin was even surer than I.
+
+The last thing she said was--
+
+'Of course, I shall have very little luggage; not more than you two boys
+can easily carry between you.'
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+A TERRIBLE IDEA
+
+
+THAT was on a Wednesday, and the same day the next week was to be _the_
+day. On the Monday, as we had planned, we strolled along Rock Terrace.
+Luckily, it was a fine day, and we could look well about us without
+appearing to have any particular reason for doing so. It would have
+seemed rather funny if we had been holding up umbrellas, or, I should
+say, if _I_ had been, for when it rained Peterkin wasn't allowed to come
+to meet me.
+
+We stood still in front of the parrot's house. He was out on the
+balcony. I wondered if he would notice us, or if he did, if he would
+condescend to speak to us.
+
+Yes, I felt that his ugly round eyes--don't you think all parrots' eyes
+are ugly, however pretty their feathers are?--were fixed on us, and in
+a moment or two came his squeaky, croaky voice--
+
+'Good morning, boys! Good morning! Pretty Poll!'
+
+'He didn't say "naughty boys,"' I remarked.
+
+'No, of course not,' replied Peterkin; 'because he knows all about it
+now, you see.'
+
+'We mustn't stand here long, however,' I said. 'I wond----'
+
+'I wonder why Margaret hasn't hung out a handkerchief if she couldn't
+get to speak to us,' I was going to have said, but just at that moment
+we heard a voice on the upstairs balcony--
+
+'Good Polly,' it said, 'good, good Polly.'
+
+And the parrot repeated with great pride--
+
+'Good, good Polly.'
+
+But when we looked up there was no one to be seen, only I thought one of
+the glass doors of Margaret's dining-room clicked a little. And I was
+right. In another moment there she was herself, on the dining-room
+balcony--half on it, that's to say, and half just inside.
+
+'Isn't he good?' she said, when we came as near as we dared to hear her.
+'I told him to let me know as soon as he saw you, for I couldn't manage
+the handkerchief, and I was afraid you might have gone before I could
+catch you. Nurse has been after me so this morning, for the witch was
+angry with me yesterday for standing at the window without my shawl. But
+you mustn't stay,' and she nodded in her queenly little way. 'It's
+keeping all right--Wednesday at half-past two, at the corner next the
+Square--wet or fine. Good-bye.'
+
+'Good-bye, all right,' we whispered, but she heard us.
+
+So did the parrot.
+
+'Good-bye, boys; good Polly! good, good Polly!' and something else which
+Peterkin declared meant, 'Wednesday at half-past two.'
+
+I felt pretty nervous, I can tell you, that day and the next. At least I
+suppose it's what people call feeling very nervous. I seemed half in a
+dream, and, as if I couldn't settle to anything, all queer and fidgety.
+A little, just a very little perhaps, like what you feel when you know
+you are going to the dentist's, especially if you _haven't_ got
+toothache; for when you have it badly, you don't mind the thought of
+having a tooth out, even a thumping double one.
+
+Yet I should have felt disappointed if the whole thing had been given
+up, and, worse than that, horribly frightened if it had ended in
+Margaret's saying she'd run away by herself without us helping her, as I
+know--I have said so two or three times already, I'm afraid: it's
+difficult to keep from repeating if you're not accustomed to writing and
+feel very anxious to explain things clearly--as I know she really would
+have done.
+
+And then there was the smaller worry of wondering what sort of weather
+there was going to be on Wednesday, which did matter a good deal.
+
+I shall never forget how thankful I felt in the morning when it came,
+and I awoke, and opened my eyes, without any snorting for once, to hear
+Peterkin's first words--
+
+'It's a very fine day, Gilley--couldn't be better.'
+
+'Thank goodness,' I said.
+
+He was sitting up, as usual; but I don't think he had stared me awake
+this morning, for he was gazing out in the direction of the window,
+where up above the short blind a nice show of pale-blue sky was to be
+seen; a wintry sort of blue, with the early mist over it a little, but
+still quite cheering and 'lasting' looking.
+
+'All the same,' I went on, speaking more to myself, perhaps, than to
+him, 'I wish we were well through it, and your princess safe with her
+old nurse.'
+
+For I could not have felt comfortable about her, as I have several times
+said, even if _we_ had not promised to help her. More than that--I do
+believe she was so determined, that supposing mamma or Mrs. Wylie or any
+grown-up person had somehow come to know about it, Margaret would have
+kept to her plan, and perhaps even hurried it on and got into worse
+trouble.
+
+She needed a lesson; though I still do think, and always shall think,
+that old Miss Bogle and her new nurse and everybody were not a bit right
+in the way they tried to manage her.
+
+I hurried home from school double-quick that morning, you may be sure.
+And Peterkin and I were ready for dinner--hands washed, hair brushed,
+and all the rest of it--long before the gong sounded.
+
+Mamma looked at us approvingly, I remember, when she came into the
+dining-room, where we were waiting before the girls and Clement had made
+their appearance.
+
+'Good boys,' she said, smiling, 'that's how I like to see you. How neat
+you both look, and down first, too!'
+
+I felt rather a humbug, but I don't believe Peterkin did; he was so
+completely taken up with the thought of Margaret's escape, and so
+down-to-the-ground sure that he was doing a most necessary piece of
+business if she was to be saved from the witch's 'enchantering,' as he
+would call it.
+
+But as I was older, of course, the mixture of feelings in my mind _was_
+a mixture, and I couldn't stand being altogether a humbug.
+
+So I said to mamma--
+
+'It's mostly that we want to go out as soon as ever we've had our
+dinner; you know you gave us leave to go?'
+
+'Oh yes,' said she. 'Well, it's a very nice day, and you will take good
+care of Peterkin, won't you, Giles? Don't tire him. Are any of your
+schoolfel----'
+
+But at that moment a note was brought to her, which she had to send an
+answer to, and when she sat down at the table again, she was evidently
+still thinking of it, and forgot she had not finished her question,
+which I was very glad of.
+
+So we got off all right, though I had a feeling that Clement looked at
+us _rather_ curiously, as we left the dining-room.
+
+At the _very_ last moment, I did give the message I had thought about
+in my own mind, with James. Just for him to say that mamma and nobody
+was to be frightened if we _were_ rather late of coming back--_even_ if
+it should be after dark; that we should be all right.
+
+And then we ran off without giving James time to say anything, though he
+did open his mouth and begin to stutter out some objection. He was
+rather a donkey, but I knew that he was to be trusted, so I just laughed
+in his face.
+
+We were a little before the time at the corner of the square, but that
+was a good thing. It would never have done to keep _her_ waiting,
+Peterkin said. He always spoke of her as if she was a kind of queen. And
+he was right enough. All the same, my heart did beat in rather a funny
+way, thinking to myself what could or should we do if she didn't come?
+
+But we were not kept waiting long. In another minute or so, a little
+figure appeared round the corner, hastening towards us as fast as it
+could, but evidently a good deal bothered by a large parcel, which at
+the first glance looked nearly as big as itself.
+
+Of course it was Margaret.
+
+'Oh,' she exclaimed, 'I am so glad you are here already. It's this
+package. I had no idea it would seem so heavy.'
+
+'It's nothing,' said Peterkin, valiantly, taking it from her as he
+spoke.
+
+And it really wasn't very much--what had made it seem so conspicuous was
+that the contents were all wrapped up in her red shawl, and naturally it
+looked a queer bundle for a little girl like her to be carrying. She was
+not at all strong either, even for a little girl, and afterwards I was
+not surprised at this, for the illness she had spoken of as a bad cold
+had really been much worse than that.
+
+'Let's hurry on,' she said, 'I shan't feel safe till we've got to the
+station,' for which I certainly thought she had good reason.
+
+I had meant to go by the front way, which was actually the shortest, but
+the scarlet bundle staggered me. Luckily I knew my way about the streets
+pretty well, so I chose rather less public ones. And before long, even
+though the package was not very heavy, Peterkin began to flag, so I had
+to help him a bit with it.
+
+But for that, there would have been nothing about us at all noticeable.
+Margaret was quite nicely and quietly dressed in dark-blue serge,
+something like Blanche and Elvira, and we just looked as if we were a
+little sister and two schoolboy brothers.
+
+'Couldn't you have got something less stary to tie up your things in?' I
+asked her when we had got to some little distance from Rock Terrace, and
+were in a quiet street.
+
+She shook her head.
+
+'No,' she said, 'it was the only thing. I have a nice black bag, as well
+as my trunks, of course, but the witch or nurse has hidden it away. I
+_couldn't_ find it. It's just as if they had thought I might be planning
+to run away. I _nearly_ took nurse's waterproof cape; she didn't take it
+to London to-day, because it is so fine and bright. But I didn't like
+to, after all. It won't matter once we are in the train, and at Hill
+Horton it will be a good thing, as my own nursey will see it some way
+off.'
+
+We were almost at the station by now, and I told Margaret so.
+
+'All right,' she said. 'I have the money all ready. One for me to Hill
+Horton, and two for you to the Junction station,' and she began to pull
+out her purse.
+
+'You needn't get it out just yet,' I said. 'We shall have quite a
+quarter of an hour to wait. If you give me your purse once we're
+inside, I will tell you exactly what I take out. How much is there in
+it?'
+
+'A gold half-sovereign,' she replied, 'and a half-crown, and five
+sixpences, and seven pennies.'
+
+'There won't be very much over,' I said, 'though we are all three under
+twelve; so halves will do, and returns for Pete and me. Second-class, I
+suppose?'
+
+'Second-class!' repeated Margaret, with great scorn; 'of course not.
+I've never travelled anything but first in my life. I don't know what
+Gran would say, or nursey even, if she saw me getting out of a
+_second_-class carriage.'
+
+She made me feel a little cross, though she didn't mean it. _We_ often
+travelled second, and even third, if there were a lot of us and we could
+get a carriage to ourselves. But, after all, it was Margaret's own
+affair, and as she was to be alone from the Junction to Hill Horton,
+perhaps it was best.
+
+'_I_ don't want you to travel second, I'm sure,' I said, 'if only
+there's enough. I'd have brought some of my own, but unluckily I'm very
+short just now.'
+
+'I've--'began Peterkin, but Margaret interrupted him.
+
+'As if I'd let you pay anything!' she said indignantly. 'I'd rather
+travel third than _that_. You are only coming out of kindness to me.'
+
+After all, there was enough, even for first-class, leaving a shilling or
+so over. Hill Horton was not very far away.
+
+A train was standing ready to start, for the station was a terminus. I
+asked a guard standing about if it was the one for Hill Horton, and he
+answered yes, but we must change at the Junction, which I knew already.
+
+So we all got into a first-class carriage, and settled ourselves
+comfortably, feeling safe at last.
+
+'I wish we were going all the way with you,' said Peterkin, with a sigh
+made up of satisfaction, as he wriggled his substantial little person
+into the arm-chair first-class seat, and of regret.
+
+'I'll be all right,' said Margaret, 'once I am in the Hill Horton
+railway.'
+
+For some things I wished too that we were going all the way with her,
+but for others I couldn't help feeling that I should be very glad to be
+safe home again and the adventure well over.
+
+'By the day after to-morrow,' I thought, 'there will be no more reason
+for worrying, if Margaret keeps her promise of writing to us.'
+
+I had made her promise this, and given her an envelope with our address
+on. For otherwise, you see, we should not have heard how she had got on,
+as no one but the parrot knew that she had ever seen us or spoken to us.
+
+Then the train moved slowly out of the station, and Margaret's eyes
+sparkled with triumph. And we felt the infection of her high spirits.
+After all, we were only children, and we laughed and joked about the
+witch, and the fright her new nurse would be in, and how the parrot
+would enjoy it all, of which we felt quite sure.
+
+We were very merry all the way to the Junction. It was only about a
+quarter-of-an-hour off, and just before we got there the guard looked at
+our tickets.
+
+'Change at the Junction,' he said, when he caught sight of the 'Hill
+Horton,' on Margaret's.
+
+'Of course, we know that, thank you,' she said, rather pertly perhaps,
+but it sounded so funny that Pete and I burst out laughing again. I
+suppose we were all really very excited, but the guard laughed too.
+
+'How long will there be to wait for the Hill Horton train?' I had the
+sense to ask.
+
+'Ten minutes, at least,' he replied, glancing at his watch, the way
+guards nearly always do.
+
+I was glad he did not say longer, for the sooner Peterkin and I caught a
+train home again, after seeing Margaret off, the better. And I knew
+there were sure to be several in the course of the afternoon.
+
+As soon as we stopped we got out--red bundle and all. I did not see our
+guard again, he was somewhere at the other end; but I got hold of
+another, not so good-natured, however, and rather in a hurry.
+
+'Which is the train for Hill Horton? Is it in yet?' I asked.
+
+He must have thought, so I explained it to myself afterwards, that we
+had just come in to the station, and were at the beginning of our
+journey.
+
+'Hill Horton,' I _thought_ he said, but, as you will see, my ears must
+have deceived me, 'all right. Any carriage to the front--further back
+are for----.' I did not clearly hear--I think it must have been 'Charing
+Cross,' but I did not care. All that concerned _us_ was 'Hill Horton.'
+
+'Come along,' I called to the two others, who had got a little behind
+me, lugging the bundle between them, and I led the way, as the man had
+pointed out.
+
+It seemed a very long train, and as he had said 'to the front,' I
+thought it best to go pretty close up to the engine. There were two or
+three first-class carriages next to the guard's van, but they were all
+empty, and I had meant to look out for one with nice-looking people in
+it for Margaret to travel with. Farther back there were some ladies and
+children in some first-class, but I was afraid of putting her into a
+wrong carriage.
+
+'I expect you will be alone all the way,' I said to her. 'I suppose
+there are not very many people going to Hill Horton.'
+
+'Not first-class,' said Margaret. 'There are often lots of farmers and
+village people, I daresay. Nursey said it was very crowded on market
+days, but I don't know when it is market days. But it is rather funny,
+Giles, to be getting into the same train again!'
+
+'No,' I replied, 'these carriages will be going to split off from the
+others that go on to London. The man said it would be all right for Hill
+Horton at the front. They often separate trains like that. I daresay we
+shall go a little way out of the station and come back again. You'll
+see. And he said--the _first_ man, I mean--that we should have at least
+ten minutes to wait, and we've scarcely been two, so we may as well get
+in with you for a few minutes.'
+
+'Yes, do,' said Margaret, 'but don't put my package up in the netted
+place, for fear I couldn't get it down again myself. The trains never
+stop long at our station.'
+
+So we contented ourselves with leaving the red bundle on the seat beside
+her. It was lucky, I told her, that the carriage _wasn't_ full,
+otherwise it would have had to go up in the rack, where it wouldn't have
+been very firm.
+
+'It is so fat,' said Peterkin, solemnly.
+
+'Something like you,' I said, at which we all laughed again, as if it
+was something very witty. We were still feeling rather excited, I think,
+and rather proud--at least I was--of having, so far, got on so well.
+
+But before we had finished laughing, there came a startling surprise.
+The train suddenly began to move! We stared at each other. Then I
+remembered my own words a minute or two ago.
+
+'It's all right,' I said, 'we'll back into the station again in a
+moment.'
+
+Margaret and Peterkin laughed again, but rather nervously. At least,
+Margaret's laugh was not quite hearty; though, as for Peterkin, I think
+he was secretly delighted.
+
+On we went--faster and faster, instead of slower. There was certainly no
+sign of 'backing.' I put my head out of the window. We were quite clear
+of the Junction by now, getting every instant more and more into the
+open country. At last I had to give in.
+
+'We're off, I do believe,' I said. 'There's been some mistake about our
+waiting ten minutes. We're clear on the way to Hill Horton.'
+
+'_I'm_ very glad,' said Pete. 'I always wanted to come all the way.'
+
+'But perhaps it needn't be all the way,' I said. 'Do you remember,
+Margaret, how many stations there are between the Junction and yours?'
+
+'Three or four, I think,' she replied.
+
+'Oh well, then,' I said, 'it won't matter. We can get out the first time
+we stop, and I daresay we shall soon get a train back again, and not be
+late home after all.'
+
+Margaret's face cleared. She was thoughtful enough not to want us to get
+into trouble through helping her.
+
+'We shall be stopping soon, I think,' she said, 'for this seems a fast
+train.'
+
+But to me her words brought no satisfaction. For it did indeed seem a
+fast train, and a much more horrible idea than the one of our going all
+the way to Hill Horton suddenly sprang into my mind--
+
+Were we in the Hill Horton train at all?
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+IN A FOG
+
+
+I WAITED a minute or two before I said anything to the others. They went
+on laughing and joking, and I kept looking out of the window. At last I
+turned round, and then Margaret started a little.
+
+'What's the matter, Giles?' she said. 'You're quite white and funny
+looking.'
+
+And Peterkin stared at me too.
+
+'It's--'I began, and then I felt as if I really couldn't go on; but I
+had to. 'It's that I am dreadfully afraid,' I said, 'almost quite sure
+now, that we are in the wrong train. I've seen the names of two stations
+that we've passed without stopping already. Do you remember the names of
+any between the Junction and Hill Horton, Margaret?'
+
+She shook her head.
+
+'No,' she said, 'but I know we never pass any without stopping; at
+least I think so. They are quite little stations, and I've never known
+the train go as fast as this till after the Junction, when we were in
+the London train. I've been to London several times with Gran, you see.'
+
+Then it suddenly struck her what I meant.
+
+'Oh!' she exclaimed, with a little scream, 'is it _that_ you are afraid
+of, Giles? Do you think we are in the _London_ train? I did think it was
+funny that we were getting back into the same one, but you said that the
+man said that the carriages at the front were for Hill Horton?'
+
+'Well, I _thought_ he did,' I replied, 'but--' one's mind works quickly
+when you are frightened sometimes--'he _might_ have said "Victoria," for
+the "tor" in "Victoria" and "Horton" sound rather alike.'
+
+'But wouldn't he have said "London"?' asked Peterkin.
+
+'No, I think they generally say the name of the station in London,' I
+explained. 'There are so many, you see.'
+
+Then we all, for a minute or two, gazed at each other without speaking.
+Margaret had got still paler than usual, and I fancied, or feared, I
+heard her choke down something in her throat. Peterkin, on the
+contrary, was as red as a turkey-cock, and his eyes were gleaming. I
+think it was all a part of the fairy-tale to him.
+
+'What shall we do?' said Margaret, at last, and I was forced to answer,
+'I don't know.'
+
+Bit by bit things began to take shape in my mind, and it was no good
+keeping them to myself.
+
+'There'll be the extra money to pay for our tickets to London,' I said
+at last.
+
+'How much will it be? Isn't there enough over?' asked Margaret quietly,
+and I could not help admiring her for it, as she took out her purse and
+gave it to me to count over what was left.
+
+There were only four or five shillings. I shook my head.
+
+'I don't know how much it will be, but I'm quite sure there's not
+enough. You see, though we're only halves, it's first-class.'
+
+'And what will they do to us if we can't pay,' she went on, growing
+still whiter. 'Could we--could we possibly be sent to prison?'
+
+'Oh no, no. I don't think so,' I answered, though I was really not at
+all sure about it; I had so often seen notices stuck up on boards at
+railway stations about the punishments of passengers not paying
+properly, or trying to travel without tickets. 'But--I'm afraid they
+would be very horrid to us somehow--perhaps telegraph to papa or mamma.'
+
+'Oh!' cried Margaret, growing now as red as she had been white, 'and
+that would mean my being shut up again at Rock Terrace--worse than
+before. I don't know _what_ the witch wouldn't do to me,' and she
+clasped her poor little hands in a sort of despair.
+
+Then Peterkin burst out--
+
+'I've got my gold half-pound with me,' he said, in rather a queer voice,
+as if he was proud of being able to help and yet half inclined to cry.
+
+'Goodness!' I exclaimed, 'why on earth didn't you say so before?'
+
+'I--I--wanted it for something else,' said he. 'I don't quite know why I
+brought it.'
+
+He dived into his pocket, and dug out a very grimy little purse, out of
+which, sure enough, he produced a half-sovereign.
+
+The relief of knowing that we should not get into trouble as far as our
+journey _to_ London was concerned, was such a blessing, that just for
+the moment I forgot all the rest of it.
+
+'Anyway we can't be put in prison now,' said Margaret, and a little
+colour came into her face. 'Oh, Perkins, you _are_ a nice boy!'
+
+I did think her praising him was rather rough on _me_, for I had had
+bother enough, goodness knows, about the whole affair, even though I had
+made a stupid mistake.
+
+We whizzed on, for it was an express train, and for a little while we
+didn't speak. Peterkin was still looking rather upset about his money.
+He told me afterwards that he had been keeping it for his Christmas
+presents, especially one for Margaret, as we had never had a chance of
+getting her any flowers. But all that was put right in the end.
+
+After a bit Margaret said to me, in a half-frightened voice--
+
+'What shall we do when we get to London, Giles? Do you think perhaps the
+guard would help us to go back again to the Junction, when he sees it
+was a mistake? As we've got money to pay to London, he'd see we hadn't
+meant to cheat.'
+
+'No,' I said, 'he wouldn't have time, and besides I don't think it'll be
+the same one. And if we said anything, he'd most likely make us give our
+names, or take us to some station-master or somebody, and then there'd
+be no chance of our keeping out of a lot of bother.'
+
+'You mean,' said she, in a shaky voice, 'we should have to go all the
+way back, and I'd be sent to the witch again?'
+
+'Something like it, I'm afraid,' I said. 'If I just explain that we got
+into the wrong train and pay up, they'll have no business to meddle with
+us.'
+
+'But what are we to do, then?' she asked again.
+
+'I don't know,' I replied. I'm afraid I was rather cross. I was so sick
+of it all, you see, and so fearfully bothered.
+
+Margaret at last began to cry. She tried to choke it down, but it was no
+use.
+
+I felt awfully sorry for her, but somehow the very feeling so bad made
+me crosser, and I did not try to comfort her up.
+
+Pete, on the contrary, tugged out his pocket-handkerchief, which was
+quite a decently clean one, and began wiping her eyes. This made her try
+again to stop crying. She pulled out her own handkerchief and said--
+
+'Dear little Perkins, you are so kind.'
+
+I glanced at them, not very amiably, I daresay. And I was on the point
+of saying that, instead of crying and petting each other, they'd better
+try to think what we should do, for I knew we must be getting near
+London by this time, when I saw something white on the floor of the
+carriage.
+
+I stooped to pick it up. It had dropped out of Margaret's pocket when
+she pulled out her handkerchief. It was an envelope, or what had been
+one, and for a moment I thought it was the one I had given her with our
+address on, to use when she wrote to us from Hill Horton, but _that_ one
+couldn't have got so dirty and torn-looking in the time. And when I
+looked at it more closely, I saw that it was jagged and nibbled in a
+queer way, and _then_ I saw that it had the name 'Wylie' on it, and an
+address in London. And when I looked still more closely, I saw that it
+had never been through the post or had a stamp on, and that it had a
+large blot in one corner. Evidently the person who had written on it had
+not liked to use it because of the blot, and the name on it was _Miss_,
+not _Mrs._ Wylie, '19 Enderby Street
+                                 LONDON, S.W.'
+
+I turned it round and round without speaking for a moment or two. I
+couldn't make it out. Then I said--
+
+'What's this, Margaret? It must have dropped out of your pocket.'
+
+She stopped crying--well, really, I think she had stopped already, for
+whatever her faults were she wasn't a babyish child--to look at it. She
+seemed puzzled, and felt in her pocket again.
+
+'No, of course it's not the envelope you gave me,' she said. 'I've got
+it safe, and--oh, I believe I know how this old one got into my pocket.
+I remember a day or two ago when I was trying if it would do to tie my
+handkerchief on to Polly's cage, he was nibbling some paper. He's very
+fond of nibbling paper, and it doesn't hurt him, for he doesn't eat it.
+But he would keep pecking at me when I was tying the handkerchief, and I
+was vexed with him, and so when he dropped this I picked it up and shook
+it at him, and told him he shouldn't have it again, and then I put it
+into my pocket. He was very tiresome that day, not a bit a fairy; he is
+like that sometimes.'
+
+'But how did he come to have an envelope with "Miss Wylie" on?' I said.
+'He doesn't live in Mrs. Wylie's house, but in the one between yours and
+hers, and this must have come from _her_.'
+
+'I daresay she gave it him to play with, or her servant may have given
+it him,' said Margaret, 'You see he's sometimes at the end of the
+balcony nearest her, and sometimes at our end. I think his servants have
+put him more at our end since she's been away; perhaps they've heard me
+talking to him. Anyway, I'm sure this old envelope must have come out of
+his cage.'
+
+I did not speak for a moment. I was gazing at the address.
+
+'Margaret,' I exclaimed, 'look at it.'
+
+She did so, and then stared up at me, with a puzzled expression in her
+eyes, still red with crying.
+
+'I believe,' I went on, 'I believe this is going to help us.'
+
+Peterkin, who had been listening with all his ears, could contain
+himself no longer.
+
+'And the parrot _must_ be a fairy after all,' he said, 'and he must have
+done it on purpose.'
+
+But Margaret did not seem to hear what he said, she was still gazing at
+me and wondering what I was going to say.
+
+'Don't you see,' I went on, touching the envelope, 'this must be the
+house of some of Mrs. Wylie's relations? Very likely she's staying with
+them there, and anyway they'd tell us where she is, as we know she's
+still in London. She told us she was going to be there for a fortnight.
+And she's very kind. We would ask her to lend us money enough to go back
+to the Junction, and then we'd be all right. You have got your ticket
+for Hill Horton, and we have our returns for home.'
+
+'Oh,' cried Margaret, 'how clever you are to have thought of it, Giles!
+But,' and the bright look went out of her face, 'you don't think she'd
+make me go back to the witch, do you? Are you sure she wouldn't?'
+
+'I really don't think she would,' I said. 'I know she has often been
+sorry for you, for she knew you weren't at all happy. And we'd tell her
+more about it. She is awfully kind.'
+
+I meant what I said. Perhaps I saw it rather too favourably; the idea of
+finding a friend in London was such a comfort just then, that I felt as
+if everything else might be left for the time. I never thought about
+catching trains at the Junction or about its getting late and dark for
+Margaret to be travelling alone from there to Hill Horton, or anything,
+except just the hope--the tremendous hope--that we might find our kind
+old lady.
+
+[Illustration: HE LOOKED AT THE TICKETS . . . 'HOW'S THIS?' HE
+SAID.--p. 145.]
+
+The train slackened, and very soon we pulled up. It wasn't the station
+yet, however, but the place where they stop to take tickets, just
+outside. I know it so well now, for we pass it ever so often on our way
+from and to school several times a year. But whenever we pass it, or
+stop at it, I think of that miserable day and all my fears.
+
+The man put his head in at the window. He was a stranger.
+
+'Tickets, please,' he said.
+
+I was ready for him--tickets, Peterkin's half-sovereign, and all. I held
+out the tickets.
+
+'There's been a mistake,' I began. 'I shall have to pay up,' and when he
+heard that, he opened the door and came in.
+
+He looked at the tickets.
+
+'Returns--half-returns to the Junction,' he said, 'and a half to Hill
+Horton. How's this?'
+
+'We got into the wrong train at the Junction,' I replied. 'In fact, we
+got back into the same one we had just got out of. I expect the guard
+thought I said "Victoria" when I said "Hill Horton," for he told us to
+go to the front.'
+
+'And didn't he tell you, you were wrong when he looked at the tickets
+before you started?' the man asked, still holding our tickets in his
+hand and examining us rather queerly.
+
+I began to feel angry, but I didn't want to have any fuss, so instead of
+telling him to mind his own business, as I was ready to pay the
+difference, I answered again quite coolly--
+
+'No one looked at the tickets at the Junction. There were two or three
+empty carriages at the front: perhaps no one noticed us getting in.'
+
+I thought I heard the man murmur to himself something about 'rum go.
+Three kids by themselves, and first-class.'
+
+So, though I was getting angrier every moment, I just said--
+
+'I don't see that it matters. Here we are, anyway, and I'll pay if
+you'll tell me how much.'
+
+He counted up.
+
+'Eight-and-six--no, eight-and-tenpence.'
+
+I held out the half-sovereign. He felt in his pocket and gave me back
+the change--a shilling and twopence, and walked off with the halves of
+Pete's and my return tickets and the half-sovereign.
+
+We all began to breathe more freely; but, as the train slowly moved
+again at last--we had been standing quite a quarter-of-an-hour--a new
+trouble started.
+
+'It's very dark,' said Margaret, 'and it can't be late yet.'
+
+I looked out of the window. Yes, it was very dark. I put my head out. It
+felt awfully chilly too--a horrid sort of chilly feeling. But that
+wasn't the worst of it.
+
+'It's a fog,' I said. 'The horridest kind--I can't see the lights almost
+close to us. It's getting worse every minute. I believe it'll be as dark
+as midnight when we get into the station. What luck, to be sure!'
+
+The other two seemed more excited than frightened.
+
+'I've never seen a really bad fog,' said Margaret, as if she was rather
+pleased to have the chance.
+
+Pete said nothing. I expect he'd have had a fairy-tale all ready about a
+prince lost in a mist, if I'd given him an opening. But I was again
+rather taken aback. How were we to find our way to Enderby Street?
+
+I had meant to walk, you see, in spite of the red bundle! For I was
+afraid of being cheated by the cabman; and I was afraid too of running
+quite short of money, in case we _didn't_ find Mrs. Wylie, or that she
+had left, and that, if the worst came to the worst, I might have to go
+to a hotel with the two children, and telegraph to mamma to say where we
+were. Papa, unluckily, was not in London just then. He had gone away on
+business somewhere--I forget where--for a day or two, and besides, I was
+not at all sure of the exact address of his chambers, otherwise I might
+have telegraphed _there_. I only knew it was a long way from Victoria.
+
+Indeed, I don't think I thought about that at all at the time, though
+afterwards mamma said to me I might have done so, _had_ the worst come
+to the worst.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+BERYL
+
+
+YES, the fog _was_ a fog, and no mistake. I don't think I have ever seen
+so bad a one since we came to live in London, or else it seemed to me
+terribly bad that day because I was not used to it, and because I was so
+anxious.
+
+I felt half provoked and yet in a way glad that Margaret and Peterkin
+were not at all frightened, but rather pleased. They followed me along
+the platform after we got out of the carriage, lugging the bundle
+between them. It was not really heavy, and I had to go first, as the
+station was pretty full in that part, in spite of the fog. The lamps
+were all lighted, but till you got within a few yards of one you
+scarcely saw it.
+
+I went on, staring about me for some one to ask advice from. At last,
+close to a book-stall, where several lights together made it a little
+clearer, I saw a railway man of some kind, standing, as if he was not in
+a hurry.
+
+'Can you tell me where Enderby Street is, if you please?' I asked as
+civilly as I knew how.
+
+'Enderby Street,' he repeated, in surprise. 'Of course; it's no distance
+off.'
+
+Wasn't I thankful?
+
+'How far?' I said.
+
+'Well--it depends upon which part of it you want. It's a long street.
+But if you're a stranger you'll never find your way in this fog. Better
+take a hansom.'
+
+'Thank you,' I said. 'It's only a shilling, I suppose?'
+
+He glanced at me again; he had been turning away. By this time the two
+children were close beside me. He saw that we belonged to each other.
+
+'A shilling for two--one-and-six for three,' he replied. 'Hansom or
+four-wheeler,' and then he moved off.
+
+Just then Margaret began to cough, and a new fear struck me. She looked
+very delicate, and she had had a bad cold. Supposing the fog made her
+very ill? I was glad the man had spoken of a four-wheeler.
+
+'Stuff your handkerchief or something into your mouth,' I said, 'so as
+not to get the fog down your throat. I'm going to call a four-wheeler.'
+
+In some ways that dreadful day was not as bad as it might have been.
+There were scarcely any cabs about, but just then one stopped close to
+the end of the platform.
+
+'Jump in,' I said, and before the driver had time to make any objection,
+for I know they do sometimes make a great favour of taking you anywhere
+in a fog, we were all inside.
+
+I heard him growling a little, but when I put my head out of the window
+again, and said '19 Enderby Street,' he smoothed down.
+
+We drove off, slowly enough, but that was to be expected. I pulled up
+both windows, for Margaret kept on coughing, in spite of having her
+handkerchief, and Peterkin's too, for all I knew, stuffed over her mouth
+and throat. They were both very quiet, but I _think_ they were rather
+enjoying themselves. I suppose my taking the lead, as I had had to,
+since our troubles began, and managing things, made them feel 'safe,' as
+children like to do, at the bottom of their hearts, however they start
+by talking big.
+
+It _was_ a horrid fog, but the lights made it not quite so bad outside,
+for the shops had got all their lamps on, and we could see them now and
+then. There was a lot of shouting going on, and yet every sound was
+muffled. There were not many carts or omnibuses or anything on wheels
+passing, and what there were, were moving slowly like ourselves.
+
+After a few minutes it got darker again; it must have been when we got
+into Enderby Street, I suppose, for there are no shops, or scarcely any,
+there. I've often and often passed along it since, but I never do
+without thinking of that evening, or afternoon, for it was really not
+yet four o'clock.
+
+And then we stopped.
+
+'Nineteen, didn't you say?' asked the driver as I jumped out.
+
+'Yes, nineteen,' I said. 'Stop here for a moment or two, till I see if
+we go in.'
+
+For it suddenly struck me that _if_ we had the awful bad luck not to
+find Mrs. Wylie, we had better keep the cab, to take us to some hotel,
+otherwise it might be almost impossible to get another. And then we
+should be out in the street, with Margaret and her bundle, and worse
+still, her cough.
+
+I made my way, more by feeling than seeing, up the steps, and fumbled
+till I found the bell. I had not actually told the others to stay in
+the cab, though I had taken care to keep the window shut when I got out,
+and I never dreamt but what they'd stay where they were till I had found
+out if Mrs. Wylie was there.
+
+But just as the door opened--the servant came in double-quick time
+luckily, the reason for which was explained--I heard a rustling behind
+me, and lo and behold, there they both were, and the terrible red bundle
+too, looking huger and queerer than ever, as the light from inside fell
+on it.
+
+We must have looked a funny lot, as the servant opened the door. She--it
+was a parlour-maid--did start a little, but I didn't give her time to
+speak, though I daresay she thought we were beggars, thanks to those
+silly children.
+
+'Mrs. Wylie is staying here,' I said. I thought it best to speak
+decidedly. 'Is she at home?'
+
+I suppose my way of speaking made her see we were not beggars, and
+perhaps she caught sight of the four-wheeler, looming faintly through
+the fog, for she answered quite civilly.
+
+'She is not exactly staying here. She is in rooms a little way from
+here, but she comes round most afternoons. I thought it was her when you
+rang, but I don't think she'll be coming now--not in this fog.'
+
+My heart had gone down like lead at the first words--'she is not,' but
+as the servant went on I got more hopeful again.
+
+'Can you--' I began--I was going to have asked for Mrs. Wylie's address,
+but just then Margaret coughed; the worst cough I had heard yet from
+her. 'Why couldn't you have stayed in the cab?' I said sharply, and
+perhaps it was a good thing, to show that we _had_ a cab waiting for us.
+'Please,' I went on, 'let this little girl come inside for a minute. The
+fog makes her cough so.'
+
+The parlour-maid stepped back, opening the door a little wider, but
+there was something doubtful in her manner, as if she was not quite sure
+if she was not running a risk in letting us in. I pushed Margaret
+forward, and not Margaret only! She was holding fast to her precious
+bundle, and Peterkin was holding fast to _his_ side of it, so they
+tumbled in together in a way that was enough to make the servant stare,
+and I stayed half on the steps, half inside, but from where I was I
+could see into the hall quite well. It looked so nice and comfortable,
+compared with the horribleness outside. It was a square sort of hall.
+The house was not a big one, not nearly as big as ours at home, but lots
+bigger than the Rock Terrace ones, of course.
+
+'Can you give me Mrs. Wylie's address?' I said. 'I think the best thing
+we can do is to--' but I was interrupted again.
+
+A girl--a grown-up girl, a lady, I mean--came forward from the inner
+part of the hall.
+
+'Browner,' she said, 'do shut the door. You are letting the fog get all
+over the house, and it is bitterly cold.'
+
+She was blinking her eyes a little as she spoke: either the light or the
+fog, or both, hurt them. Perhaps she had been sitting over the fire in a
+darkish room. 'Blinking her eyes' doesn't sound very pretty, but it was,
+I found afterwards, a sort of trick of hers, and somehow it suited her.
+_She_ was very pretty. I didn't often notice girls' looks, but I
+couldn't help noticing hers. Everything about her was pretty; her voice
+too, though she spoke a little crossly. She was rather tall, and her
+hair was wavy, almost as wavy as Elf's, and the colour of her dress,
+which was pinky-red, and everything about her, seemed to suit, and I
+just stood--we all did--staring at her.
+
+And as soon as she caught sight of us--I daresay we seemed quite a
+little crowd at the door--she stared too!
+
+Then she came forward quickly, her voice growing anxious, and almost
+frightened.
+
+'What is the matter?' she exclaimed. 'Has there been an accident? Who
+are these--children?'
+
+Browner moved towards her.
+
+'Indeed, Miss,' she began, but the girl stopped her.
+
+'Shut the door first,' she said decidedly. 'No, no, come in, please,'
+this was to me; I suppose I seemed to hesitate, 'and tell me what you
+want, and who you are?'
+
+Her voice grew more hesitating as she went on, and it must have been
+very difficult to make out what sort of beings we were. Margaret's
+colourless face and dark eyes and hair, and the bright red of the
+bundle, at the first hasty glance, might almost have made you think of a
+little Italian wandering musician; but the moment I spoke I think the
+girl saw we were not that class.
+
+'We are friends of Mrs. Wylie's--Mrs. Wylie who lives at Rock Terrace,'
+I said, 'and--and we've come to her because--oh! because we've got into
+a lot of trouble, and the fog's made it worse, and we don't know
+anybody else in London.'
+
+Then, all of a sudden--I'm almost ashamed to tell it, even though it's a
+good while ago now, and I really was scarcely more than a little boy
+myself--something seemed to get into my throat, and I felt as if in
+another moment it would turn into a sob.
+
+Margaret is awfully quick in some ways. She heard the choke in my voice
+and darted to me, leaving the bundle to Pete's tender mercies; so half
+of it dropped on to the floor and half stuck to him, as he stood there
+staring with his round blue eyes.
+
+Margaret stretched up and flung her arms round my neck.
+
+'Giles, Giles,' she cried, 'don't, oh don't!' Then she burst out--
+
+'It's all my fault; at least it's all for me, and Giles and Perkins have
+been so good to me. Oh dear, oh dear, what shall I do?' and she began
+coughing again in a miserable way. I think it was partly that she was
+trying not to cry.
+
+Seeing her so unhappy, made me pull myself together. I was just going to
+explain things a little to the girl, when she spoke first. She looked
+very kind and sorry.
+
+'I'll tell you what's the first thing to do,' she said, 'and that's to
+get this child out of the cold,' and she opened a door a little farther
+back in the hall, and got us all in, the maid following.
+
+It was a very nice, rather small dining-room; a bright fire was burning,
+and the girl turned on an electric lamp over the table. There were
+pretty ferns and things on it, ready for dinner, just like mamma has
+them at home.
+
+'Now,' she began again, but there seemed nothing but interruptions, for
+just at that moment another door was heard to open, and as the one of
+the room where we were was not shut, we could hear some one calling--
+
+'Beryl, Beryl, is there anything the matter? Has your aunt come?'
+
+It was a man's voice--quite a kind one, but rather fussy.
+
+'Wait a moment or two, I'll be back directly,' said the girl, and as she
+ran out of the room we heard her calling, 'I'm coming, daddy.'
+
+The parlour-maid drew back nearer the door, not seeming sure if she
+should leave us alone or not, and _we_ drew a little nearer the fire. So
+that we could talk without her hearing us.
+
+[Illustration: 'NOW,' SHE BEGAN . . . DRAWING MARGARET TO HER, 'TELL ME
+ALL ABOUT IT.'--p. 159.]
+
+'Isn't she a kind lady?' said Margaret, glancing up at me. 'I think she
+looks very kind. You don't think she'll send me back to the witch, do
+you, Giles?'
+
+'Bother the witch,' I was on the point of saying, for I would have given
+anything by this time to be back in our homes again, witch or no witch.
+But I thought better of it. It wouldn't have been kind, with Margaret
+looking up at me, with tears in her big dark eyes, so white and anxious.
+
+'I shouldn't think so,' I replied. 'She must be Mrs. Wylie's niece, and
+we'll go on to Mrs. Wylie, and she will tell us what to do.'
+
+The girl--perhaps I'd better call her 'Beryl' now. We always do, though
+she is no longer Beryl Wylie. Beryl was back almost at once.
+
+'Now,' she began again, sitting down in an arm-chair by the fire, and
+drawing Margaret to her, 'tell me all about it. In the first place, who
+are you? What are your names?'
+
+'Lesley,' I said. 'At least _ours_ is,' and I touched Peterkin. 'I'm
+Giles and he's Peterkin. We know Mrs. Wylie, and we live on the Marine
+Parade.'
+
+Beryl nodded.
+
+'Yes,' she said, 'I've heard of you. And,' she touched Margaret gently,
+'this small maiden? What is her name--she is not your sister?'
+
+'No,' I replied. 'She is Margaret----' I stopped short. For the first
+time it struck me that I had never heard her last name!
+
+'Margaret Fothergill,' she said quickly. 'I live next door but one to
+Mrs. Wylie, and next door to the parrot. Do you know the parrot in Rock
+Terrace?'
+
+Beryl nodded again.
+
+'I have heard of him too,' she said.
+
+But suddenly a new idea--I should rather say the old one--struck
+Margaret again. Her voice changed, and she clasped her hands piteously.
+
+'You won't, oh, you won't send me back to the witch? Say you won't.'
+
+'What does she mean?' asked Beryl, turning to me, as if she thought
+Margaret was half out of her mind, though, all the same, she drew her
+still closer.
+
+'She--we--' I began, and Peterkin opened his mouth too. But I suppose I
+must have glanced at the servant, for Beryl turned towards her, as if to
+tell her not to wait. Then she changed and said instead--
+
+'Bring tea in here, Browner, as quickly as you can. You can put it on
+the side table.'
+
+Browner went off at once; she seemed a very good-natured girl. And then,
+as quickly as I could, helped here and there by Margaret and by Peterkin
+(though to any one less 'understanding' than Beryl, his funny way of
+muddling up real and fancy would certainly not have 'helped'), I told
+our story. It was really wonderful how Beryl took it all in. When I
+stopped at last, almost out of breath, she nodded her head quietly.
+
+'We won't talk it over just yet,' she said. 'The first thing to do is to
+see my auntie. You three stay here while I run round to her, and try to
+enjoy your tea. I shall not be long. It is very near.'
+
+The idea of tea did seem awfully tempting, but a new thought struck me.
+
+'The cab!' I exclaimed, 'the four-wheeler! It's waiting all this time,
+and if we send it away, most likely we shan't be able to get another in
+the fog. There'll be such a lot to pay, too. Don't you think we'd better
+go with you in it to Mrs. Wylie, and perhaps she'd lend us money to go
+to the Junction by the first train? I don't think we should stay to
+have tea, thank you,' though, as I said it, a glance at Margaret's poor
+little white face made me wish I needn't say it. She was clinging to
+Beryl so by this time as if she felt safe.
+
+And Peterkin looked almost as piteous as she did.
+
+Beryl gently loosened Margaret's hold of her, and got up from the big
+leather arm-chair where she had been sitting.
+
+'Never mind about the cab,' she said. 'I will go round in it to my aunt,
+and perhaps bring her back in it. I will settle with the man. I may be a
+quarter-of-an-hour or twenty minutes away. So all you three have got to
+do in the meantime is to have a good tea, and trust me. And don't think
+about witches, or bad fairies, or anything disagreeable till you see me
+again,' she added, nodding to the two children. 'Browner, you will see
+that they have everything they want.'
+
+Browner smiled, and Beryl ran off, and in a minute or two we heard her
+come downstairs again, with her cloak and hat on, no doubt, and the
+front door shut, and I heard the cab drive away.
+
+Talking of fairies, I can't imagine anything more like the best of good
+ones than Beryl Wylie seemed to us that afternoon.
+
+Browner was very kind and sensible. For after she had poured out our
+tea, and handed us a plateful of bread-and-butter and another of little
+cakes, she left the room, showing us the bell, in case we wanted more
+milk or anything.
+
+And then--perhaps it may seem very thoughtless of us, but, as I have
+said before, even I, the eldest, wasn't very old--we really enjoyed
+ourselves! It was so jolly to feel warm and to have a good tea, and,
+above all, to know that we had found kind friends, who would tell us
+what to do.
+
+Margaret seemed perfectly happy, and to have got rid of all her fears of
+being sent back to the witch. And Peterkin, in those days, was never
+very surprised at anything, for nothing that could happen was as
+wonderful as the wonders of the fairy-land he lived in. So he was quite
+able to enjoy himself without any trying to do so.
+
+I do feel, however, rather ashamed of one bit of it all. You'd scarcely
+believe that it never came into my head to think that mamma might be
+frightened about us, even though the afternoon was getting on into
+evening, and the darkness outside made it seem later than it really was!
+
+I can't understand it of myself, considering that I had seen with my
+own eyes how frightened she had been the evening Peterkin got lost. I
+suppose my head had got tired and confused with all the fears and things
+it had been full of, but it is rather horrid to remember, all the same.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+DEAR MAMMA
+
+
+BERYL must have been away longer than she had expected, for when we
+heard the front bell ring and a minute later she hurried in, her first
+words were--
+
+'Did you think I was never coming back? I will explain to you what I
+have been doing.'
+
+When her eyes fell on us, however, her expression changed. She looked
+pleased, but a little surprised, as she took in that we had not been, by
+any means, sitting worrying ourselves, but quite the contrary. Margaret
+was actually in the middle of a laugh, which did not seem as if she was
+feeling very bad, even though it turned into a cough. Peterkin was
+placidly content, and I was--well, feeling considerably the better for
+the jolly good tea we had had.
+
+'We've been awfully comfortable, thank you,' I said, getting up,
+'and--will you please tell us what you think we'd better do?
+And--please--how much was the cab?'
+
+'Never mind about that,' she said. 'Here is my aunt,' and then I heard a
+little rustle at the door, and in came Mrs. Wylie, who had been taking
+off her wraps in the hall, looking as neat and white-lacy and like
+herself as if she had never come within a hundred miles of a fog in her
+life.
+
+'She _would_ come,' Beryl went on, smiling at the old lady as if she
+loved her very much. 'Auntie is always so kind.'
+
+I began to feel very ashamed of all the trouble we were giving, and I'm
+sure my face got very red.
+
+'I'm so sorry,' I said, as Mrs. Wylie shook hands with us, 'I never
+thought of you coming out in the fog.'
+
+'It will not hurt me,' she replied; 'but I feel rather anxious about
+this little person,' and she laid her hand on Margaret's shoulder, for
+just then Margaret coughed again.
+
+'Oh,' I exclaimed, 'you don't think it will make her cough worse, do
+you?' and I felt horribly frightened. 'We'll wrap her up much more, and
+once we are clear of London, there won't be any fog. I daresay it's
+quite light still, in the country. It can't be late. But hadn't we
+better go at once? Will you be so very good as to lend us money to go
+back to the Junction? I know mamma will send it you at once.'
+
+All my fears seemed to awaken again as I hurried on, and the children's
+faces grew grave and anxious.
+
+Mrs. Wylie sat down quietly.
+
+'My dear boy,' she said, 'there can be no question of any of you,
+Margaret especially, going back to-night. The fog is very bad, and it is
+very cold besides. My niece has told me the whole story, and----'
+
+'I suppose you think we've all been dreadfully naughty,' I interrupted.
+'I did not mean to be, and _they_ didn't,' glancing at the others. 'But
+of course I'm older, only----'
+
+Mrs. Wylie laid her hand on my arm.
+
+'There will be a good deal to talk over,' she said, speaking still very
+quietly, but rather gravely. 'And I feel that your dear mamma is the
+right person to--to explain things--your mistakes, and all about it. I
+believe certainly you did not _mean_ to do wrong.'
+
+Her mention of mamma startled me into remembering at last how
+frightened she and all of them would be at home.
+
+'Oh!' I exclaimed, 'if we stay away all night, what _will_ mamma do?'
+
+'I was just going to tell you what we have done,' said Mrs. Wylie. 'That
+was what kept us--Beryl and me. We have telegraphed to your mamma. She
+will not be frightened now. Indeed, I hope she may have got the telegram
+in time to prevent her beginning to be anxious. And we also--' but here
+she stopped, for a glance at Margaret, as she told me afterwards,
+reminded her of Margaret's fears lest she should be sent back to Rock
+Terrace and Miss Bogle. And what she had been on the point of saying
+was, that they had also telegraphed to 'the witch.'
+
+'It was awfully good of you,' I said, feeling more and more ashamed of
+the trouble we were causing.
+
+I would have given anything to go home that night, even if it had been
+to find papa and mamma more displeased with me than they had ever been
+in their life, and, as I was beginning to see, as they had a right to
+be. But in the face of all Mrs. Wylie and Beryl were doing, I could not
+possibly have gone against what they thought best.
+
+'I shall also write to your mamma to-night,' Mrs. Wylie went on. 'There
+is plenty of time. It is not really as late as the fog makes it seem.
+And the first thing we now have to do,' for just then Margaret had
+another bad fit of coughing, 'is to put this child to bed. If you are
+not better in the morning, or rather if you are any worse, we must send
+for the doctor.'
+
+'Oh, _please_ don't!' said Margaret, as soon as she could speak. 'It's
+only the fog got into my throat. It doesn't hurt me at all, as it did
+when I had that very bad cold at home. I don't like strange doctors,
+_please_, Mrs. Wylie. And to-morrow nursey can send for our own doctor
+at home at Hill Horton, if I'm not quite well. I may go home to my
+nursey quite early, mayn't I? And you will tell their mamma not to be
+vexed with them, won't you? They only wanted to help me.'
+
+She looked such a shrimp of a creature, with her tiny face, so pale too,
+that nobody could have found it in their heart to scold her. Mrs. Wylie
+just patted her hand and said something about putting it all right, but
+that she must go to bed now and have a good long sleep.
+
+And just then Beryl, who had left us with Mrs. Wylie, came back to say
+that everything was ready for Margaret upstairs, and then she walked
+her and the red bundle off--to put her to bed.
+
+I really think that by this time Margaret was so tired that she scarcely
+knew where she was: she did not make the least objection, but was as
+meek as a mouse. You would never have thought her the same child as the
+determined little 'ordering-about' sort of child I knew she could be,
+and I, rather suspected, generally _had_ been till she came under
+stricter management.
+
+When she was alone with us--with Peterkin and me--Mrs. Wylie spoke a
+little more about the whole affair. But not very much. She had evidently
+made up her mind to leave things in mamma's hands. And she did not at
+all explain any of the sort of mystery there seemed about Margaret.
+
+She rang the bell and told Browner to take us upstairs to the little
+room that had been got ready for us, and where we were to sleep, saying,
+that she herself was now going to write to mamma.
+
+'_And_ to Miss Bogle,' she added, 'though I thought it better not to say
+so to Margaret.'
+
+She looked at us rather curiously as she spoke; I think she most likely
+wanted to find out what we really believed about 'the witch.' Peterkin
+started, and grew very red.
+
+'You won't let her go back there?' he exclaimed. 'I'm sure she'll run
+away again if you do.'
+
+It sounded rather rude, but Mrs. Wylie knew that he did not mean it for
+rudeness. She only looked at him gravely.
+
+'I am very anxious to see how your little friend is to-morrow morning,'
+she replied. 'I earnestly hope she has not caught any serious cold.'
+
+The way she said it frightened me a little somehow, though we children
+often caught cold and didn't think much about it. But then we were all
+strong. None of us ever coughed the way Margaret used to about that
+time, except when we had hooping-cough, and it wasn't that that she had
+got, I knew.
+
+'You don't think she is going to be badly ill?' I said, feeling as if it
+would be all my fault if she was.
+
+Mrs. Wylie only repeated that she hoped not.
+
+We couldn't do much in the way of dressing or tidying ourselves up, as
+we had nothing with us, not even a red bundle. We could only wash our
+faces and hands, which were _black_ with the fog, so having them clean
+was an improvement. And there was a very pretty brush and comb put out
+for us--Beryl's own. I think it was awfully good of her to lend us her
+nice things like that. I don't believe Blanchie would have done it,
+though I daresay mamma would. So we made ourselves as decent-looking as
+we could, and our collars didn't look as bad that evening as in the
+daylight the next morning.
+
+And then Beryl put her head in at the door and told us to come down to
+the drawing-room, where her father was.
+
+'He is not able to go up and down stairs just now,' she said. 'His
+rheumatism is very bad. So he stays in the drawing-room, and we dine
+earlier than usual for his sake--at seven.'
+
+She went on talking, partly to make us more comfortable, for I knew we
+were both looking very shy. And just outside the drawing-room door she
+smiled and said, 'Don't be frightened of him, he is the kindest person
+in the world.'
+
+[Illustration: THE FRILLS HAD WORKED UP ALL ROUND HIS FACE.--p. 173.]
+
+So he was, I am sure. He had white hair and a thin white face, and he
+was sitting in a big arm-chair, and he shook hands kindly, and didn't
+seem to mind our being there a bit. Of course, Beryl had explained it
+all to him, and it was easy to see that he was most awfully fond of
+her, and pleased with everything she did. All the same, I was very glad,
+though it sounds horrid, that he couldn't come downstairs. It didn't
+seem half so frightening with only Mrs. Wylie and Beryl.
+
+Peterkin got very sleepy before dinner was really over. I think he
+nodded once or twice at dessert, though he was very offended when I said
+so afterwards. I began to feel jolly tired too, and we were both very
+glad to go to bed. There was a fire in our room. 'Miss Wylie had ordered
+it because of the fog,' the servant said. Wasn't it kind of her?
+
+We couldn't help laughing at the things they had tried to find for us
+instead of proper night things--jackety sort of affairs, with lots of
+frills and fuss. I don't know if they belonged to mother Wylie or to
+Beryl. But we were too sleepy to mind, though next morning Pete was
+awfully offended when I said he looked like Red-Riding Hood's
+grandmother, as the frills had worked up all round his face, and he
+looked still queerer when he got out of bed, as his robe trailed on the
+floor, with his being so short.
+
+He did not wake as early as usual, but I did. And for a minute or two I
+_couldn't_ think where I was. And I didn't feel very happy when I did
+remember.
+
+The fog had gone, but it still looked gloomy, compared with home. Still
+I was glad it was clear, both because I wanted so to go home, and also
+because of Margaret's cold. I think that was what I first thought of. If
+only she didn't get ill, I thought I wouldn't mind how angry they were
+with me. As to Peterkin, I would stand up for him, if he needed it,
+though I didn't think he would. They'd be sure to remind me how much
+older I was, and pleasant things like that. And yet when I went over and
+over it in my own mind, I couldn't get it clear what else I could have
+done. There _are_ puzzles like that sometimes, and anyway it was better
+than if Margaret had run away alone, and perhaps got really lost.
+
+And, after all, as you will hear, I hadn't much blame to bear. The name
+of this chapter will show thanks to whom _that_ was.
+
+When we were dressed--and oh, how we longed for clean collars!--we made
+our way down to the dining-room. Beryl was there already, and I saw that
+she looked even prettier by daylight, such as it was than the evening
+before. She smiled kindly, and said she hoped we had managed to sleep
+well.
+
+'Oh yes, thank you,' we said, 'but--' and we both looked round the room.
+'How is Margaret?'
+
+'None the worse, I am glad to say,' Beryl answered, and then I thought
+to myself I might have guessed it, by Beryl's bright face. 'I really
+think it was only the fog that made her cough so last night. She looks a
+very delicate little girl, however, and she speaks of having had a very
+bad cold not long ago, which may have been something worse than a cold.
+So I made her stay in bed for breakfast, till----'
+
+At that moment the parlour-maid brought in a telegram. Beryl opened it,
+and then handed it to me. It was from mamma.
+
+'A thousand thanks for telegram and letter. Coming myself by earliest
+train possible.'
+
+'It's very good of mamma,' I said, and in my heart I was glad she was
+coming before we--or I--saw papa. For though he is very kind too, he is
+not quite so 'understanding,' and a good deal sharper, especially with
+us boys. I suppose fathers need to be, and I suppose boys need it more
+than girls.
+
+'Yes,' said Beryl, and though she had been so awfully jolly about the
+whole affair, I could tell by her tone that she was glad that some one
+belonging to us was coming to look after us all. 'It is very
+satisfactory. My aunt said she would come round early too. I think it
+will be quite safe for Margaret to get up now, so I will go and tell her
+she may. You will find some magazines and picture-papers in my little
+sitting-room, behind this room, if you can amuse yourselves there till
+auntie comes.'
+
+I stopped her a moment as she was leaving the room, to ask what I knew
+Peterkin was longing to hear.
+
+'Mamma will take us home, of course,' I said, 'but what do you think
+will be done about Margaret?'
+
+'They--' whom he meant by 'they' I don't know, and I don't think he knew
+himself--'they won't send her back to the witch, you don't think, do
+you?' he burst out, growing very red.
+
+Beryl hesitated. Then she said quietly--
+
+'No, I _don't_ think so,' and Peterkin gave a great sigh of relief. If
+she had answered that she _did_ think so, I believe he would have broken
+into a howl. I really do.
+
+It seemed rather a long time that we had to wait in Beryl's room before
+anything else happened. Peterkin said it felt a good deal like waiting
+at the dentist's, and I agreed with him. It was the looking at the
+picture-papers that put it into his head, I think.
+
+We heard the front-door bell ring several times, and once I was sure I
+caught Beryl's voice calling, 'Auntie, is it you?' but it must have been
+nearly twelve o'clock--breakfast had been a good deal later than at
+home--before the door of the room where we were, opened, and some one
+came in. I was standing staring out of the window, which looked into a
+very small sort of fernery or conservatory, and wishing Beryl had told
+me to water the plants, when I heard a voice behind me.
+
+'Boys!' it said; 'Giles?' and turning round, I saw that it was mamma. I
+forgot all about being found fault with and everything else, and just
+flew to her, and so did poor old Pete, and then--I am almost ashamed to
+tell it, though perhaps I should not be--I broke out crying!
+
+Mamma put her arms round me. I don't know what she had been meaning to
+say to us, or to me, perhaps, in the way of blame, but it ended in her
+hugging me, and saying 'poor old Gilley.' She hugged Peterkin too,
+though he wasn't crying, and had no intention of it, _unless_ his
+beloved Margaret was to be sent back to Miss Bogle, and then, I have no
+doubt, he would have howled loudly enough. His whole mind was fixed on
+this point, and he had hardly patience even to be hugged, before he
+burst out with it.
+
+'Mummy, mummy,' he said,'they're not going to send her back to the
+witch, are they?'
+
+Mamma understood. She knew Peterkin's little ways so well,--how he got
+his head full of a thing, and could take in nothing else,--and she saw
+that it was best to satisfy him at once if we were to have any peace.
+
+'No,' she said. 'The little girl is not to go back to Miss Bogle.'
+
+Peterkin gave a great sigh of comfort. After all, he _had_ rescued his
+princess, I suppose he said to himself. _I_ thought it very
+extraordinary that mamma should be able to speak so decidedly about it,
+and I daresay she saw this, for she went on almost at once--
+
+'I have a good deal to explain. Some unexpected things happened
+yesterday and this morning. But for this, I should have come by an
+earlier train.'
+
+Here, I think, before I go on to say what these unexpected things were,
+is a good place for telling what mamma said to me afterwards, when we
+were by ourselves, about the whole affair, and my part in it. She quite
+allowed that I had not meant to do wrong or to be deceitful, or anything
+like that, and that I had been rather in a hole. But she made me see
+that, to start with, I should not have promised Margaret to keep it a
+secret, and she said she was sure that Margaret would have given in to
+our telling _her_--mamma, I mean--of her troubles, if I had spoken to
+her sensibly and seriously about it. And now that I know Margaret so
+well, I think so too. For she is particularly sensible for her age,
+especially since she has got her head clearer of fairy-tales and witches
+and enchantments and ogres and all the rest of it; and even then, there
+was a good deal of sense and reasonableness below her self-will and
+impatience.
+
+Now, I can go on with what mamma told us. The first she heard of it all
+was the telegram from Mrs. Wylie, for she had been out till rather late
+and found it lying on the hall-table when she came in, before she had
+even heard that Pete and I had not turned up at the nursery tea. That
+was what Beryl had hoped--that the news of our being all right would
+come before mamma had had a chance of being anxious. At first she was
+completely puzzled, but James, who was faithful to his promise, though
+rather stupid, helped to throw a little light on it by giving her my
+message.
+
+And then, as she was still standing in the hall, talking to him and
+trying to think what in the world had made us dream of going to London
+to Mrs. Wylie's, all by ourselves, there came a great ring at the bell,
+and when James opened, a startled-looking maid-servant's voice was heard
+asking for Mrs. Lesley.
+
+'I am Mrs. Wylie's parlour-maid,' she said, 'and I offered to run round,
+for the old lady next door to us, Miss Bogle, to ask if Mrs. Lesley
+would have the charity--I was to say--to come to see her. The little
+young lady, Miss Fothergill, who lives with her, has been missing all
+the afternoon. Miss Bogle did not know it till an hour or two ago, as
+she always rests in her own room till four o'clock. But I was to say she
+would explain it all to Mrs. Lesley, if she could possibly come to see
+Miss Bogle at once.'
+
+Mamma had gone forward and heard this all herself, though the maid had
+begun by giving the message to James. And she said immediately that she
+would come. She still had her going-out things on, you see, so no time
+was lost.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+NO MYSTERY AFTER ALL
+
+
+WE listened with all our ears, you may be sure, to what mamma told us;
+she did so, very quickly. It takes me much longer to write it.
+
+'And did you see Miss Bogle?' I asked. 'And what _is_ she like?'
+
+'The witch herself,' said Peterkin, his eyes nearly starting out of his
+head.
+
+'No, Peterkin,' said mamma, 'you are not to call her that any more. You
+must help me to explain to little Margaret, that Miss Bogle is a good
+old lady, who has meant nothing but kindness, though she made a great
+mistake in undertaking the charge of the child, for she is old and
+infirm and suffers sadly. Yes, of course, I saw her. She was terribly
+upset, the tears streaming down her poor face, though she had scarcely
+had time to be actually terrified about Margaret, thanks to Mrs.
+Wylie's telegram. She was afraid of the child having got cold, and she
+was altogether puzzled and miserable. And I was not able to explain very
+much myself, till I got Mrs. Wylie's _letter_ this morning, fully
+telling all. Still, I comforted her by saying I knew Mrs. Wylie was
+goodness itself, and would take every care of all the three of you for
+the night. Miss Bogle had not missed Margaret, as she always rests in
+the afternoon, till about four. And, strange to say, the servants had
+not missed her either. The nurse was away for the day, and I suppose
+that the others, not being used to think about the child, had not given
+a thought to her, though it seems strangely careless, till it got near
+her tea-time, and then they ran to Miss Bogle and startled her terribly.
+The first thing she did was to send in to the next-door house'--('The
+parrot's house?' interrupted Pete)--'and to Mrs. Wylie's,' mamma went
+on, 'where the parlour-maid knew that you boys and Margaret had made
+friends, and she offered to speak to Miss Bogle, thinking that perhaps
+you had all gone a walk together, and would soon be coming in. And
+_while_ she was telling Miss Bogle this, came the telegram, showing that
+indeed you had gone a walk, and more than a walk,'--here mamma turned
+away for a moment, and I _think_ it was to hide a smile that she could
+not help. I suppose to grown-up people there was a comical side to the
+story,--'together. And then the poor old lady sent for me.'
+
+'And was that all that happened?' I asked.
+
+Mamma shook her head.
+
+'No,' she said. 'While I was still talking to Miss Bogle, came another
+telegram, from the little girl's nurse, her present nurse, to say that
+her sister was so ill that she could not leave her, and that she was
+writing to explain. Poor Miss Bogle! Her cup of troubles did seem full;
+I felt very sorry for her, and I promised to go back to see her, first
+thing this morning, which I did, before starting to fetch you boys. The
+nurse's letter had come, saying she did not know _when_ she could
+return. And so--' mamma stopped for a moment--'it all ended--papa came
+back last night, so he was with me, and it was his idea first of all--in
+a way which I don't think you will be very sorry for,'--and again mamma
+smiled,--'in our settling that Margaret is to come home with _us_, and
+stay with us till there is time to hear from her grandfather, General
+Fothergill, what he wishes. How do you like the idea?'
+
+'I'm awfully glad of it,' I said. And so I was. Not so much for the sake
+of having Margaret as a companion, as because it quite took away all
+responsibility and fears about her. For I felt sure she would never have
+settled down happily or contentedly in Miss Bogle's house.
+
+But as for Peterkin! You never saw anything like his delight. He took
+all the credit of it to himself, and was more certain than ever that the
+parrot was a fairy, Miss Bogle a witch, and himself a hero who had
+rescued a lovely princess. His eyes sparkled like--I don't know what to
+compare them to; and his cheeks got so red and fat that I thought they'd
+burst.
+
+And when I said quietly--I thought it a good thing to sober him down a
+bit, but I really meant it too--that I hoped Blanchie and Elf would like
+Margaret, he really looked as if he wanted to knock me down--ungrateful
+little donkey, after all I'd done and gone through for him and his
+princess! But mamma glanced at me, and I understood that she meant that
+it was better to say nothing much to him. He would grow out of his
+fancies by degrees. And she just said, quietly too, that she was sure
+the little girls would get on all right together, and that Blanche and
+Elvira would do all they could to make Margaret happy.
+
+'And I am so thankful,' mamma went on, 'that the poor child is none the
+worse for her adventures, and able to travel back with us to-day. And I
+can never, never be grateful enough to Mrs. Wylie and her niece for
+their goodness to you. Miss Wylie is perfectly sweet.'
+
+Just as she said this the door opened and Beryl came in, leading
+Margaret with her. Mamma, of course, had already seen them upstairs,
+before she saw us.
+
+Margaret looked pale, naturally, paler than usual, I thought, and she
+never was rosy in those days, though she is now. But she seemed very
+happy and smiling, and she was not coughing at all. And another thing
+that pleased me, was that she came round and stood by mamma's chair, as
+if she already felt quite at home with her.
+
+Beryl drew a chair close to them and sat down.
+
+'I was just saying,' said mamma, 'that we shall never be able to thank
+you enough, dear Miss Wylie, for your goodness to these three.'
+
+'I am so glad, so _very_ glad,' said Beryl, in her nice hearty sort of
+way, 'to have been of use. It was really quite a pleasant excitement
+last night--when it all turned out well, and Margaret was clever enough
+not to get ill. But please don't call me Miss Wylie. You have known dear
+old auntie so long--and she counts me almost like her own child. Do call
+me "Beryl."'
+
+And from that time she has always been 'Beryl' to us all.
+
+They, the Wylies, made us stay to luncheon. It was just about time for
+it by this. We did not see Mr. Wylie again, though he sent polite
+messages to mamma, and was very kind about it all.
+
+And Mrs. Wylie came in to luncheon, and petted us all round, and said
+that we must _all_--Blanche and Elvira, and Clement too, if he wasn't
+too big, come to have tea with her, as soon as she got back to Rock
+Terrace.
+
+We thanked her, of course. At least Peterkin and I did, but I noticed
+that Margaret got rather red and did not say anything except 'thank you'
+very faintly. She was still half afraid of finding herself again where
+she had been so unhappy, and indeed it took a good while, and a good
+deal of quiet talking too, to get it _quite_ out of her head about Miss
+Bogle being a witch who was trying to 'enchanter' her, as her dear
+'Perkins' (she calls him 'Perkins' to this day) would persist in saying.
+
+Mrs. Wylie noticed her manner too, I fancy. For she went on to say, with
+a funny sort of twinkle in her eyes--
+
+'There will be a great deal to tell the parrot. And I don't expect that
+he will feel quite happy in his mind about you, little Margaret, till he
+has seen you again. He will miss you sadly, I am afraid.'
+
+And at this, Margaret brightened up.
+
+'Yes,' she said, 'I _must_ come to see dear Poll. But I may talk to him
+from your side of the balcony, mayn't I, Mrs. Wylie?'
+
+'Certainly,' said the kind old lady, 'and you must introduce your new
+friends to him. Mrs. Lesley's little girls, I mean.'
+
+Margaret liked the idea of this, I could see. She is not at all shy, and
+she still is very fond of planning, or managing things, and people too,
+for that matter, though of course she is much more sensible now, and not
+so impatient and self-willed as she used to be. Still, on the whole, she
+gets on better with Peterkin than with any of us, though she is fond of
+us, I know, and so are we of her. But Peterkin is just a sort of slave
+to her, and does everything she asks, and I expect it will always be
+like that.
+
+What a different journey it was that day to the miserable one the day
+before! To _me_, at least; for though I wasn't feeling particularly
+happy, as I will explain, in some ways, the horrible responsibility
+about the others had gone. _They_ were as jolly as could be, but then I
+knew they hadn't felt half as bad as I had done. They sat in a corner,
+whispering, and I overheard that they were making plans for all sorts of
+things they would do while Margaret stayed with us. And Pete was telling
+her all about Blanche and Elf, especially about Elf, and about the lots
+of fairy story-books he had got, and how they three would act some of
+them together, till Margaret got quite pink with pleasure.
+
+I saw mamma looking at me now and then, as if she was wondering what I
+was thinking about. I _was_ thinking a good deal. There were some things
+I couldn't yet quite understand about it all--why there should have been
+a sort of mystery, and why Mrs. Wylie had pinched up her lips when we
+had asked her about Margaret the day we went to tea with her. And
+besides this, I was feeling, in a kind of a way, rather ashamed of being
+taken home like a baby, even though mamma--and all of them, I must
+say--had been so very good, not to make a regular row and fuss, after
+the fright we had given them, or had _nearly_ given them.
+
+But I didn't say anything more to mamma just then. For one thing, I saw
+that she was looking very tired, and no wonder, poor dear little mamma,
+when you think what a day of it she had had, and all the bother with the
+witch the night before, too.
+
+I never saw Miss Bogle, and I've never wanted to. I shall always
+consider that she was nearly as bad as if she _had_ been a witch, and it
+was no thanks to her that poor little Margaret didn't get really lost,
+or badly ill, or something of that kind.
+
+They were expecting us when we got home. Blanche and Elf were in the
+hall, looking rather excited and very shy. But there was not much fear
+of shyness with Margaret and Peterkin, as neither of them was ever
+troubled with such a thing.
+
+I left Pete to do the honours, so to say, helped by mamma, of course.
+They all went off together upstairs to show Margaret her room and the
+nursery, and to introduce her to nurse and all the rest of it, and I
+went into the schoolroom--a small sort of study behind the dining-room,
+and sat down by myself, feeling rather 'out of it' and 'flat,' and
+almost a little ashamed of myself and the whole affair somehow.
+
+And the fire was low and the room looked dull and chilly, and I began
+thinking how horrid it would be to go to school the next morning without
+having done my lessons properly, and not knowing what to say about
+having missed a day, without the excuse, or good reason, of having been
+ill.
+
+I had sat there some time, a quarter-of-an-hour or so, I daresay, when I
+heard the front-door bell ring. Then I heard James opening and the door
+shutting, and, a moment after, the door of the room where I was opened,
+and some one came in, and banged something down on to the table. By that
+I knew who it was. It was Clement, with his school-books.
+
+It was nearly dark by this time, and the room was not lighted up at all.
+So he did not see me at first, till I moved a little, which made him
+start.
+
+'Good gracious!' he exclaimed, 'is that you, Gilley? What are you doing
+all alone in the dark? James told me you had all come--the kid from Rock
+Terrace too. By jove--' and he began to laugh a little to himself.
+
+It seemed a sort of last straw. I was tired and ashamed, and all wrong
+somehow. I did not speak till I was at the door, for I got up to leave
+the room at once. Then I said--
+
+'You needn't go at me like that. You might let me sit here if I want to.
+You don't suppose I've been enjoying myself these two days, do you?'
+
+He seemed to understand all about it at once. He caught hold of my arm
+and pulled me back again.
+
+'Poor old Gilley!' he said.
+
+Then he took up the poker and gave a good banging to the coals. There
+was plenty on the fire, but it had got black for want of stirring up. In
+a moment or two there was a cheery blaze. Clement pushed me into a seat
+and sat down near me on the table, his legs dangling.
+
+I have not said very much about Clem in this story--if it's worth
+calling a story--except just at the beginning, for it has really been
+meant to be about Peterkin and his princess. But I can't finish it
+without a little more about him--Clem, I mean. Some day, possibly, I may
+write about him especially, about our real school-life and all he has
+been to me, and how tremendously lucky I always think it has been for me
+to have such a brother. He is just as good as gold, without any pretence
+about it, and jolly too. And I can never forget how kind he was that
+afternoon.
+
+'Poor old Gilley!' he repeated. 'It must have been rather horrid for
+you--much worse than for those two young imps. Mamma told me all about
+it, as soon as she got the letter--she told me a good deal last night
+about what Miss Bogie, or whatever the old thing's name is, had told
+her.'
+
+I looked up at this.
+
+'Yes?' I said. 'I don't understand it at all, yet. But, Clem, what shall
+I do about school to-morrow? I've no lessons ready or anything.'
+
+'Is it that that you are worrying about?' he said.
+
+'Partly, and----'
+
+'Well, you can put _that_ out of your head. It's all right. Mamma told
+me what to say--that there'd been a mistake about the trains, and you'd
+had to stay the night in London. It wasn't necessary to say more, and
+you'll find it all right, I promise you.'
+
+I was very glad of this, and I said so, and thanked Clem.
+
+He sat still for a minute or two as if he was expecting me to speak.
+
+'Well?' he said at last.
+
+'Mamma's been very good, _very_ good about it altogether,' I said at
+last, 'and so has papa, by what she says. But still--' and then I
+hesitated.
+
+'Well?' said Clement again. 'What? I don't see that there's much to be
+down in the mouth about.'
+
+'It's just that--I feel rather a fool,' I said. 'Anybody would laugh so
+at the whole affair if they heard it. I daresay Blanche will think I've
+no more sense than Pete. She has a horrid superior way sometimes, you
+know.'
+
+'You needn't bother about that, either,' said he. 'She and Elf have got
+their heads perfectly full of Margaret. I don't suppose Blanche will
+ever speak of your part of it, or think of it even. As long as papa and
+mamma are all right--and I'm sure they are--you may count it a case of
+all's well that ends well.'
+
+I did begin to feel rather cheered up.
+
+'You're sure I'm not going to get a talking to, after all?' I said,
+still doubtfully. 'I saw mamma looking at me rather funnily in the
+train.'
+
+'Did you, my boy?' said another voice, and glancing round, I saw mamma,
+who had come into the room so quietly that neither of us had heard her.
+
+She sat down beside us. And then it was that she explained to me what I
+had done wrong, and been foolish about. I have already told what she
+said, and I felt that it was all true and sensible. And she was so
+kind--not laughing at me a bit, even for having a little believed about
+the witch and all that--that I lost the horrid, mortified, ashamed
+feelings I had been having.
+
+Just then the nursery tea-bell rang. I got up--slowly--I still felt a
+little funny and uncomfortable about Blanche, and even nurse. You see
+nurse made such a pet of Peterkin that she never scarcely could see that
+he should be found fault with, and of course he was a very good little
+chap, though not exactly an angel without wings--and certainly rather a
+queer child, with all his fairy-tale fancies.
+
+But mamma put her hand on my arm.
+
+'No,' she said. 'Clem and you are going to have tea in the drawing-room
+with me. The nursery party will be better left to itself to-day, and
+little Margaret is not accustomed to so many.'
+
+'I don't believe anything would make her feel shy, though,' I said. 'She
+is just as funny in her way as Peterkin in his. And, mamma, there are
+some things I don't understand still. Is there any sort of mystery? Why
+did Mrs. Wylie leave off talking about Margaret, and you too, I think,
+all of a sudden? I'm sure it was Mrs. Wylie's way of pinching up her
+lips about her, that made Pete surer than ever about the enchantment and
+the parrot and the witch and everything.'
+
+Mamma smiled.
+
+'No,' she said, 'there is no mystery at all. I will explain about it
+while we are having tea. It must be ready for us.'
+
+And she went into the drawing-room, Clement and I following her. It
+looked so nice and comfortable--I was jolly glad, I know, to be at home
+again!
+
+Then mamma told us--or me; I think Clem had heard it already--about
+Margaret.
+
+Her father and mother were in India, as I have said, have I not? And her
+grandfather was taking care of her. He was not a very old man, though he
+was a General. He had vineyards or something--yes, I am sure it was
+vineyards, in the south of France, and he had had to go, suddenly, to
+look after some business to do with them. And just when he was starting,
+Margaret got ill. It was the illness she had spoken of several times,
+which she called a very bad cold. But it was much worse than that,
+though she didn't know.
+
+Her grandfather put off going till she was getting better, and the
+doctors said she must have change of air. He couldn't take her with him,
+and he had to go, so the only thing he could think of was to ask old
+Miss Bogle, who had been Margaret's father's governess once--or General
+Fothergill's own governess when he was a little boy; I am not sure
+which--to take charge of her. He had forgotten how old, Miss Bogle was,
+and I think she must have forgotten it herself! She wasn't fit to look
+after a child, especially as Margaret's nurse had to leave just then.
+
+So you can pretty well understand how dull and lonely Margaret was. And
+General Fothergill was in such a fuss about her, and so terrified of her
+getting any other illness, that he forbade her making friends with any
+one out of Miss Bogle's house, unless he was asked about it, and wrote
+to give leave.
+
+And when Mrs. Wylie found out about her, she--or Miss Bogle--_did_ write
+to ask leave for her to know _us_, explaining how good and sensible
+mamma was about children every way. But till the leave came Mrs. Wylie
+and mamma settled that it was better to say nothing about it to us. And
+in this, _I_ think, they made a mistake.
+
+That was all. The leave _did_ come, while Margaret was with us. Of
+course, all that had happened was written to her grandfather, but she
+wasn't a bit scolded!
+
+Neither was her 'Perkins'; the big people only said that they must not
+be given so many fairy-stories to read.
+
+_I_ wasn't scolded either, though, so I should not complain. And several
+nice things came of it: the knowing Beryl Wylie, and the going to stay
+at General Fothergill's country house, and the having Margaret with us
+sometimes.
+
+I don't know what the parrot thought of it all. I believe he is still
+there, as clever and 'uncanny' as ever; at least so Mrs. Wylie said, the
+last time she came to see us.
+
+THE END
+
+          _Printed by_ R. & R. CLARK, LIMITED, _Edinburgh_
+
+
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+
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+Transcriber's Notes:
+
+Obvious punctuation errors repaired.
+
+Page 62, "little's girl" changed to "little girl's" (little girl's
+house)
+
+Page 81, "eagly" changed to "eagerly" (old Pete eagerly)
+
+Page 83, "get" changed to "got" (we got close)
+
+Page 121, italics removed from the word "the" (thankful I felt in the)
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Peterkin, by Mary Louisa Molesworth
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+<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN"
+    "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd">
+
+<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
+  <head>
+    <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1" />
+    <title>
+      The Project Gutenberg eBook of Peterkin, by Mrs. Molesworth.
+    </title>
+    <style type="text/css">
+/*<![CDATA[  XML blockout */
+<!--
+    p {margin-top: .75em;
+       text-align: justify;
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+    .tnote      {border: dashed 1px; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; padding-bottom: .5em; padding-top: .5em;
+                  padding-left: .5em; padding-right: .5em;}
+    ins {text-decoration:none;  border-bottom: thin dotted gray;}
+    h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 {
+         text-align: center; /* all headings centered */
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+    table {margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;}
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+    .pagenum  { /* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */
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+
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+    .right    {text-align: right;}
+    .poem      {margin-left: 30%; margin-right: 10%; text-align: left;}
+    .poem2   {margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 10%; text-align: left;}
+    .sig    {margin-right: 10%; text-align: right;}
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+
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+
+<pre>
+
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Peterkin, by Mary Louisa Molesworth
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Peterkin
+
+Author: Mary Louisa Molesworth
+
+Illustrator: H. R. Millar
+
+Release Date: August 15, 2008 [EBook #26322]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PETERKIN ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Chris Curnow, Lindy Walsh, Emmy, and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+
+
+<h1>PETERKIN</h1>
+
+
+<div class='center'>
+<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="Cover and frontispiece images">
+<tr><td align='left'><div class="figcenter" style="width: 317px;">
+<img src="images/icover.jpg" width="317" height="500" alt="Cover" title="Cover" />
+</div>
+</td><td align='left'><div class="figcenter" style="width: 285px;"><a name="front" id="front"></a>
+<img src="images/i005.png" width="285" height="500" alt="Mamma .&nbsp;.&nbsp;. hugged him as if he&#39;d been lost for a year. [Frontispiece." title="Mamma .&nbsp;.&nbsp;. hugged him as if he&#39;d been lost for a year. [Frontispiece." />
+<span class="caption"><span class="smcap">Mamma .&nbsp;.&nbsp;. hugged him as if he&#39;d been lost for a year.</span> <br /><span style="margin-left: 10em;">[<i>Frontispiece.</i></span></span>
+</div></td></tr>
+</table></div>
+
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 200px;">
+<img src="images/emblem.png" width="200" height="68" alt="Emblem" title="Emblem" />
+</div>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h1>PETERKIN</h1>
+
+
+<h3>BY</h3>
+
+
+<h2>MRS. MOLESWORTH</h2>
+
+
+<div class='center'>AUTHOR OF 'CARROTS,' 'CUCKOO CLOCK,' 'TELL ME A STORY'<br />
+<br /><br /><br />
+<br />
+<br /><i>WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY H. R. MILLAR</i><br />
+<br /><br /><br /><br />
+<br />
+<b>London</b><br />
+MACMILLAN AND CO., <span class="smcap">Limited</span><br />
+<small>NEW YORK : THE MACMILLAN COMPANY</small><br />
+1902<br />
+<br />
+
+<small><i>All rights reserved</i></small><br />
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<div class='center'>
+<small>TO</small><br />
+<br />
+"ALEX"<br />
+<br />
+ALEXANDER DOBREE HERRIES<br />
+<br />
+<small>I DEDICATE THIS LITTLE STORY</small><br />
+</div><div class='blockquot'>155 <span class="smcap">Sloane Street</span>, S.W.<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;"><i>May Day</i> 1902</span><br />
+</div>
+
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>CONTENTS</h2>
+
+
+
+
+
+<div class='center'>
+<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="Contents">
+<tr><td align='left' colspan='2'><small>CHAP.</small></td><td align='right'><small>PAGE</small></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'>I.</td><td align='left'>&nbsp;<span class="smcap">What <i>can</i> have become of Him?</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_1">1</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'>II.</td><td align='left'>&nbsp;<span class="smcap">Found</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_19">19</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'>III.</td><td align='left'>&nbsp;<span class="smcap">An Invitation</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_34">34</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'>IV.</td><td align='left'>&nbsp;<span class="smcap">Very Mysterious</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_50">50</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'>V.</td><td align='left'>&nbsp;<span class="smcap">'Stratagems'</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_69">69</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'>VI.</td><td align='left'>&nbsp;<span class="smcap">Margaret</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_84">84</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'>VII.</td><td align='left'>&nbsp;<span class="smcap">The Great Plan</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_101">101</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'>VIII.</td><td align='left'>&nbsp;<span class="smcap">A Terrible Idea</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_118">118</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'>IX.</td><td align='left'>&nbsp;<span class="smcap">In A Fog</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_135">135</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'>X.</td><td align='left'>&nbsp;<span class="smcap">Beryl</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_149">149</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'>XI.</td><td align='left'>&nbsp;<span class="smcap">Dear Mamma</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_165">165</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'>XII.</td><td align='left'>&nbsp;<span class="smcap">No Mystery after all</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_182">182</a></td></tr>
+</table></div>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>ILLUSTRATIONS</h2>
+
+
+
+
+<div class='center'>
+<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="Illustrations">
+<tr><td align='left'><div class='hang1'><span class="smcap">Mamma .&nbsp;.&nbsp;. hugged him as if he'd been lost for a year</span></div></td>
+<td align='right' colspan='3'><a href="#front"><i>Frontispiece</i></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><div class='hang1'><span class="smcap">Our missing Peterkin</span></div></td>
+<td align='right' colspan='2'><i>To&nbsp;face&nbsp;page</i>&nbsp;</td>
+<td align='right' valign='bottom'><a href="#Page_13">13</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><div class='hang1'><span class="smcap">No sooner did he catch sight of us two with his ugly round beady eyes .&nbsp;.&nbsp;. than he shut up</span></div></td>
+<td align='center'>"</td>
+<td align='center'>"</td>
+<td align='right' valign='bottom'><a href="#Page_52">52</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><div class='hang1'><span class="smcap">Pete held out his brown-paper parcel. 'This is the poetry-book,' he said</span></div></td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='right' valign='bottom'><a href="#Page_97">97</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><div class='hang1'><span class="smcap">We had no difficulty in finding her bath-chair</span></div></td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='right' valign='bottom'><a href="#Page_108">108</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><div class='hang1'><span class="smcap">He looked at the tickets.&nbsp;.&nbsp;.&nbsp;. 'How's this?' he said</span></div></td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='right' valign='bottom'><a href="#Page_145">145</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><div class='hang1'><span class="smcap">'Now,' she began .&nbsp;.&nbsp;. drawing Margaret to her, 'tell me all about it'</span></div></td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='right' valign='bottom'><a href="#Page_159">159</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><div class='hang1'><span class="smcap">The frills had worked up all round his face</span></div></td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='center'>"</td><td align='right' valign='bottom'><a href="#Page_173">173</a></td></tr>
+</table></div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[1]</a></span></p>
+
+<h2>PETERKIN</h2>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>CHAPTER I</h2>
+
+<h3>WHAT <i>CAN</i> HAVE BECOME OF HIM?</h3>
+
+
+<div class='unindent'><span class="smcap">We</span> were all at tea in the nursery. All except him.
+The door burst open and James put his head in.</div>
+
+<p>'If you please, Mrs. Brough,' he began,&mdash;'Mrs.
+Brough' is the servants' name for nurse. Mamma
+calls her 'Brough' sometimes, but we always call her
+'nurse,' of course,&mdash;'If you please, Mrs. Brough, is
+Master Peterkin here?'</p>
+
+<p>Nurse looked up, rather vexed. She doesn't like
+burstings in.</p>
+
+<p>'Of course not, James,' she said. 'He is out
+driving with his mamma. You must have seen them
+start.'<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[2]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>'It's just that,' said James, in his silly way. 'It's
+his mamma that wants to know.'</p>
+
+<p>And then we noticed that James's face was much
+redder than usual. It may have been partly that he
+had run upstairs very fast, for he is really very good-natured,
+but it looked as if he was rather in a fuss,
+too.</p>
+
+<p>Nurse sat very bolt up in her chair, and <i>her</i> face
+began to get queer, and her voice to get vexeder.
+Lots of people get cross when they are startled or
+frightened. I have noticed it.</p>
+
+<p>'What do you mean, James? Please to explain,'
+she said.</p>
+
+<p>'I can't stop,' he said, 'and I don't rightly understand,
+myself. His mamma sent Master Peterkin
+home before her, half-an-hour ago or more, but he
+hasn't come in, not as I've seen, nor nobody else, I'm
+afraid. So where he's got to, who can say?'</p>
+
+<p>And James turned to go.</p>
+
+<p>Nurse stopped him, getting up from her place as
+she spoke.</p>
+
+<p>'Was he in the carriage?' she asked.</p>
+
+<p>'Of course not. Beckett would have seen him
+in, all right, if he had been,' said James, in a very
+superior tone. 'He was to run home by himself a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[3]</a></span>
+bit of a way, as I take it,' he added, as he hurried off
+at last.</p>
+
+<p>'I must go downstairs to your mamma,' said
+nurse. 'Miss Blanchie, my dear, will you look after
+Miss Elvira, and see that she doesn't spill her tea?'</p>
+
+<p>'<i>Nursie</i>,' said Elvira, in a very offended tone,
+'you know I never spill my tea now.'</p>
+
+<p>'Not since the day before yesterday,' I was
+beginning to say, but I didn't. For I thought to
+myself, if there was any real trouble about Peterkin,
+it wouldn't be at all a good time to tease each other.
+I don't think Elf&mdash;that's Elvira's pet name&mdash;had
+understood about him being lost. Indeed, I don't
+think I had quite taken it in myself, till I saw how
+grave the two eldest ones were looking.</p>
+
+<p>'Clem,' I said, 'do you think there can really be
+anything the matter?'</p>
+
+<p>Clement is the eldest of us all, and he is always
+the one we go to first if we are in any trouble. But
+he is sometimes rather slow; he is not as quick and
+clever as Blanche, and she often puts him down at
+first, though she generally comes round to his way in
+the end. She answered for him now, though I
+hadn't spoken to her.</p>
+
+<p>'How can there not be something the matter?' she<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[4]</a></span>
+said sharply. 'If Peterkin has been half-an-hour or
+an hour, perhaps, wandering about the streets, it
+shows he has at least lost his way, and who knows
+where he's got to. I wish you wouldn't ask such
+silly questions, Giles.'</p>
+
+<p>Then, all of a sudden, Elf burst out crying. It
+may have been partly Blanche's sharp tone, which
+had startled her, and made her take more notice of
+it all.</p>
+
+<p>'Oh, Clem, Clem,' she wailed, 'could he have been
+stolened?'</p>
+
+<p>'No, no, darling,' said Clement, dabbing her face
+with his pocket-handkerchief. 'There are kind policemen
+in the streets, you know. They wouldn't let a
+little boy like Peterkin be stolen.'</p>
+
+<p>'But they does take little boys to pison,' said
+Elf. 'I've see'd them. It's 'cos of that I'm frightened
+of them for Peterkin.'</p>
+
+<p>That was not quite true. She had never thought
+of policemen till, unluckily, Clem spoke of them in
+his wish to comfort her. She did not mean to say
+what was not true, of course, but there never was
+such a child as Elf for arguing, even then when she
+was only four years old. Indeed, she's not half as
+bad now that she is eight, twice as old, and I often<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[5]</a></span>
+tell her so. Perhaps that evening it wasn't a bad
+thing, for the talking about policemen stopped her
+crying, which was even worse than her arguing, once
+she started a good roar.</p>
+
+<p>'It's just because of that, that I'm so frightened
+about dear sweet little Peterkin,' she repeated.</p>
+
+<p>'Rubbish, Elf,' I began, but Clem looked at me
+and I stopped.</p>
+
+<p>'You needn't be frightened that Peterkin will be
+taken to prison, Elfie,' he said in his kind, rather
+slow way. 'It's only naughty little boys that the
+policemen take to prison, and Peterkin isn't naughty,'
+and then he wiped Elf's eyes again, and she forgot to
+go on crying, for just then nurse came upstairs. <i>She</i>
+was not actually crying, of course, but she did look
+very worried, so Clem and Blanche's faces did not
+clear up at all. Nor did mine, I suppose. I really
+did not know what to think, I was waiting to see
+what the others thought, for we three younger ones
+looked up to Clement and Blanche a good deal, and
+we still do. They are twins, and they seem to mix
+together so well. Blanche is quick and clever, and
+Clement is awfully sensible, and they are both very
+kind, though Clem is the gentlest. They are nearly
+sixteen now, and I am thirteen past, so at the time I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[6]</a></span>
+am writing about they were twelve and I was going
+to be ten my next birthday, and Peterkin was eight
+and Elvira five. I won't say much about what sort
+of a boy Peterkin was, for as my story is mostly
+about him and the funny things he did and thought,
+it will show of itself.</p>
+
+<p>He <i>was</i> a funny child; a queer child in some ways,
+I mean, and he still is. Mamma says it is stupid to
+say 'funny' when we mean queer or odd, but I think
+it says it better than any other word, and I am sure
+other children will think so too.</p>
+
+<p>Blanche was the first to speak to nurse.</p>
+
+<p>'Is mamma really frightened about Peterkin,
+nurse?' she asked. 'Tell us what it is.'</p>
+
+<p>But nurse had caught sight of her darling pet
+baby's red eyes.</p>
+
+<p>'Miss Blanchie,' she said, 'I asked you to look
+after Miss Elvira, and she's been crying.'</p>
+
+<p>'You asked me to see that she didn't spill her tea,
+and she hasn't spilt it. It's some nonsense she has
+got in her head about policemen taking strayed
+children to prison that she has been crying about,'
+replied Blanche, rather crossly.</p>
+
+<p>'I only wish,' began nurse, but the rest of her
+sentence she mumbled to herself, though I heard part<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[7]</a></span>
+of it. It was wishing that the policemen <i>had</i> got
+Peterkin safely.</p>
+
+<p>'Of course, your poor mamma is upset about it,'
+she went on, though I could see she did not want to
+say very much for fear of Elf's beginning to cry
+again. 'It was this way. Your mamma had to go
+round by Belton Street, and she did not want to
+keep Master Peterkin out so late to miss his tea, so
+she dropped him at the corner of Lindsay Square,
+and told him to run home. It's as straight as
+straight can be, and he's often run that far alone.
+So where he's got to or gone to, there's no
+guessing.'</p>
+
+<p>'And what is mamma doing?' asked Blanche.</p>
+
+<p>'She has sent Mr. Drew and James off in different
+directions,' said nurse, 'and she has gone herself
+again in the carriage to the station, as it's just time
+for your papa's train, and he will know what more
+to do.'</p>
+
+<p>We did not live in London then; papa went up
+and down every day from the big town by the sea
+where our home was. Clement thinks perhaps I
+had better not say what town it is, as some people
+might remember about us, and I <i>might</i> say things
+that would vex them; so I won't call it anything,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[8]</a></span>
+though I must explain that it is not at all a little
+place, but quite big enough for any one to lose their
+way in, if they were strangers. But Peterkin wasn't
+a stranger; and the way he had to come was, as
+nurse said, as straight as straight.</p>
+
+<p>We all listened with grave faces to what nurse
+told us. Suddenly Clement got up&mdash;I can't say
+'jumped up,' for he was always rather slow.</p>
+
+<p>'Nurse,' he said, 'mamma's out, so I can't ask her
+leave. But I've got an idea about Peterkin. Will
+you give me leave to go out for half-an-hour or so?
+I promise you I won't go far, but I would rather not
+tell you where I want to go, as it may be all
+nonsense.'</p>
+
+<p>Nurse looked at him doubtfully. She trusted
+Clem the most of us all, I know, and she had good
+reason to do so, for he was and is very trustworthy.
+And it was nice of him to ask her leave, considering
+he was twelve years old and quite out of the nursery,
+except that he still liked having tea there when he
+came in from school every evening.</p>
+
+<p>'Well, Master Clement,' said nurse, 'I don't quite
+know. Supposing you go out and don't get back as
+soon as you expect? It would be just a double
+fright for your poor mamma.'<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[9]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>'Let me go too!' I exclaimed, and I jumped up so
+suddenly that I made all the cups rattle and nearly
+threw over the table altogether. 'Then if anything
+stops Clem getting back quickly, I can run home
+and explain. Anyway you'd be more comfortable if
+you knew the two of us were on the hunt together.
+You don't mind my coming, do you, Clem?'</p>
+
+<p>'No,' said Clem, 'but do let's go.'</p>
+
+<p>'And you won't be long?' pleaded nurse.</p>
+
+<p>Clem shook his head.</p>
+
+<p>'I don't think we can be&mdash;not if there's anything
+in my idea', he called out, as we ran off.</p>
+
+<p>We didn't take a minute to pull on our coats,
+which were hanging in the hall. I daresay I should
+never have thought of mine at all, if Clem hadn't
+reminded me, even though it was late in November
+and a cold evening. And as soon as we were outside
+and had set off at a good pace, I begged Clem
+to tell me what his idea was, and where we were
+going to look for Peterkin.</p>
+
+<p>'It's the parrot,' he replied; 'the parrot in Rock
+Terrace.'</p>
+
+<p>'I don't know what you mean,' I said. 'I never
+heard of a parrot, and I don't know where Rock
+Terrace is.'<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[10]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>'Nonsense,' said Clem, stopping for a moment.
+'You must have forgotten.'</p>
+
+<p>'I haven't indeed,' I said.</p>
+
+<p>'Not about the parrot that Peterkin has been
+dreaming of ever since we passed it on Saturday,
+when we were out with mamma&mdash;next door to old
+Mrs. Wylie's?' Clem exclaimed.</p>
+
+<p>'No,' I repeated. 'I wasn't with you that day,
+and&mdash;&mdash;'</p>
+
+<p>'No more you were,' said Clem.</p>
+
+<p>'And,' I went on, 'I don't know where Mrs.
+Wylie lives, though I've often seen her herself at
+our house. And you know, Clement, that's just like
+Peterkin. If he's got anything very much in his
+head, he often doesn't speak of it, except to any one
+who knows about it already.'</p>
+
+<p>'He hasn't said very much about it, even to me,'
+said Clement. 'But, all the same, I know he has got
+it tremendously in his head.'</p>
+
+<p>'How do you mean? Is he making up fairy
+stories about it?'</p>
+
+<p>'Perhaps! You see he had never heard a parrot
+speaking. I'm not sure if he knew they ever did.
+But he wanted very much to see it again, and it just
+came into my mind all at once, that if he had a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[11]</a></span>
+chance he might have run round there and lost his
+way. I don't suppose he <i>meant</i> to when mamma
+told him to go home. It may just have struck
+him when he got to the corner of Lindsay
+Square.'</p>
+
+<p>I did not answer. We were walking so fast that
+it was not easy to go on speaking. But I did think
+it was very clever of Clement to have thought of it.
+It was so like Peterkin.</p>
+
+<p>Clement hurried on. It was quite dark by now,
+but the lamps were lighted, and Clem seemed
+quite sure of his way. In spite of feeling rather
+unhappy about Peterkin, I was enjoying myself a
+little. I did not think it possible that he was really
+badly lost, and it was very exciting to rush along
+the streets after dark like this, and then I could not
+help fancying how triumphant we should feel if we
+actually found him.</p>
+
+<p>It was not very surprising that I did not know
+where Rock Terrace was, or that I had never even
+heard of it. It was such a tiny little row of such tiny
+houses, opening out of one corner of Lindsay Square.
+The houses were rather pretty; at least, very neat-looking
+and old-fashioned, with a little bit of garden
+in front, and small iron gates. They looked as if old<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[12]</a></span>
+maids lived in them, and I daresay there were a
+good many.</p>
+
+<p>Clement hurried along till he was close to the
+farther off end. Then he stopped short, and for the
+first time seemed at a loss.</p>
+
+<p>'I don't know the number,' he said, 'but I'm
+sure it was almost the end house. And&mdash;yes&mdash;isn't
+that a big cage on the little balcony, Giles? Look
+well.'</p>
+
+<p>I peeped up. The light of the lamps was not
+very good in Rock Terrace.</p>
+
+<p>'Yes,' I said. 'It is a big cage, but I can't see
+if there's a bird in it.'</p>
+
+<p>'Perhaps they take him in at night,' said Clement.
+Then he looked up again at the balconies.</p>
+
+<p>'Let me see,' he went on, 'which side is Mrs.
+Wylie's? Mamma went in at the&mdash;' but before
+he had time to finish his sentence his doubts were
+set at rest&mdash;his doubts and all our fears about
+Peterkin. For the door on the left of the parrot's
+home opened slowly, letting out what seemed, in
+contrast with the darkness outside, a flood of light,
+just within which, in the small hall or lobby of the
+miniature house, stood two figures&mdash;the one, that of
+a short thin old lady with white hair, dressed all in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[13]</a></span>
+black; the other, a short fat little boy in a thick
+coat&mdash;our missing Peterkin!</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 274px;">
+<img src="images/i027.png" width="274" height="500" alt="OUR MISSING PETERKIN.&mdash;p. 13." title="OUR MISSING PETERKIN.&mdash;p. 13." />
+<span class="caption">OUR MISSING PETERKIN.&mdash;p. 13.</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>They were speaking to each other most politely.</p>
+
+<p>'So pleased to have seen you, my dear,' said
+Mrs. Wylie. 'Give my love to your dear mamma.
+I will not forget about the parrot, you may be
+sure. He shall have a proper invitation. And&mdash;you
+are quite certain you can find your way
+home? Oh, dear!&mdash;that poor child must have
+been bemoaning herself again! Polly always
+knows.'</p>
+
+<p>And as we stood there, our minds scarcely
+made up as to what we should do, we heard
+a queer croaking voice, from inside the house on
+the right of Mrs. Wylie&mdash;the parrot's voice, of
+course, calling out&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'I'm so tired, Nana; I'm so tired. I won't be
+good; no, I won't.'</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Wylie and Peterkin both stood silent for a
+moment, listening. So did we. Then Clement
+opened the gate and ran up the two or three steps,
+I following him.</p>
+
+<p>'Peterkin!' he exclaimed, 'mamma has been so
+frightened about you.'</p>
+
+<p>And Peterkin turned round and looked up in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[14]</a></span>
+his face with his big blue eyes, apparently quite
+astonished.</p>
+
+<p>'Has mamma come back?' he said. 'I've only
+been here for a minute or two. I just wanted to
+look at the parrot.'</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Wylie was a quick-witted old lady. She
+took it all in, in a moment.</p>
+
+<p>'Dear, dear!' she said. 'I am afraid it is my
+fault. I saw the dear boy looking up at the parrot
+next door when I came in from my stroll round to
+the pillar-box with a letter, and he told me he was
+one of Mrs. Lesley's little sons, and then we got
+talking. But I had no idea his mamma would be
+alarmed. I am afraid it has been much more than
+a few minutes. I <i>am</i> sorry.'</p>
+
+<p>It was impossible to say anything to trouble the
+poor old lady: she looked as if she were going to cry.</p>
+
+<p>'It will be all right now,' said Clement. 'Mamma
+will be so delighted to see him safe and sound.
+But we had better hurry home. Come along,
+Peterkin.'</p>
+
+<p>But nothing would make Peterkin forget his good
+manners. He tugged off his sailor cap again, which
+he had just put on, and held out his hand, for the
+second or third time, I daresay, as he and his old<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[15]</a></span>
+lady had evidently been hobnobbing over their
+leave-takings for some minutes before we made our
+appearance.</p>
+
+<p>'Good-bye!' he said; 'and thank you very much.
+And I'll ask mamma to let me come whenever you
+fix the day for the parrot. And please tell me all
+he tells you about the little girl. And&mdash;thank you
+very much.'</p>
+
+<p>They were the funniest pair. She so tiny and
+thin and white, with bright dark eyes, like some
+bird's, and Peterkin so short and sturdy and rosy,
+with his big dreamy ones looking up at her. She
+was just a little taller than he. And suddenly I
+saw his rosy face grow still rosier; crimson or
+scarlet, really. For Mrs. Wylie made a dash at him
+and kissed him, and unluckily Peterkin did not like
+being kissed, except by mamma and Elf. His
+politeness, however, stood him in good stead. He
+did not pull away, or show that he hated it, as lots
+of fellows would have done. He stood quite still,
+and then, with another tug at his cap, ran down the
+steps after Clem and me.</p>
+
+<p>Clement waited a moment or two before he
+spoke. It was his way; but just now it was a good
+thing, as Mrs. Wylie did not shut the door quite at<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[16]</a></span>
+once, and everything was so quiet in that little side
+street, in the evening especially, that very likely our
+voices would have carried back to her. I, for my
+part, was longing to shake Peterkin, though I felt
+very inclined to burst out laughing, too. But I
+knew it was best to leave the 'rowing' to Clem.</p>
+
+<p>'Peterkin,' he began at last, 'I don't know what
+to say to you.'</p>
+
+<p>Peterkin had got hold of Clem's hand and was holding
+it tight, and he was already rather out of breath,
+as Clem was walking fast&mdash;very fast for him&mdash;and
+he has always been a long-legged chap for his age,
+thin and wiry, too; whereas, in those days&mdash;though,
+thank goodness, he is growing like a house on fire
+<i>now</i>&mdash;Peterkin was as broad as he was long. So to
+keep up with Clement's strides he had to trot, and
+that sort of pace soon makes a kid breathless, of
+course.</p>
+
+<p>'I&mdash;I never thought mamma'd be flightened,' he
+managed to get out at last. He had been a long
+time of saying his 'r's' clearly, and now they still all
+got into 'l's' if he was bothered or startled. 'I
+never thought she'd be flightened.'</p>
+
+<p>'Then you were a donkey,' I burst out, and
+Clement interrupted me.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[17]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>'How could she not have been frightened?' he
+went on. 'She told you to run straight home,
+which wouldn't have taken you five minutes, and
+you have been at least an hour.'</p>
+
+<p>'I thought it wouldn't be no farther to come this
+way,' replied Peterkin, 'and I only meant to look at
+the pallot one minute. And it would have been
+very lu&mdash;<i>rude</i> not to speak to the old lady, and go
+into her house for a minute when she asked me.
+Mamma always says we mustn't be rude,' said
+Peterkin, plucking up some spirit.</p>
+
+<p>'Mamma always says we must be <i>obedient</i>'
+replied Clement, severely.</p>
+
+<p>Then he relapsed into silence, and his quick
+footsteps and Peterkin's short trotty ones were the
+only sounds.</p>
+
+<p>'I believe,' I couldn't help murmuring, half to
+myself, half to Peterkin&mdash;'I believe you've got some
+rubbish in your head about the parrot being a fairy.
+If I were mamma I'd stop your&mdash;&mdash;' but at that I
+stopped <i>myself</i>. If Clement had heard me he would
+have been down upon me for disrespectfulness in
+saying to a baby like Pete what I thought mamma
+should or should not do; and I didn't care to be
+pulled up by Clement before the little ones.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[18]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Peterkin was as sharp as needles in some ways.
+He guessed the end of my unfinished sentence.</p>
+
+<p>'No,' he half whispered, 'mamma'd <i>never</i> stop me
+reading faily stolies&mdash;you know she wouldn't, Gilly,
+and it's velly unkind of you to say so.'</p>
+
+<p>'I didn't say so,' I replied.</p>
+
+<p>'Be quiet, both of you,' said Clem, 'and hurry on,'
+for we had slackened a little.</p>
+
+<p>But in spite of the breathlessness of the pace, I
+heard another gasp from Peterkin&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'It <i>is</i> velly like the blue-bird,' were the words I
+distinguished.</p>
+
+<p>And 'I knew I was right,' I thought to myself
+triumphantly.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[19]</a></span></p>
+<h2>CHAPTER II</h2>
+
+<h3>FOUND</h3>
+
+
+<div class='unindent'><span class="smcap">The</span> carriage was standing waiting at our own house
+when we got there. And there was some bustle
+going on, for the front door was not shut, and we
+could see into the hall, which of course was brightly
+lighted up.</div>
+
+<p>Papa was there, speaking to some one; he had his
+hat on, as if he was just coming out again. And&mdash;yes&mdash;it
+was Drew he was speaking to, and James too,
+I think&mdash;but behind them was poor mamma, looking
+so dreadfully unhappy. It did make me want to
+shake Peterkin again.</p>
+
+<p>They did not see us as quickly as we saw them,
+for it was dark outside and they were all talking:
+papa giving directions, I fancy.</p>
+
+<p>So they did jump when Clem&mdash;hurrying for once&mdash;rushed
+up the steps, dragging Peterkin after him.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[20]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>'We've found him&mdash;we've found him!' he shouted.
+'In with you, Pete: show yourself, quick.'</p>
+
+<p>For mamma had got quite white, and looked as if
+she were going to faint or tumble down in some kind
+of a fit; but luckily before she had time for anything,
+there was that fat boy hugging and squeezing her so
+tight that she'd have been clever to move at all,
+though if she <i>had</i> tumbled down he would have
+made a good buffer.</p>
+
+<p>'Oh, mamma, mamma&mdash;oh, mummy,' he said, and
+by this time he was howling, of course, 'I never meant
+to flighten you. I never did. I thought I'd been
+only five minutes, and I thought it was nearly as
+quick home that way.'</p>
+
+<p>And of course mamma didn't scold him! She
+hugged him as if he'd been lost for a year, and as if
+he was the prodigal son and the good brother mixed
+up together.</p>
+
+<p>But papa looked rather stern, and I was not
+altogether sorry to see it.</p>
+
+<p>'Where have you been, Peterkin?' he said. And
+then he glanced up at us two&mdash;Clem and me&mdash;as
+Peterkin seemed too busy crying to speak. 'Where
+has he been?' papa repeated. 'It was very clever of
+you to find him, I must say.'<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[21]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>And mamma's curiosity began to awaken, now
+that she had got old Pete safe in her arms again.
+She looked up with the same question in her face.</p>
+
+<p>'Where&mdash;' she began.</p>
+
+<p>And I couldn't help answering.</p>
+
+<p>'It was all Clem's idea,' I said, for it really was
+only fair for Clem to get some praise. 'He thought
+of the parrot.'</p>
+
+<p>'The <i>parrot</i>', mamma repeated, growing more
+puzzled instead of less.</p>
+
+<p>'Yes,' said Clement. 'The parrot next door to
+Mrs. Wylie's. Perhaps you don't remember, mamma.
+It was the day Peterkin and I were out with you&mdash;Giles
+wasn't there&mdash;and you went in to Mrs. Wylie's
+and we waited outside, and the parrot was in a cage
+on the balcony, and we heard it talk.'</p>
+
+<p>'Yes,' said Peterkin, 'he <i>talked</i>,' as if that was
+an explanation of everything.</p>
+
+<p>Mamma's face cleared.</p>
+
+<p>'I think I do remember something about it,' she
+said. 'But I have never heard you mention it since,
+Peterkin?'</p>
+
+<p>'No,' said Peterkin, getting rather red.</p>
+
+<p>'He has spoken of it a little to me,' said Clement;
+'that's how I knew it was in his mind. But Peterkin<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[22]</a></span>
+often doesn't say much about what he's thinking a
+lot about. It's his way.'</p>
+
+<p>'Yes,' said Peterkin, 'it's my way.'</p>
+
+<p>'And have you been planning all these days to
+run off to see the parrot again?' asked mamma. I
+wasn't quite sure if she was vexed or not, but <i>I</i> was;
+it seemed so queer, queer as Pete often was, for him
+not to have confided in somebody.</p>
+
+<p>But we were mistaken.</p>
+
+<p>'No, no, truly, mamma,' he said, speaking in a
+much more determined way now, and shaking his
+curly head. 'I didn't ever think of it till after I'd
+got out of the calliage and I saw it was the corner of
+the big square where the little houses are at one end,
+and then I only meant to go for one minute. I
+thought it was nearly as quick that way, and I ran
+fast. I never meant to flighten you, mamma,' he
+repeated again, his voice growing plaintive. 'I
+wasn't planning it a bit all these days. I only kept
+thinking it <i>were</i> like the blue-bird.'</p>
+
+<p>The last sentence was almost in a whisper; it was
+only a sort of honesty that forced him to say it. As
+far as Clement and I were concerned, he needn't
+have said it.</p>
+
+<p>'I knew he'd got some fairy-story rubbish in his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[23]</a></span>
+head,' I muttered, but I don't think Peterkin heard
+me, though papa and mamma did; for I saw them
+glance at each other, and papa said something under
+his breath, of which I only caught the words 'getting
+too fanciful,' and 'schoolboy,' which made
+mamma look rather unhappy again.</p>
+
+<p>'I don't yet understand how old Mrs. Wylie got
+mixed up in it all,' said papa.</p>
+
+<p>'She lives next door to the parrot,' said Clem, and
+we couldn't help smiling at the funny way he said it.</p>
+
+<p>'And she saw me when she was coming back from
+the post, and she was very kind,' Peterkin went on,
+taking up the story again, as the smile had encouraged
+him. 'She 'avited me to go in, up to her
+drawing-room, so that I could hear him talking
+better. And he said lots of things.'</p>
+
+<p>'Oh yes, by the bye,' I exclaimed, 'there was
+something about a little girl, Mrs. Wylie said.
+What was it, Pete?'</p>
+
+<p>But Peterkin shut up at this.</p>
+
+<p>'I'll tell you the next time I go there. Mummy,
+you will let me go to see that old lady again, won't
+you?' he begged. 'She was so kind, and I only
+thought I'd been there five minutes. Mayn't I go
+again to see her?'<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[24]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>'<i>And</i> the parrot,' said mamma, smiling. She
+was sharp enough to take in that it was a
+quarter for Mrs. Wylie and three quarters for the
+parrot that he wanted so to go back to Rock Terrace.
+'Well, you must promise never to pay visits on your
+own account again, Peterkin, and then we shall see.
+Now run upstairs to the nursery as fast as you can
+and get some tea. And I'm sure Clem and Giles will
+be glad of some more. I hope poor nurse and
+Blanche and Elfie know he is all right,' she added,
+glancing round.</p>
+
+<p>'Yes, ma'am. I took the liberty of going up to
+tell the young ladies and Mrs. Brough, when Master
+Peterkin first returned,' said James in his very
+politest and primmest tone.</p>
+
+<p>'That was very thoughtful of you,' said mamma,
+approvingly, which made James get very red.</p>
+
+<p>We three boys skurried upstairs after that. At
+least I did. Clement came more slowly, but as his
+legs were long enough to take two steps at a time, he
+got to the top nearly as soon as I did, and Peterkin
+came puffing after us. I was rather surprised that
+Blanche and Elf had been content to stay quietly in
+the nursery, considering all the excitement that had
+been going on downstairs, and I think it was very<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[25]</a></span>
+good of Blanche, for she told me afterwards that she
+had only done it to keep Elvira from getting into
+one of her endless crying fits. They always say Elf
+is such a nervous child that she can't help it, but <i>I</i>
+think it's a good bit of it cross temper too.</p>
+
+<p>Still she is rather growing out of it, and, after all,
+that night there was something to cry about, and
+there might have been worse, as nurse said. She had
+been telling the girls stories of people who got lost,
+though she was sensible enough to make them turn
+up all right at the end. She can tell very interesting
+stories sometimes, but she keeps the <i>best</i> ones
+to amuse us when we are ill, or when mamma's gone
+away on a visit, or something horrid like that has
+happened.</p>
+
+<p>They all three flew at Peterkin, of course, and
+hugged him as if he'd been shipwrecked, or putting
+out a fire, or something grand like that. And he
+took it as coolly as anything, and asked for his tea, as
+if he deserved all the petting and fussing.</p>
+
+<p>That was another of his little 'ways,' I suppose.</p>
+
+<p>Then, as we were waiting for the kettle to boil up
+again to make fresh tea, if you please, for his lordship&mdash;though
+Clem and I were to have some too, of
+course, and we did deserve it&mdash;all the story had to be<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[26]</a></span>
+told over for the third or fourth time, of the parrot,
+and old Mrs. Wylie meeting Pete as she came in, and
+his thinking he'd only been there about five minutes,
+and all the rest of it.</p>
+
+<p>'And what did the Polly parrot talk about?'
+asked Elf. She had a picture of a parrot in one of
+her books, and some rhymes about it.</p>
+
+<p>'Oh,' answered Peterkin,' he said, "How d'ye
+do?" and "Pretty Poll," and things like that.'</p>
+
+<p>'He said queerer things than that; you know
+he&mdash;' I began. I saw Pete didn't want to tell about
+the parrot copying the mysterious child that Mrs.
+Wylie had spoken of, so I thought I'd tease him a
+bit by reminding him of it. I felt sure he had got
+some of his funny ideas out of his fairy stories in his
+head; that the little girl&mdash;for Mrs. Wylie had spoken
+of a 'her'&mdash;was an enchanted princess or something
+like that, and I wasn't far wrong, as you will see.
+But I didn't finish my sentence, for Peterkin, who was
+sitting next me, gave me a sort of little kick, not to
+hurt, of course, and whispered, 'I'll tell you afterwards.'
+So I felt it would be ill-natured to tease
+him, and I didn't say any more, and luckily the
+others hadn't noticed what I had begun. Blanchie
+was on her knees in front of the fire toasting for us,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[27]</a></span>
+and Elf was putting lumps of sugar into the cups, to
+be ready.</p>
+
+<p>Pete was as hungry as a hunter, and our sharp
+walk had given Clem and me a fresh appetite, so we
+ate all the toast and a lot of plum-cake as well, and
+felt none the worse for it.</p>
+
+<p>And soon after that, it was time to be tidied up
+to go down to the drawing-room to mamma. Peterkin
+and Elvira only stayed half-an-hour or so, but
+after they had gone to bed we three big ones went
+into the library to finish our lessons while papa and
+mamma were at dinner. Sometimes we went into
+the dining-room to dessert, and sometimes we
+worked on till mamma called us into the drawing-room:
+it all depended on how many lessons we'd got
+to do, or how fast we had got on with them. Clement
+and Blanche were awfully good about that sort of
+thing, and went at it steadily, much better than I,
+I'm afraid, though I could learn pretty quickly if I
+chose. But I did not like lessons, especially the
+ones we had to do at home, for in these days Clem
+and I only went to a day-school and had to bring
+books and things back with us every afternoon.
+And besides these lessons we had to do at home for
+school, we had a little extra once or twice a week, as<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[28]</a></span>
+we had French conversation and reading on half-holidays
+with Blanche's teachers, and they sometimes
+gave us poetry to learn by heart or to translate. We
+were not exactly <i>obliged</i> to do it, but of course we
+didn't want Blanche, who was only a girl, to get ahead
+of us, as she would very likely have done, for she did
+grind at her lessons awfully. I think most girls do.</p>
+
+<p>It sounds as if we were rather hard-worked, but I
+really don't think we were, though I must allow that
+we worked better in those days, and learnt more in
+comparison, than we do now at&mdash;I won't give the
+name of the big school we are at. Clement says it
+is better not&mdash;people who write books never do give
+the real names, he says, and I fancy he's right. It
+is an awfully jolly school, and we are as happy as
+sand-boys, whatever that means, but I can't say that
+we work as Blanche does, though she does it all at
+home with governesses.</p>
+
+<p>That part of the evening&mdash;when we went back to
+the drawing-room to mamma, I mean&mdash;was one of the
+times I shall always like to remember about. It is
+very jolly now, of course, to be at home for the
+holidays, but there was then the sort of 'treat'
+feeling of having got our lessons done, and the little
+ones comfortably off to bed, and the grown-up-ness.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[29]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Mamma looked so pretty, as she was always
+nicely dressed, though I liked some of her dresses
+much better than others&mdash;I don't like her in black
+ones at all; and the drawing-room was pretty, and
+then there was mamma's music. Her playing was
+nice, but her singing was still better, and she used to
+let us choose our favourite songs, each in turn.
+Blanche plays the violin now, very well, they say,
+and mamma declares she is really far cleverer at
+music than she herself ever was; but for all that,
+I shall never care for her fiddle anything like
+mamma's singing; if I live to be a hundred, I shall
+never forget it.</p>
+
+<p>It is a great thing to have really jolly times like
+those evenings to think of when you begin to get
+older, and are a lot away from home, and likely to
+be still less and less there.</p>
+
+<p>But I must not forget that this story is supposed
+to be principally about Peterkin and his adventures,
+so I'll go on again about the night after he'd been
+lost.</p>
+
+<p>He and I had a room together, and he was
+nearly always fast asleep, like a fat dormouse, when
+I went up to bed. He had a way of curling himself
+round, like a ball, that really did remind you of a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[30]</a></span>
+dormouse. I believe it kept him from growing;
+I really do, though I did my best to pull him out
+straight. He didn't like that, ungrateful chap, and
+used to growl at me for it, and I believe he often
+pretended to be asleep when he wasn't, just to stop
+me doing it; for one night, nurse had come in to
+know what the row was about, and though she
+agreed with me that it was much better for him to
+lie properly stretched at his full length, she said I
+wasn't to wake him up because of it.</p>
+
+<p>But if he was generally fast asleep at night when
+I came to bed, he certainly made up for it by
+waking in the morning. I never knew anything
+like him for that. I believe he woke long before
+the birds, winter as well as summer, and then
+was his time for talking and telling me his stories
+and fancies. Once I myself was well awake I didn't
+mind, as it was generally rather interesting; but I
+couldn't stand the being awakened ages before the
+time. So we made an agreement, that if I didn't
+wake him up at night, he'd not bother me in the
+morning till I gave a sign that I was on the way to
+waking of myself. The sign was a sort of snort
+that's easy to make, even while you're still pretty
+drowsy, and it did very well, as I could lie quiet in a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[31]</a></span>
+dreamy way listening to him. He didn't want me
+to speak, only to snort a little now and then till I
+got quite lively, as I generally did in a few minutes,
+as his stories grew more exciting, and there came
+something that I wanted him to alter in them.</p>
+
+<p>That night, however, when I went up to bed
+there was no need to think of our bargain, for
+Peterkin was as wide awake as I was.</p>
+
+<p>'Haven't you been to sleep yet?' I asked him.</p>
+
+<p>'Not exactly,' he said. 'Just a sort of half. I'm
+glad you've come, Gilley, for I've got a lot of things
+in my head.'</p>
+
+<p>'You generally have,' I said, 'but <i>I'm</i> sleepy, if
+you're not. That scamper in the cold after you, my
+good boy, was rather tiring, I can tell you.'</p>
+
+<p>'I'm very sorry,' said he, in a penitent tone of
+voice, 'but you know, Giles, I never meant to&mdash;&mdash;'</p>
+
+<p>'Oh, stop that!' I exclaimed; 'you've said it
+twenty times too often already. Better tell me a
+bit of the things in your head. Then you can go to
+sleep, and dream them out, and have an interesting
+story ready for me in the morning.'</p>
+
+<p>'Oh, but&mdash;' objected Pete, sitting up in bed
+and clasping his hands round his knees, his face very
+red, and his eyes very blue and bright, 'they're not<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[32]</a></span>
+dreamy kind of things at all. There's really something
+very misterist&mdash;what is the proper word,
+Gilley?'</p>
+
+<p>'"Mysterious," I suppose you mean,' I said.</p>
+
+<p>'Yes, misterous,' repeated he, 'about what the
+parrot said, and I'm pretty sure that old lady thinks
+so too.'</p>
+
+<p>'Didn't she explain about it, at all?' I asked him.
+I began to think there <i>was</i> something queer, perhaps,
+for Peterkin's manner impressed me.</p>
+
+<p>'Well, she did a little,' he replied. 'But I'd
+better tell you all, Gilley; just what I first heard,
+before she came up and spoke to me, you know,
+and&mdash;&mdash;'</p>
+
+<p>Just then, however, there came an interruption.</p>
+
+<p>Mamma put her head in at the door.</p>
+
+<p>'Boys,' she said, 'not asleep yet? At least <i>you</i>
+should be, Peterkin. You didn't wake him, I hope,
+Giles?'</p>
+
+<p>I had no time for an indignant 'No; of course,
+not,' before Pete came to my defence.</p>
+
+<p>'No, no, mummy! I was awake all of myself.
+I wanted him to come very much, to talk a little.'</p>
+
+<p>'Well, you must both be rather tired with all the
+excitement there has been,' mamma said. 'So go to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[33]</a></span>
+sleep, now, and do your talking in the morning.
+Promise,&mdash;both of you&mdash;eh?'</p>
+
+<p>'Yes,' we answered; 'word of honour, mamma,'
+and she went away, quite sure that we would keep
+our promise, which was sealed by a kiss from her.</p>
+
+<p>Dear little mother! She did not often come up
+to see us in bed, for fear of rousing us out of our
+'beauty' sleep, but to-night she had felt as if she
+must make sure we were all right after the fuss of
+Peterkin's being lost, you see.</p>
+
+<p>And of course we were as good as our word, and
+only just said 'Good-night!' to each other; Pete
+adding, 'I'll begin at the beginning, and tell you
+everything, as soon as I hear your first snort in the
+morning, Giles.'</p>
+
+<p>'You'd better wait for my second or third,'
+I replied. 'I'm never very clear-headed at the first,
+and I want to give my attention, as it's something
+real, and not one of your make-ups,' I said. 'So,
+good-night!'</p>
+
+<p>It is awfully jolly to know that you are trusted,
+isn't it?</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[34]</a></span></p>
+<h2>CHAPTER III</h2>
+
+<h3>AN INVITATION</h3>
+
+
+<div class='unindent'><span class="smcap">I slept</span> on rather later than usual next morning.
+I suppose I really was tired. And when I began
+to awake, and gradually remembered all that had
+happened the night before, I heartily wished I
+hadn't promised Peterkin to snort at all.</div>
+
+<p>I took care not to open my eyes for a good bit,
+but I couldn't carry on humbugging that I was still
+asleep for very long. Something made me open my
+eyes, and as soon as I did so I knew what it was.
+There was Pete&mdash;bolt upright&mdash;as wide awake as if
+he had never been asleep, staring at me with all his
+might, his eyes as round and blue as could be.
+You know the feeling that some one is looking at
+you, even when you don't see them. I had not
+given one snort, and I could not help feeling rather
+cross with Peterkin, even when he exclaimed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[35]</a></span>&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'Oh, I am so glad you're awake!'</p>
+
+<p>'You've been staring me awake,' I said, very
+grumpily. 'I'd like to know who could go on sleeping
+with you wishing them awake?'</p>
+
+<p>'I'm very sorry if you wanted to go on sleeping,'
+he replied meekly. He did not seem at all surprised
+at my saying he had wakened me. He used to
+understand rather queer things like that so quickly,
+though we counted him stupid in some ways.</p>
+
+<p>'But as I am awake you can start talking,'
+I said, closing my eyes again, and preparing to
+listen.</p>
+
+<p>Pete was quite ready to obey.</p>
+
+<p>'Well,' he began, 'it was this way. Mamma
+didn't want me to be late for tea, so she stopped at the
+end of that big street&mdash;a little farther away than
+Lindsay Square, you know&mdash;&mdash;'</p>
+
+<p>'Yes, Meredith Place,' I grunted.</p>
+
+<p>'And,' Pete went on, 'told me to run home.
+It's quite straight, if you keep to the front, of
+course.'</p>
+
+<p>'And you did run straight home, didn't you?'
+I said teasingly.</p>
+
+<p>'No,' he replied seriously, but not at all
+offended. 'When I got to the corner of the square<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[36]</a></span>
+I looked up it, and I remembered that it led to the
+funny little houses where Clem and I had seen the
+parrot. So, almost without settling it in my mind, I
+ran along that side of the square till I came to Rock
+Terrace. I ran <i>very</i> fast&mdash;&mdash;'</p>
+
+<p>'I wish I'd been there to see you,' I grunted
+again.</p>
+
+<p>'And I thought if I kept round by the back, I'd
+get out again to the front nearly as soon&mdash;running
+all the way, you see, to make up. And I'd scarcely
+got to the little houses when I heard the parrot.
+His cage was out on the balcony, you know. And
+it is very quiet there&mdash;scarcely any carts or
+carriages passing&mdash;and it was getting dark, and I
+think you hear things plainer in the dark; don't you
+think so, Gilley?'</p>
+
+<p>I did not answer, so he went on.</p>
+
+<p>'I heard the parrot some way off. His voice is
+so queer, you know. And when I got nearer I could
+tell every word he said. He kept on every now and
+then talking for himself&mdash;real talking&mdash;"Getting cold.
+Polly wants to go to bed. Quick, quick." And then
+he'd stop for a minute, as if he was listening and
+heard something I couldn't. <i>That</i> was the strange
+part that makes me think perhaps he isn't really a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[37]</a></span>
+parrot at all, Giles,' and here Pete dropped his voice
+and looked very mysterious. I had opened my eyes
+for good now; it was getting exciting.</p>
+
+<p>'What did he say?' I asked.</p>
+
+<p>'What you and Clement heard, and a lot more,'
+Peterkin replied. 'Over and over again the same&mdash;"I'm
+so tired, Nana, I won't be good, no I won't."'</p>
+
+<p>'Yes, that's what we heard,' I said, 'but what was
+the lot more?'</p>
+
+<p>'Oh, perhaps there wasn't so <i>very</i> much more,'
+said he, consideringly. 'There was something about
+"I won't be locked up," and "I'll write a letter," and
+then again and again, "I won't be good, I'm so tired."
+That was what you and Clement heard, wasn't it?'</p>
+
+<p>'Yes,' I said.</p>
+
+<p>'And one funny thing about it was that his voice,
+the parrot's, sounded quite different when he was talking
+his own talking, do you see?&mdash;like "Pretty Poll
+is cold, wants to go to bed"&mdash;from when he was copying
+the little girl's. It was always croaky, of course,
+but <i>squeakier</i>, somehow, when he was copying her.'</p>
+
+<p>Peterkin sat up still straighter and looked at me,
+evidently waiting for my opinion about it all. I was
+really very interested, but I wanted first to hear all
+he had in his head, so I did not at once answer.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[38]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>'Isn't it very queer?' he said at last.</p>
+
+<p>'What do you think about it?' I asked.</p>
+
+<p>He drew a little nearer me and spoke in a lower
+voice, though there was no possibility of any one ever
+hearing what he said.</p>
+
+<p>'P'raps,' he began, 'it isn't <i>only</i> a parrot, or
+p'raps some fairy makes it say these things. The
+little girl might be shut up, you see, like the princess
+in the tower, by some <i>bad</i> fairy, and there might be
+a <i>good</i> one who wanted to help her to get out. I
+wonder if they ever do invite fairies to christenings
+now, and forget some of them,' he went on, knitting
+his brows, 'or not ask them, because they are bad
+fairies? I can't remember about Elf's christening
+feast; can you, Gilley?'</p>
+
+<p>'I can remember hers, and yours too, for that
+matter,' I replied. 'You forget how much older I
+am. But of course it's not like that now. There
+are no fairies to invite, as I've often told you, Pete.
+At least,' for, in spite of my love of teasing, I never
+liked to see the look of distress that came over his
+chubby face when any one talked that sort of
+common sense to him, 'at least, people have got
+out of the way of seeing them or getting into fairy-land.'<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[39]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>'But we <i>might</i> find it again,' said Peterkin,
+brightening up.</p>
+
+<p>And I didn't like to disappoint him by saying I
+could not see much chance of it.</p>
+
+<p>Then another idea struck me.</p>
+
+<p>'How about Mrs. Wylie?' I said. 'Didn't she
+explain it at all? You told her what you had heard,
+didn't you? Yes, of course, she heard some of it
+herself, when we were all three standing at the door
+of her house.'</p>
+
+<p>'Well,' said Peterkin, 'I was going to tell you the
+rest. I was listening to the parrot, and it was much
+plainer than <i>you</i> heard, Gilley, for when you were
+there you only heard him from down below, and I
+was up near him&mdash;well, I was just standing there
+listening to him, when that old lady came up.'</p>
+
+<p>'I know all about that,' I interrupted.</p>
+
+<p>'No, you don't, not nearly all,' Peterkin persisted.
+He could be as obstinate as a little pig sometimes,
+so I said nothing. 'I was just standing there when
+she came up. She looked at me, and then she went
+in at her own gate, next door to the parrot's, you
+know, and then she looked at me again, and spoke
+over the railings. She said, "Are you talking to the
+parrot, my dear?" and I said, "No, I'm only listening<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[40]</a></span>
+to him, thank you"; and then she looked at me again,
+and she said, "You don't live in this terrace, I think?"
+And I said, "No, I live on the Esplanade, number 59."
+Then she pulled out her spectacles&mdash;long things, you
+know, at the end of a turtle-shell stick.'</p>
+
+<p>'Tortoise-shell,' I corrected.</p>
+
+<p>'Tortoise-shell,' he repeated, 'and then she looked
+at me again. "If you live at 59," she said, "I think
+you must be one of dear Mrs. Lesley's little sons," and
+I said, "That's just what I am, thank you." And then
+she said, "Won't you come in for a few minutes?
+You can see the Polly from my balcony, and it is
+getting cold for standing about. Are you on your
+way home from school?" So I thought it wouldn't
+be polite not to go in. She was so kind, you see,' and
+here his voice grew 'cryey' again, 'I never thought
+about mamma being flightened, and I only meant to
+stay a min&mdash;&mdash;'</p>
+
+<p>'Shut up about all that,' I interrupted. 'We've
+had it often enough, and I want to hear what happened.'</p>
+
+<p>'Well,' he said, quite briskly again, 'she took me
+in, and up to her drawing-room. The window was a
+tiny bit open, and she made me stand just on the
+ledge between it and the balcony, so that I could see<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[41]</a></span>
+the parrot without his seeing me, for she said if he
+saw me he'd set up screeching and not talk sense any
+more. He knows when people are strangers. The
+cage was close to the old lady's end of the balcony,
+so that I could almost have touched it, and then I
+heard him say all those queer things. I didn't speak
+for a good while, for fear of stopping him talking.
+But after a bit he got fidgety; I daresay he knew
+there was somebody there, and then he flopped about
+and went back to his own talking, and said he was
+cold and wanted to go to bed, and all that. And
+somebody inside heard him and took him in. And
+then&mdash;' Pete stopped to rest his voice, I suppose.
+He was always rather fond of resting, whatever
+he was doing.</p>
+
+<p>'Hurry up,' I said. 'What happened after
+that?'</p>
+
+<p>'The old lady said I'd better come in, and she
+shut up the window&mdash;I suppose she felt cold, like
+the parrot&mdash;and she made me sit down; and then I
+asked her what made him say such queer things in
+his squeakiest voice; and she said he was copying
+what he heard, for there was a little girl in the <i>next</i>
+house&mdash;not in his own house&mdash;who cried sometimes
+and seemed very cross and unhappy, so that Mrs.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[42]</a></span>
+Wylie often is very sorry for her, though she has
+never really seen her. And I said, did she think
+anybody was unkind to the little girl, and she said
+she hoped not, but she didn't know. And then she
+seemed as if she didn't want to talk about the little
+girl very much, and she began to ask me about if I
+went to school and things like that, and then I said
+I'd better go home, and she came downstairs with
+me and&mdash;I think that's all, till you and Clement came
+and we all heard the parrot again.'</p>
+
+<p>'I wonder what started him copying the little girl
+again, after he'd left off,' I said.</p>
+
+<p>'P'raps he hears her through the wall,' said Pete.
+'P'raps he hears quicker than people do. Yes,' he
+went on thoughtfully, 'I think he must, for the old
+lady has never heard exactly what the little girl said.
+She only heard her crying and grumbling. She told
+me so.'</p>
+
+<p>'I daresay she's just a cross little thing,' I said.
+'And I think it was rather silly of Mrs. Wylie to let
+you hear the parrot copying her. It's a very bad
+example. And you said Mrs. Wylie seemed as if she
+didn't want to talk much about her.'</p>
+
+<p>'I think she's got some plan in her head,' said
+Peterkin, eagerly, 'for she said&mdash;oh, I forgot that&mdash;she<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[43]</a></span>
+said she was going to come to see mamma some
+day very soon, to ask her to let me go to have tea
+with her. And I daresay she'll ask you too, Gilley,
+if we both go down to the drawing-room when she
+comes.'</p>
+
+<p>'I hope it'll be a half-holiday, then,' I said, 'or,
+anyway, that she will come when I'm here. It is
+very funny about the crying little girl. Has she
+been there a long time? Did your old lady tell
+you that?'</p>
+
+<p>Peterkin shook his head.</p>
+
+<p>'Oh no, she's only been there since Mrs. Wylie
+came back from the country. She told me so.'</p>
+
+<p>'And when was that?' I asked, but Pete did not
+know. He was sometimes very stupid, in spite of
+his quickness and fancies. 'It's been long enough
+for the parrot to learn to copy her grumbling,' I
+added.</p>
+
+<p>'That wouldn't take him long,' said Peterkin, in
+his whispering voice again, '<i>if</i> he's some sort of a
+fairy, you know, Gilley.'</p>
+
+<p>This time, perhaps, it was a good thing he spoke in
+a low voice, for at that moment nurse came in to
+wake us, or rather to make us get up, as we were
+nearly always awake already, and if she had heard<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[44]</a></span>
+the word 'fairy,' she would have begun about Peterkin's
+'fancies' again.</p>
+
+<p>Some days passed without our hearing anything
+of the parrot or the old lady or Rock Terrace. We
+did not exactly forget about it; indeed, it was what
+we talked about every morning when we awoke.
+But I did not think much about it during the day,
+although I daresay Pete did.</p>
+
+<p>So it was quite a surprise to me one afternoon,
+about a week after the evening of all the fuss, when,
+the very moment I had rung the front bell, the door
+was opened by Pete himself, looking very important.</p>
+
+<p>'She's come,' he said. 'I've been watching for you.
+She's in the drawing-room with mamma, and mamma
+told me to fetch you as soon as you came back from
+school. Is Clem there?'</p>
+
+<p>'No,' I said, 'it's one of the days he stays later
+than me, you know.'</p>
+
+<p>Peterkin did not seem very sorry.</p>
+
+<p>'Then she's come just to invite you and me,' he
+said. 'Clement <i>is</i> too big, but she might have asked
+him too, out of polititude, you know.'</p>
+
+<p>He was always fussing about being polite, but I
+don't think I answered her in that way.</p>
+
+<p>'Bother,' I said, for I was cross; my books were<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[45]</a></span>
+heavier than usual, and I banged them down; 'bother
+your politeness. Can't you tell me what you're talking
+about? Who is "she" that's in the drawing-room?
+I don't want to go up to see her, whoever
+she is.'</p>
+
+<p>'Giles!' said Peterkin, in a very disappointed
+tone. 'You can't have forgotten. It's the old lady
+next door to the parrot's house, of course. I told you
+she meant to come. And she's going to invite us,
+I'm sure.'</p>
+
+<p>In my heart I was very anxious to go to Rock
+Terrace again, to see the parrot, and perhaps hear
+more of the mysterious little girl, but I was feeling
+rather tired and cross.</p>
+
+<p>'I must brush my hair and wash my hands first,'
+I said, 'and I daresay mamma won't want me without
+Clement. She didn't say me alone, did she?'</p>
+
+<p>'She said "your brothers,"' replied Peterkin, 'but
+of course you must come. And she said she hoped
+"they" wouldn't be long. So you must come as you
+are. I don't think your hands are very dirty.'</p>
+
+<p>It is one of the queer things about Peterkin that
+he can nearly always make you do what he wants if
+he's really in earnest. So I had to give in, and he
+went puffing upstairs, with me after him, to the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[46]</a></span>
+drawing-room, when, sure enough, the old lady was
+sitting talking to mamma.</p>
+
+<p>Mamma looked up as we came in, and I saw that
+her eyes went past me.</p>
+
+<p>'Hasn't Clement come in?' she asked, and it
+made me wish I hadn't given in about it to Pete.</p>
+
+<p>'No, mamma,' I said. 'It's one of his late days,
+you know. And Peterkin made me come up just as
+I was.'</p>
+
+<p>I felt very ashamed of my hair and crushed collar
+and altogether. I didn't mind so much about my
+hands; boys' hands <i>can't</i> be like ladies'. But Mrs.
+Wylie was so awfully neat&mdash;she might have been a
+fairy herself, or a doll dressed to look like an old
+lady. I felt as clumsy and messy as could be. But
+she was awfully jolly; she seemed to know exactly
+how uncomfortable it was for me.</p>
+
+<p>'Quite right, quite right,' she said. 'For I must
+be getting back. It looks rather stormy, I'm afraid.
+It was very thoughtful of you both, my dear boys,
+to hurry. I should have liked to see Mr. Clement
+again, but that must be another time. And may we
+fix the day now, dear Mrs. Lesley? Saturday next
+we were talking of. Will you come about four
+o'clock, or even earlier, my dears? The parrot stays<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[47]</a></span>
+out till five, generally, and indeed his mistress is very
+good-natured, and so is her maid. They were quite
+pleased when I told them I had some young friends
+who were very interested in the bird and wanted to
+see him again. So you shall make better acquaintance
+with him on Saturday, and perhaps&mdash;' but here
+the old lady stopped at last, without finishing her
+sentence.</p>
+
+<p>Nevertheless, as each of us told the other afterwards,
+both Peterkin and I finished it for her in our
+own minds. We glanced at each other, and the same
+thought ran through us&mdash;had Mrs. Wylie got some
+plan in her head about the little girl?</p>
+
+<p>'It is very kind indeed of you, Mrs. Wylie,' said
+mamma. 'Giles and Peterkin will be delighted to
+go to you on Saturday, won't you, boys?'</p>
+
+<p>And we both said, 'Yes, thank you. It will be
+very jolly,' so heartily, that the old lady trotted off,
+as pleased as pleased.</p>
+
+<p>Of course, I ran downstairs to see her out, and
+Pete followed more slowly, just behind her. She
+had a very nice, rather stately way about her, though
+she was so small and thin, and it never suited Pete
+to hurry in those days, either up or down stairs; his
+legs were so short.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[48]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>We were very eager for Saturday to come, and
+we talked a lot about it. I had a kind of idea that
+Mrs. Wylie had said something about the little girl
+to mamma, though mamma said nothing at all to us,
+except that we must behave very nicely and carefully
+at Rock Terrace, and not forget that, though
+she was so kind, Mrs. Wylie was an old lady, and
+old ladies were sometimes fussy.</p>
+
+<p>We promised we would be all right, and Peterkin
+said to me that he didn't believe Mrs. Wylie was at
+all 'fussy.'</p>
+
+<p>'She is too fairyish,' he said, 'to be like
+that.'</p>
+
+<p>That was a very 'Peterkin' speech, but I did not
+snub him for it, as I sometimes did. I was really so
+interested in all about the parrot and the invisible
+little girl that I was almost ready to join him in
+making up fanciful stories&mdash;that there was an ogre
+who wouldn't let her out, or that any one who tried
+to see her would be turned into a frog, or things like
+that out of the old fairy-tales.</p>
+
+<p>'But Mrs. Wylie <i>has</i> seen her,' said Peterkin,
+'and <i>she</i> hasn't turned into a frog!'</p>
+
+<p>That was a rather tiresome 'way' of his&mdash;if I
+agreed about fairies and began making up, myself, he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[49]</a></span>
+would get quite common-sensical, and almost make
+fun of my ones.</p>
+
+<p>'How do you know that she doesn't turn into a
+frog half the day?' I said. 'That's often the way in
+enchantments.'</p>
+
+<p>And then we both went off laughing at the idea
+of a frog jumping down from Mrs. Wylie's drawing-room
+sofa, and saying, 'How do you do, my dears?'
+instead of the neat little old lady.</p>
+
+<p>So our squabble didn't come to anything that
+time.</p>
+
+<p>Blanchie and Elf were rather jealous of our invitation,
+I think, though Blanche always said she didn't
+care to go anywhere without Clement. But Elf
+made us promise that some day we would get leave
+to take her round by the parrot's house for her to
+see him.</p>
+
+<p>Of course we never said anything to any one but
+ourselves about the shut-up little girl, and Clement
+had forgotten what he had heard that evening. He
+was very busy just then working extra for some
+prize he hoped to get at school&mdash;I forget what it
+was, but he did get it&mdash;and Blanche was helping
+him.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[50]</a></span></p>
+<h2>CHAPTER IV</h2>
+
+<h3>VERY MYSTERIOUS</h3>
+
+
+<div class='unindent'><span class="smcap">Saturday</span> came at last. Of course jolly things and
+times <i>do</i> come, however long the waiting seems.
+But the worst of it is that they are so soon gone
+again, and then you wish you were back at the
+looking forward; perhaps, after all, it is often the
+jolliest part of it.</div>
+
+<p>Clement says I mustn't keep saying 'jolly'; he
+says 'nice' would be better in a book. He is looking
+it over for me, you see. <i>I</i> think 'nice' is a girl's
+word, but Clem says you shouldn't write slang in a
+book, so I try not to; though of course I don't really
+expect this story ever to be made into an actual
+book.</p>
+
+<p>Well, Saturday came, and Peterkin and I set off
+to Mrs. Wylie's. She was a very nice person to go
+to see; she seemed so really pleased to have us.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[51]</a></span>
+And she hadn't turned into a frog, or anything of
+the kind. She was standing out on the little balcony,
+watching for us, with a snowy-white, fluffy shawl on
+the top of her black dress, which made her seem
+more fairyish, or fairy-godmotherish, than ever. I
+never did see any one so beautifully neat and spotless
+as she always was.</p>
+
+<p>As soon as the front door was opened, we heard
+her voice from upstairs.</p>
+
+<p>'Come up, boys, come up. Polly and I have both
+been watching for you, and he is in great spirits to-day,
+and so amusing.'</p>
+
+<p>We skurried up, and nearly tumbled over each
+other into the drawing-room. Then, of course,
+Peterkin's politeness came into force, and he walked
+forward soberly to shake hands with his old lady
+and give her mamma's love and all that sort of
+thing, which he was much better at than I. She
+had just stepped in from the balcony, but was quite
+ready to step out again at the parrot's invitation.</p>
+
+<p>'Come quick,' he said, 'Polly doesn't like
+waiting.'</p>
+
+<div class="figright" style="width: 309px;">
+<img src="images/i068.png" width="309" height="500" alt="NO SOONER DID HE CATCH SIGHT OF US TWO WITH HIS UGLY ROUND BEADY EYES .&nbsp;.&nbsp;. THAN HE SHUT UP.&mdash;p. 52." title="NO SOONER DID HE CATCH SIGHT OF US TWO WITH HIS UGLY ROUND BEADY EYES .&nbsp;.&nbsp;. THAN HE SHUT UP.&mdash;p. 52." />
+<span class="caption">NO SOONER DID HE CATCH SIGHT OF US TWO WITH HIS UGLY ROUND BEADY EYES .&nbsp;.&nbsp;. THAN HE SHUT UP.&mdash;p. 52.</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>Really it did seem wonderful to me, though he
+wasn't the first parrot I had ever seen, and though I
+had heard him before&mdash;it did seem wonderful for a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[52]</a></span>
+bird, only a bird, to talk so sensibly, and I felt as if
+there might be something in Peterkin's idea that
+he was more than he seemed. And to this day
+parrots, clever ones, still give me that feeling.</p>
+
+<p>They are very like children in some ways. They
+are so 'contrairy.' You'd scarcely believe it, but no
+sooner did the creature catch sight of us two with
+his ugly, round, painted-bead-looking eyes&mdash;I don't
+like parrot's eyes&mdash;than he shut up, and wild horses
+couldn't have made him utter another word, much
+less Mrs. Wylie.</p>
+
+<p>I was quite sorry for her, she seemed so disappointed.</p>
+
+<p>It was just like a tiresome baby, whose mamma
+and nurse want to show off and bring it down to the
+drawing-room all dressed up, and it won't go to anybody,
+or say 'Dada,' or 'Mam-ma,' or anything, and
+just screeches. I can remember Elvira being like
+that, and I daresay we all were.</p>
+
+<p>'It is too bad,' said our old lady. 'He has got to
+know me, and I have been teaching him some new
+words. And his mistress and her maid are out this
+afternoon, so I thought we should have him all to
+ourselves, and it would be so amusing. But'&mdash;just
+then a bright idea struck her&mdash;'supposing you two<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[53]</a></span>
+go back into the room, so that he can't see you, and
+I will say "Good-bye, my dears," very loud and
+plainly, to make him think you have gone. Then I
+will come out again, and you shall listen from behind
+the curtain. I believe he will talk then, just as he
+has been doing.'</p>
+
+<p>Pete and I were most willing to try&mdash;we were all
+three quite excited about it. It was really quite
+funny how his talking got the Polly treated as if he
+was a human being. We stalked back into the
+drawing-room, Mrs. Wylie after us, saying in a very
+clear tone&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'Good-bye, then, my dears. My love to your
+mamma, and the next time you come I hope Poll-parrot
+will be more friendly.'</p>
+
+<p>And then I shut the door with a bang, to sound
+as if we had gone, though, of course, it was all
+'acting,' to trick the parrot. Peterkin and I peeped
+out at him from behind the curtain, and we could
+scarcely help laughing out loud. He looked so
+queer&mdash;his head cocked on one side, listening, his
+eyes blinking; he seemed rather disgusted on the
+whole, I thought.</p>
+
+<p>Then Mrs. Wylie stepped out again.</p>
+
+<p>'Polly,' she said, 'I'm ashamed of you. Why<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[54]</a></span>
+couldn't you be kind and friendly to those nice boys
+who came to see you?'</p>
+
+<p>'Pretty Poll,' he said, in a coaxing tone.</p>
+
+<p>'No,' she replied; 'not pretty Poll at all. Ugly
+Poll, I should say.'</p>
+
+<p>'Polly's so tired; take Polly in. Polly's cold,' he
+said, in what we called his natural voice; and then
+it seemed as if the first words had reminded him of
+the little girl, for his tone suddenly changed, and he
+began again: 'I'm so tired, Nana. No, I won't be
+good; no, I won't. I'll write a letter, and I won't
+be locked up,' in the squeakier sort of voice that
+showed he was copying somebody else.</p>
+
+<p>'Nonsense!' said Mrs. Wylie. 'You are not
+tired or cold, Polly, and nobody is going to lock you
+up.'</p>
+
+<p>He was silent for a moment, and peeping out
+again, we saw that he was staring hard at the old
+lady.</p>
+
+<p>Then he said very meekly&mdash;I am not sure which
+voice it was in&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'Polly be good! Polly very sorry!'</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Wylie nodded approvingly.</p>
+
+<p>'Yes,' she said, 'that's a much prettier way to
+talk. Now, supposing we have a little music,' and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[55]</a></span>
+she began to sing in a very soft, very thin, old voice
+a few words of 'Home, Sweet Home.'</p>
+
+<p>There was something very piteous about it. I
+think there is a better word than 'piteous'&mdash;yes,
+Clement had just told it me. It is 'pathetic.' I
+felt as if it nearly made me cry, and so did Peterkin.
+We told each other so afterwards, and though we
+were so interested in the parrot and in hearing him,
+I wished he would be quiet again, and let Mrs.
+Wylie go on with her soft, sad little song. But of
+course he didn't. He started, too, a queer sort of
+whistle, not very musical, certainly, but yet, no doubt,
+there was a bit of the tune in it, and now and then
+sounds rather like the words 'sweet' and 'home.' I
+do think, altogether, it was the oddest musical
+performance that ever was heard.</p>
+
+<p>And when it was over, there came another voice.
+It was the maid next door, who had stepped quietly
+on to the balcony&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'I'm afraid, ma'am, I must take him in now,'
+she said, very respectfully. 'It is getting cold, and
+it would never do for him to get a sore throat just
+as he's learning to sing so. You are clever with him,
+ma'am; you are, indeed: there's quite a tune in his
+voice.'<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[56]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Wylie gave a little laugh of pleasure.</p>
+
+<p>'And did the young gentlemen you were speaking
+of never come, after all?' the maid asked, as she was
+turning away, the big cage in her hand.</p>
+
+<p>'Oh yes,' said Mrs. Wylie, 'they are here still.
+But Polly was very naughty,' and she explained
+about it.</p>
+
+<p>'He's learnt that "won't be good" from next
+door,' said the girl, 'and I do believe he knows what
+it means.'</p>
+
+<p>'I very sorry; I be good,' here said the parrot.</p>
+
+<p>They both started.</p>
+
+<p>'Upon my word!' exclaimed the maid.</p>
+
+<p>'Has he learnt <i>that</i> from next door?' said Mrs.
+Wylie, in a lower voice.</p>
+
+<p>'I hope so. It's very clever of him, and it's not
+unlikely. The child is getting better, I believe, and
+there's not near so much crying and complaining.'</p>
+
+<p>'So I have heard,' said the old lady, and we
+fancied she spoke rather mysteriously, 'and I hope,'
+she went on, but we could not catch her next
+words, as she dropped her voice, evidently not wishing
+us to hear.</p>
+
+<p>Peterkin squeezed my hand, and I understood.
+There <i>was</i> a mystery of some kind!<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[57]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Then Mrs. Wylie came in and shut the glass door.
+She was smiling now with pleasure and satisfaction.</p>
+
+<p>'I did get him to talk, did I not?' she said. 'He
+<i>is</i> a funny bird. By degrees I hope he will grow
+quite friendly with you too.'</p>
+
+<p>I did not feel very sure about it.</p>
+
+<p>'I'm afraid,' I said, 'that he will not see us enough
+for that. It isn't like you, Mrs. Wylie, for I daresay
+you talk to him every day.'</p>
+
+<p>'Yes,' she replied, 'I do now. I have felt more
+interested in him since&mdash;' here she hesitated a little,
+then she went on again&mdash;'since the evening I found
+Peterkin listening to him,' and she smiled very
+kindly at Pete. 'Before that, I had not noticed him
+very much; at least, I had not made friends with
+him. But he has a wonderful memory; really
+wonderful, you will see. He will not have forgotten
+you the next time you come, and each time he will
+cock his head and pretend to be shy, and gradually
+it will get less and less.'</p>
+
+<p>This was very interesting, but what Peterkin and
+I were really longing for was some news of the little
+girl. We did not like to ask about her. It would
+have seemed rather forward and inquisitive, as the
+old lady did not mention her at all. We felt that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[58]</a></span>
+she had some reason for it, and of course, though we
+could not have helped hearing what she and the
+parrot's maid had said to each other, we had to try
+to think we <i>hadn't</i> heard it. Clement says that's
+what you should do, if you overhear things not meant
+for you, unless, sometimes, when your having heard
+them might really matter. <i>Then</i>, he says, it's your
+duty&mdash;you're in honour bound&mdash;to tell that you've
+heard, and <i>what</i> you've heard.</p>
+
+<p>'Now,' said our old lady, 'I fancy tea will be
+quite ready. I thought it would be more comfortable
+in the dining-room. So shall we go downstairs?'</p>
+
+<p>We were quite ready, and we followed her very
+willingly. The dining-room was even smaller than
+the drawing-room, and that was tiny enough. But
+it was all so neat and pretty, and what you'd call
+'old-fashioned,' I suppose. It reminded me of a doll-house
+belonging to one of our grandmothers&mdash;mamma's
+mother, who had kept it ever since she
+was a little girl, and when we go to stay with her in
+the country she lets us play with it. Even Peterkin
+and I are very fond of it, or used to be so when we
+were smaller. There's everything you can think of
+in it, down to the tiniest cups and saucers.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[59]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>The tea was very jolly. There were buns and
+cakes, and awfully good sandwiches. I remember
+that particular tea, you see, though we went to Mrs.
+Wylie's often after that, because it was the first time.
+The cups <i>were</i> rather small, but it didn't matter, for
+as soon as ever one was empty she offered us more.
+I would really be almost ashamed to say how many
+times mine was filled.</p>
+
+<p>And Mrs. Wylie was very interesting to talk to.
+She had never had any children of her own, she told
+us, and her husband had been dead a long time. I
+think he had been a sailor, for she had lots of curiosities:
+queer shells, all beautifully arranged in a
+cabinet, and a book full of pressed and dried seaweed,
+and stuffed birds in cases. I don't care for stuffed
+birds: they look too alive, and it seems horrid for
+them not to be able to fly about and sing. Peterkin
+took a great fancy to some of the very tiny ones&mdash;humming-birds,
+scarcely bigger than butterflies; and,
+long afterwards, when we went to live in London, Mrs.
+Wylie gave him a present of a branch with three
+beauties on it, inside a glass case. He has it now in
+his own room. And she gave me four great big
+shells, all coloured like a rainbow, which I still have
+on my mantelpiece.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[60]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Once or twice&mdash;I'm going back now to that first
+time we went to have tea with her&mdash;I tried to get
+the talk back to the little girl. I asked the old lady
+if she wouldn't like to have a parrot of her own. I
+thought it would be so amusing. But she said No;
+she didn't think she would care to have one. The
+one next door was almost as good, and gave her no
+trouble or anxiety.</p>
+
+<p>And then Peterkin asked her if there were any
+children next door. Mrs. Wylie shook her head.</p>
+
+<p>'No,' she said. 'The parrot's mistress is an old
+maid&mdash;not nearly as old as I am, all the same, but
+she lives quite alone; and on the other side there
+are two brothers and a sister, quite young, unmarried
+people.'</p>
+
+<p>'And is the&mdash;the little girl the only little girl or
+boy in <i>her</i> house?' asked Peterkin.</p>
+
+<p>He did stumble a bit over asking it, for it had
+been very plain that Mrs. Wylie did not want to
+speak about her; but I got quite hot when I heard
+him, and if we had been on the same side of the
+table, or if his legs had been as long as they are now,
+I'd have given him a good kick to shut him up.</p>
+
+<p>Our old lady was too good-natured to mind; still,
+there was something in her manner when she<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[61]</a></span>
+answered that stopped any more questions from
+Pete.</p>
+
+<p>'Yes,' she said, 'there are no other children in
+that house, or in the terrace, except some very tiny
+ones, almost babies, at the other end. I see them
+pass in their perambulators, dear little things.'</p>
+
+<p>It was quite dark by the time we had finished
+tea, and the lamps were lighted upstairs in the
+drawing-room, where Mrs. Wylie showed us some
+of the curiosities and things that I have already
+written about.</p>
+
+<p>They were rather interesting, but I think we've
+got to care more for collections and treasures like
+that, now, than we did then. Perhaps we were not
+quite old enough, and, I daresay, it was a good deal
+that the great reason we liked to go to Mrs. Wylie's
+was because of the parrot and the mysterious little
+girl. At least, <i>Peterkin's</i> head was full of the little
+girl. I myself was beginning to get rather tired of
+all his talk about her, and I thought the parrot very
+good fun of himself.</p>
+
+<p>So when the clock struck six, and Mrs. Wylie
+asked us if mamma had fixed any time for us to be
+home by&mdash;it wasn't that she wanted to get rid of
+us, but she was very afraid of keeping us too late&mdash;we<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[62]</a></span>
+thought we might as well go, for mamma had
+said, 'soon after six.'</p>
+
+<p>'Is any one coming to fetch you?' Mrs. Wylie
+said.</p>
+
+<p>I didn't quite like her asking that: it made me
+seem so babyish. I was quite old enough to look
+after Pete, and the fun of going home by ourselves
+through the lighted-up streets was one of the things
+we had looked forward to.</p>
+
+<p>But I didn't want Master Peterkin to begin at
+me afterwards about not being polite, so I didn't
+show that I was at all vexed. I just said&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'Oh no, Peterkin will be all right with me!'</p>
+
+<p>And then we said good-bye, and 'thank you very
+much for inviting us.' And Pete actually said&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'May we come again soon, please?'</p>
+
+<p>His ideas of politeness were rather original,
+weren't they?</p>
+
+<p>But Mrs. Wylie was quite pleased.</p>
+
+<p>'Certainly, my dear. I shall count on your doing
+so. And I am glad you spoke of it, for I wanted to
+tell you that I am going to London the end of this
+next week for a fortnight. Will you tell your dear
+mamma so, and say that I shall come to see her on
+my return, and then we must fix on another afternoon?<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[63]</a></span>
+I am very pleased to think that you care to
+come, and I hope you feel the same,' she went on,
+turning to me.</p>
+
+<p>She was so kind that I felt I had been rather
+horrid, for I <i>had</i> enjoyed it all very much. And I
+said as nicely as I could, that I'd like to come again,
+only I hoped we didn't bother her. She beamed all
+over at that, and Peterkin evidently approved of it
+too, for he grinned in a queer patronising way he has
+sometimes, as if I was a baby compared to him.</p>
+
+<p>I was just going to pull him up for it after we
+had got on our coats and caps, and were outside and
+the door shut, but before I had got farther than&mdash;'I
+say, youngster,'&mdash;he startled me rather by saying,
+in a very melancholy tone&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'It's too bad, Giles, isn't it? Her going away, and
+us hearing nothing of the little girl. I really thought
+she'd have asked her to tea too.'</p>
+
+<p>'How you muddle your "her's" and "she's"!' I
+said. But of course I understood him. 'I think
+you muddle yourself too. If there's a mystery, and
+you know you'd be very disappointed if there wasn't,
+you couldn't expect the little girl to come to tea just
+as if everything was quite like everybody else about
+her.'<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[64]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>'No, that's true,' said he, consideringly. 'P'raps
+she's invisible sometimes, or p'raps she's like the
+"Light Princess," that they had to tie down for fear
+she'd float away, or p'raps&mdash;&mdash;'</p>
+
+<p>'She's invisible to us, anyway,' I interrupted, for,
+as I said, I was getting rather tired of Pete's fancies
+about the little girl, 'and so&mdash;&mdash;'</p>
+
+<p>But just as I got so far, we both stopped&mdash;we
+were passing the railing of the <ins title="Transcriber's Note: original reads 'little's girl'">little girl's</ins> house
+at that moment, and voices talking rather loudly
+caught our ears. Peterkin touched my arm, and we
+stood quite still. No one could see us, it was too
+dark, and there was no lamp just there, though some
+light was streaming out from the lower windows
+of the house. One of them, the dining-room one, was
+a little open, even though it was a chilly evening.</p>
+
+<p>It was so queer, our hearing the voices and
+almost seeing into the room, <i>just</i> as we had been
+making up our minds that we'd never know anything
+about the little girl; it seemed so queer, that we
+didn't, at first, think of anything else. It wasn't
+for some minutes, or moments, certainly, that it came
+into my head that we shouldn't stay there peeping
+and listening. I'm afraid it wasn't a very gentlemanly
+sort of thing to do. As for Peterkin, I'm<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[65]</a></span>
+pretty sure he never had the slightest idea that we
+were doing anything caddish.</p>
+
+<p>What we heard was this&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'No, I don't want any more tea. I'd better go to
+bed. It's so dull, Nana.'</p>
+
+<p>Then another voice replied&mdash;it came from some
+one further back in the room, but we could not distinguish
+the words&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'There aren't any stars. You may as well shut
+the window. And stars aren't much good. I want
+some one to play with me. Other little&mdash;' but just
+then we saw the shadow of some one crossing the
+room, and the window&mdash;it was a glass-door kind of
+window like the ones up above, which opened on to
+the balcony, for there was a little sort of balcony
+downstairs too&mdash;was quickly closed. There was no
+more to be heard or seen; not even shadows, for
+the curtains were now drawn across.</p>
+
+<p>Pete gave a deep sigh, and I felt that he was
+looking at me, though it was too dark to see, and
+there was no lamp just there. He wanted to know
+what I thought.</p>
+
+<p>'Come along,' I said, and we walked on.</p>
+
+<p>'Did you hear?' asked Peterkin at last. 'She
+said she wanted somebody to play with her.'<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[66]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>'Yes,' I said, 'it is rather queer. You'd think
+Mrs. Wylie might have made friends with her, and
+invited her to tea. But it's no good our bothering
+about it,' and I walked a little faster, and began to
+whistle. I did not want Pete to go on again talking
+a lot about his invisible princess, for such she seemed
+likely to remain.</p>
+
+<p>It was far easier, however, to get anything into
+Peterkin's fancy than to get it out again, as I might
+have known by experience. We had not gone far
+before I felt him tugging at my arm.</p>
+
+<p>'Don't walk so fast, Gilley,' he said&mdash;poor, little
+chap, he was quite breathless with trying to keep up
+with me, so I had to slacken a bit,&mdash;'and do let me
+talk to you. When we get home I shan't have a
+chance&mdash;not till to-morrow morning in bed, I
+daresay; for they'll all be wanting to hear about
+Mrs. Wylie, and what we had for tea, and everything.'</p>
+
+<p>I did not so much mind about <i>that</i> part of it,
+but I did not want to be awakened before dawn the
+next morning to listen to all he'd got to say.
+So I thought I might as well let him come out with
+some of it.</p>
+
+<p>'What do you want to talk about?' I said.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[67]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>'Oh! of course, you know,' he replied. 'It's
+about the <i>poor</i> little girl. I am so dreffully sorry
+for her, Gilley, and I want to plan something. It's
+no good asking Mrs. Wylie. We'll have to do something
+ourselves. I'm afraid the people she's with
+lock her up, or something. <i>P'raps</i> they daren't let
+her go out, if there's some wicked fairy, or a witch,
+or something like that, that wants to run off with
+her.'</p>
+
+<p>'Well, then, the best thing to do <i>is</i> to lock her up,'
+I said sensibly.</p>
+
+<p>But that wasn't Peterkin's way of looking at
+things.</p>
+
+<p>'It's never like that in my stories,' he said&mdash;and I
+know he was shaking his curly head,&mdash;'and some of
+them are very, very old&mdash;nearly as old as Bible
+stories, I believe; so they must be true, you see.
+There's always somebody that comes to break the&mdash;the&mdash;I
+forget the proper word.'</p>
+
+<p>'The enchantment, you mean,' I said.</p>
+
+<p>'No, no; a shorter word. Oh, I know&mdash;the
+spell,' he replied. 'Yes, somebody comes to break
+the <i>spell</i>. And that's what we've got to do, Gilley.
+At least, I'm sure I've got to, and you must help me.
+You see, it's all been so funny. The parrot knows,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[68]</a></span>
+I should think, for I'm sure he's partly fairy. But,
+very likely, he daren't say it right out, for fear of the
+bad fairy, and&mdash;&mdash;'</p>
+
+<p>'Perhaps he's the bad fairy himself,' I interrupted,
+half joking, but rather interested, all the same, in
+Peterkin's ideas.</p>
+
+<p>'Oh no,' he replied, 'I know he's not, and I'm
+sure Mrs. Wylie has nothing to do with the bad
+fairy.'</p>
+
+<p>'Then why do you think she won't talk about
+the little girl, or invite her, or anything?' I asked.</p>
+
+<p>Pete seemed puzzled.</p>
+
+<p>'I don't know,' he said. 'There's a lot to find out.
+P'raps Mrs. Wylie doesn't know anything about the
+spell, and has just got some stupid, common reason
+for not wanting us to play with the little girl, or
+p'raps'&mdash;and this was plainly a brilliant idea&mdash;'<i>p'raps</i>
+the spell's put on her without her knowing,
+and stops her when she begins to speak about it.
+Mightn't it very likely be that, Giles?'</p>
+
+<p>But I had not time to answer, for we had got to
+our own door by now, and it was already opened,
+as some tradesman was giving James a parcel. So
+we ran in.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[69]</a></span></p>
+<h2>CHAPTER V</h2>
+
+<h3>'STRATAGEMS'</h3>
+
+
+<div class='unindent'><span class="smcap">I really</span> don't quite know what made me listen to
+Peterkin's fancies about his invisible princess, as I
+got into the habit of calling her. It was partly, I
+suppose, because it amused me&mdash;we had nothing
+much to take us up just then: there was no skating
+that winter, and the weather was dull and muggy&mdash;and
+partly that somehow he managed to make me
+feel as if there might really be something in it. I
+suppose when anybody quite believes in a thing, it's
+rather catching; and Peterkin's head was so stuffed
+and crammed with fairy stories that at that time,
+I think, they were almost more real to him than
+common things.</div>
+
+<p>He went about, dreaming of ogres and magicians,
+and all the rest, so much, that I scarcely think anything
+marvellous would have surprised him. If I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[70]</a></span>
+had suddenly shot up to the ceiling, and called out
+that I had learnt how to fly, I don't believe he would
+have been startled; or if I had shown him a purse
+with a piece of gold in it, and told him that it was
+enchanted, and that he'd always find the money in it
+however often he spent it, he'd have taken it quite
+seriously, and been very pleased.</p>
+
+<p>So the idea of an enchanted little girl did not
+strike us as at all out of the way.</p>
+
+<p>We did not talk about her any more that night
+after we had been at Mrs. Wylie's, for we had to
+hurry up to get neat again to come down to the
+drawing-room to mamma. Blanche and Elf were
+already there when we came in, and they, and
+mamma too, were full of questions about how we'd
+enjoyed ourselves, and about the parrot, and what
+we'd had for tea&mdash;just as I knew they would be;
+I don't mean that mamma asked what we'd had for
+tea, but the girls did.</p>
+
+<p>And then Pete and Elf went off to bed, and when
+I went up he was quite fast asleep, and if he hadn't
+been, I could not have spoken to him because of my
+promise, you know.</p>
+
+<p>He made up for it the next morning, however.</p>
+
+<p>I suppose he had had an extra good night, for I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[71]</a></span>
+felt him looking at me long before I was at all inclined
+to open my eyes, or to snort for him to know
+I was awake. And when at last I did&mdash;it's really
+no good trying to go to sleep again when you feel
+there's somebody fidgeting to talk to you&mdash;there he
+was, his eyes as bright and shiny as could be, sitting
+bolt up with his hands round his knees, as if he'd
+never been asleep in his life?</p>
+
+<p>I couldn't help feeling rather cross, and yet I
+had a contradictory sort of interest and almost eagerness
+to hear what he had to say. I suppose it was a
+kind of love of adventure that made me join him in
+his fancies and plans. I knew that his fancies were
+only fancies really, but still I felt as if we might get
+some fun out of them.</p>
+
+<p>He was too excited to mind my being grumpy.</p>
+
+<p>'Oh, Gilley!' he exclaimed at my first snort, 'I
+am so glad you are awake at last.'</p>
+
+<p>'I daresay you are,' I said, 'but I'm not. I should
+have slept another half-hour if you hadn't sat there
+staring me awake.'</p>
+
+<p>'Well, you needn't talk,' he went on, in a 'smoothing-you-down'
+tone; 'just listen and grunt sometimes.'</p>
+
+<p>I did grunt there and then. There was one<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[72]</a></span>
+comfortable thing about Peterkin even then, and it
+keeps on with him now that he is getting big and
+sensible. He always understands what you say,
+however you say it, or half say it. He was not the
+least surprised at my talking of his staring me
+awake, though he had not exactly meant to do so.</p>
+
+<p>'It has come into my mind, Giles,' he began, very
+importantly, 'how queer and lucky it is that the old
+lady is going away for a fortnight. I should not
+wonder if it had been managed somehow.'</p>
+
+<p>He waited for my grunt, but it turned into&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'What on earth do you mean?'</p>
+
+<p>'I mean, perhaps it's part of the spell, without
+her knowing, of course, that she should have to go to
+London. For if she was still there, we couldn't do
+anything without her finding out.'</p>
+
+<p>'I don't know what you mean about doing anything,'
+I said. 'And please don't say "we." I
+haven't promised to join you. Most likely I'll do my
+best to stop whatever it is you've got in that rummy
+head of yours.'</p>
+
+<p>'Oh no, you won't!' he replied coolly. 'I don't
+know that you could if you tried, without telling the
+others. And you can't do that, of course, as I've
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[73]</a></span>trusted you. It's word of honour, you see, though
+I didn't exactly make you say so. And it's nothing
+naughty or mischievous, else I wouldn't plan it.'</p>
+
+<p>'What is it, then? Hurry up and tell me, without
+such a lot of preparation,' I grumbled.</p>
+
+<p>'I can't tell you very much,' he answered, ''cos,
+you see, I don't know myself. It will show as we
+go on&mdash;I'm certain you'll help me, Gilley. You
+remember the prince in the "Sleeping Beauty"
+did not know exactly what he would do&mdash;no more
+did the one in&mdash;&mdash;'</p>
+
+<p>'Never mind all that,' I interrupted.</p>
+
+<p>'Well, then, what we've got to do is to try to talk
+to her ourselves without any one hearing. That's the
+first thing. We will tell her what the parrot says,
+and then it will be easy to find out if she knows
+herself about the spell.'</p>
+
+<p>'But what do you think the spell is?' I asked,
+feeling again the strange interest and half belief in
+his fancies that Peterkin managed to put into me.
+'What do you suppose your bad fairies, or whatever
+they are, have done to her?'</p>
+
+<p>'There are lots of things, it might be,' he replied
+gravely. 'They may have made her not able to walk,
+or very queer to look at&mdash;p'raps turned her hair
+white, so that you couldn't be sure if she was a little<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[74]</a></span>
+girl or an old woman; or made her nose so long
+that it trails on the floor. No, I don't think it's that,'
+he added, after stopping to think a minute. 'Her
+voice sounds as if she was pretty, even if it's rather
+grumbly. P'raps she turns into a mouse at night,
+and has to run about, and that's why she's so tired.
+It might be that.'</p>
+
+<p>'It would be easy to catch her, then, and bring
+her home in your pocket, if you waited till the
+magic time came,' I suggested, half joking again, of
+course.</p>
+
+<p>'It might be,' agreed Pete, quite seriously, 'or it
+might be very, very difficult, unless we could make
+her understand at the mouse time that we were
+friends. We can't settle anything till we see her,
+and talk to her like a little girl, of course.'</p>
+
+<p>'You certainly couldn't talk to her like anything
+else,' I said; 'but I'm sure I don't see how you mean
+to talk to her at all.'</p>
+
+<p>'I do,' said Peterkin. 'I've been planning it since
+last night. We can go round that way once or twice
+to look at the parrot, and just stand about. Nobody
+would wonder at us if they saw we were looking at
+him. And very likely we'd see <i>something</i>, as she
+lives in the very next-door house. P'raps she comes<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[75]</a></span>
+to the window sometimes, and she might notice
+us if we were looking up at the parrot. It would
+be easiest if she was in the downstairs room.'</p>
+
+<p>'I don't suppose she is there all day,' I said. 'The
+parrot would not have heard her talking so much if
+she were. I think she must have been out on the
+balcony sometimes when it was warmer.'</p>
+
+<p>'Yes,' Peterkin agreed. 'I thought of that. Very
+likely she only comes downstairs for her dinner and
+tea. It's the dining-room, like Mrs. Wylie's.'</p>
+
+<p>'And if she only comes down there late she
+wouldn't see us in the dark, and, besides, the parrot
+wouldn't be out by then. And besides that, except
+for going to tea to Mrs. Wylie's, we'd never get leave
+to be out by ourselves so late. At least <i>you</i> wouldn't.
+Of course, for me, it's sometimes nearly dark when I
+come home from school.'</p>
+
+<p>I really did not see how Pete did mean to manage
+it. But the difficulties I spoke of only seemed to
+make him more determined. I could not help rather
+admiring him for it: he quite felt, I fancy, as if he
+was one of his favourite fairy-tale princes. And in
+the queer way I have spoken of already, he somehow
+made me feel with him. I did not go over all the
+difficulties in order to stop him trying, but because I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[76]</a></span>
+was actually interested in seeing how he was going
+to overcome them.</p>
+
+<p>He was silent for a moment or two after my last
+speech, staring before him with his round blue eyes.</p>
+
+<p>Then he said quietly&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'Yes; I'd thought of most of those things. But
+you will see. We'll manage it somehow. I daresay
+she comes downstairs in the middle of the day, too,
+for she's sure to have dinner early, and the parrot
+will be out then, if we choose a fine day.'</p>
+
+<p>'But we always have to be in for our own dinner
+by half-past one,' I said.</p>
+
+<p>'Well, p'raps <i>she</i> has hers at one, or even half-past
+twelve, like we used to, till you began going to
+school,' said he hopefully. 'And a <i>very</i> little talking
+would do at the first beginning. Then we could be
+very polite, and say we'd come again to see the
+parrot, and p'raps&mdash;' here Peterkin looked rather
+shy.</p>
+
+<p>'Perhaps what? Out with it!' I said.</p>
+
+<p>'We might take her a few flowers,' he answered,
+getting red, 'if&mdash;if we could&mdash;could get any. They're
+very dear to buy, I'm afraid, and we haven't any of
+our own. The garden is so small; it isn't like if we
+lived in the country,' rather dolefully.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[77]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>'You wouldn't have known anything about Rock
+Terrace, or the invisible princess, or the parrot, if we
+lived in the country,' I reminded him.</p>
+
+<p>'No,' said Pete, more cheerfully, 'I hadn't thought
+of that.'</p>
+
+<p>'And&mdash;' I went on, 'I daresay I could help you a
+bit if it really seemed any good,' for I rather liked
+the idea of giving the little girl some flowers. It
+made it all look less babyish.</p>
+
+<p>Peterkin grinned with delight.</p>
+
+<p>'You <i>are</i> kind, Gilley!' he exclaimed. 'I knew
+you would be. Oh, bother! here's nurse coming, and
+we haven't begun to settle anything properly.'</p>
+
+<p>'There's no hurry,' I said; 'you've forgotten that
+we certainly can't go there again till Mrs. Wylie's
+out of the way. And she said, "the end of the week";
+that means Saturday, most likely, and this is&mdash;oh dear!
+I was forgetting&mdash;it's Sunday, and we'll be late.'</p>
+
+<p>Nurse echoed my words as she came in&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'You'll be late, Master Giles, and Master Peterkin,
+too,' she said. 'I really don't think you should talk
+so much on Sunday mornings.'</p>
+
+<p>It wasn't that we had to be any earlier on
+Sundays than any other day, but that dressing in
+your best clothes takes so much longer somehow,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[78]</a></span>
+and we had to have our hair very neat, and all like
+that, because we generally went down to the dining-room,
+while papa and mamma and Clement and
+Blanche were at breakfast, after we had had our own
+in the nursery.</p>
+
+<p>There would be no good in trying to remember all
+our morning talks that week about Peterkin's plans.
+He did not get the least tired of them, and I didn't,
+for a wonder, get tired of listening to him, he was so
+very much in earnest.</p>
+
+<p>He chopped and changed a good bit in little parts
+of them, but still he stuck to the general idea, and I
+helped him to polish it up. It was really more interesting
+than any of his fairy stories, for he managed
+to make both himself and me feel as if we were going
+to be <i>in</i> one of them ourselves.</p>
+
+<p>So I will skip over that week, and go on to the
+next. By that time we knew that Mrs. Wylie was
+in London, because mamma said something one day
+about having had a letter from her. Nothing to do
+with the little girl, as far as we knew; I think it
+was only about somebody who wanted a servant, or
+something stupid like that.</p>
+
+<p>It got on to the Monday of the next week <i>again</i>,
+and by that time Pete had got a sort of start of his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[79]</a></span>
+plans. He had got leave to come to meet me at the
+corner of Lindsay Square, once or twice in the last
+few days. I used to get there about a quarter or
+twenty minutes to one. We were supposed to leave
+school not later than a quarter past twelve, but you
+know how fellows get fooling about coming out of a
+day-school, so, though it was really quite near, I was
+often later.</p>
+
+<p>Mamma was pleased for Peterkin to want to come
+to meet me. She was not at all coddling or stupid
+like that about us boys, though her being in such a
+fuss that evening Pete was lost may have seemed so.
+And she was always awfully glad for us to be fond
+of each other. She used to say she hoped we'd grow
+up 'friends' as well as brothers, which always
+reminded me of the verse about it in the Bible about
+'sticking closer than a brother.' And I like to think
+that dear little mummy's hopes will come true for
+her sons.</p>
+
+<p>It wasn't exactly a fit of affection for me, of
+course, that made Pete want to get into the way of
+coming to meet me. Still, we <i>were</i> very good
+friends; especially good friends just then, as you
+know.</p>
+
+<p>So that Monday, which luckily happened to be a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[80]</a></span>
+very nice bright day, he had no difficulty in getting
+leave for it again. I had promised him to hurry
+over getting off from school, so we counted on having
+a good bit of time to spend in looking at the parrot
+and talking to him, and in 'spying the land'
+generally, including the invisible princess, if we got a
+chance, without risking coming in too late for our
+dinner. We had taken care never to be late, up till
+now, for fear of Peterkin's coming to meet me being
+put a stop to; but we hadn't pretended that we
+would come straight home, and once or twice we had
+done a little shopping together, and more than once
+we had spent several minutes in staring in at the
+flower-shop windows, settling what kind of flowers
+would be best, and in asking the prices of hers from
+a flower-woman who often sat near the corner of the
+square. She was very good-natured about it. We
+shouldn't have liked to go into a regular shop only
+to ask prices, so it was a good thing to know a little
+about them beforehand.</p>
+
+<p>I remember all about that Monday morning particularly
+well. I did hurry off from school as fast as
+I could, though of course&mdash;I think it nearly always
+happens so&mdash;ever so many stupid little things turned
+up to keep me later than I often was.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[81]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>I skurried along pretty fast, you may be sure, once
+I did get out, and it wasn't long before I caught sight
+of poor old Pete <ins title="Transcriber's Note: original reads 'eagly'">eagerly</ins> watching for me at the corner
+of Lindsay Square. He did not dare to come farther,
+because, you see, he had promised mamma he never
+would, and that if I were ever very late he'd go home
+again.</p>
+
+<p>I didn't give him time to be doleful about it.</p>
+
+<p>'I've been as quick as I possibly could,' I said,
+'and it's not so bad after all, Pete. We shall have
+a quarter of an hour for Rock Terrace at least, if
+we hurry now. Don't speak&mdash;it only wastes your
+breath,' for in those days, with being so plump and
+sturdy and his legs rather short, it didn't take much
+to make him puff or pant. He's in better training
+now by a long way.</p>
+
+<p>He was always very sensible, so he took my
+advice and we got over the ground pretty fast, only
+pulling up when we got to the end, or beginning, of
+the little row of houses.</p>
+
+<p>'Now,' said I, 'let's first walk right along rather
+slowly, and if we hear the Polly we can stop short,
+as if we were noticing him for the first time, the
+way people often do, you know.'</p>
+
+<p>Peterkin nodded.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[82]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>'I believe I see the corner of his cage out on the
+balcony,' he said, half whispering, 'already.'</p>
+
+<p>He was right. The cage was out.</p>
+
+<p>We walked past very slowly, though we took care
+not to look up as if we were expecting to see anything.
+The parrot was in the front of the cage,
+staring down, and I'm almost certain he saw us, and
+even remembered us, though, out of contradiction, he
+pretended he didn't.</p>
+
+<p>'Don't speak or turn,' I whispered to Pete. It
+was so very quiet along Rock Terrace, except when
+some tradesman's cart rattled past&mdash;and just now
+there was nothing of the kind in view&mdash;that even
+common talking could have been heard. 'Don't
+speak or seem to see him. They are awfully conceited
+birds, and the way to make them notice you
+and begin talking and screeching is to pretend you
+don't see them.'</p>
+
+<p>So we walked on silently to the farther end of the
+terrace, in a very matter-of-fact way, turning to come
+back again just as we had gone. And I could be
+positive that the creature saw us all the time, for the
+row of houses was very short, and he was well to the
+front of the balcony.</p>
+
+<p>Our 'stratagem'&mdash;I have always liked the word,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[83]</a></span>
+ever since I read <i>Tales of a Grandfather</i>, which I
+thought a great take-in, as it's just a history book,
+neither more nor less, and the only exciting part is
+when you come upon stratagems&mdash;succeeded. As we
+<ins title="Transcriber's Note: original reads 'get'">got</ins> close up to the parrot's house, next door to
+Mother Wylie's, you understand, <i>and</i>, of course, next
+door to the invisible princess's, we heard a sound.
+It was a sort of rather angry squeak or croak, but
+loud enough to be an excuse for our stopping short
+and looking up.</p>
+
+<p>And then, as we still did not speak, Master Poll,
+his round eyes glaring at us, I felt certain, was forced
+to open the conversation.</p>
+
+<p>'Pretty Poll,' he began, of course. 'Pretty Poll.'</p>
+
+<p>'All right,' I called back. 'Good morning, Pretty
+Poll. A fine day.'</p>
+
+<p>'Wants his dinner,' he went on. 'I say, wants his
+dinner.'</p>
+
+<p>'Really, does he?' I said, in a mocking tone,
+which he understood, and beginning to get angry&mdash;just
+what I wanted.</p>
+
+<p>'Naughty boy! naughty boy!' he screeched, very
+loudly. Pete and I grinned with satisfaction!</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[84]</a></span></p>
+<h2>CHAPTER VI</h2>
+
+<h3>MARGARET</h3>
+
+
+<div class='unindent'><span class="smcap">There's</span> an old proverb that mamma has often quoted
+to us, for she's awfully keen on our all being 'plucky,'
+and, on the whole, I think we are&mdash;</div>
+
+<p>'Fortune favours the brave.'</p>
+
+<p>I have sometimes thought it would suit Peterkin
+to turn it into 'Fortune favours the determined.'
+Not that he's <i>not</i> 'plucky,' but there's nothing like
+him for sticking to a thing, once he has got it into his
+head. And certainly fortune favoured him at the
+time I am writing about. Nothing could have suited
+us better than the parrot's screeching out to us
+'naughty boy, naughty boy.'</p>
+
+<p>I suppose he had been taught to say it to errand-boys
+and boys like that who mocked at him. But
+we did not want to set up a row, so I replied gently&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'No, no, Polly, good boys. Polly shall have his
+dinner soon.'<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[85]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>'Good Polly, good Polly,' he repeated with satisfaction.</p>
+
+<p>And then&mdash;what <i>do</i> you think happened? The
+door-window of the drawing-room of the next house,
+<i>the</i> house, was pushed open a little bit, and out
+peeped a child's head, a small head with smooth short
+dark hair, but a little girl's head. We could tell that
+at once by the way it was combed, or brushed, even
+if we had not seen, as we did, a white muslin pinafore,
+with lace ruffly things that only a girl would
+wear. My heart really began to beat quite loudly,
+as if I'd been running fast&mdash;we had been so excited
+about her, you see, and afterwards Pete told me his
+did too.</p>
+
+<p>The only pity was, that she was up on the drawing-room
+floor. We could have seen her so much better
+downstairs. But we had scarcely time to feel disappointed.</p>
+
+<p>When she saw us, and saw, I suppose, that we
+were not errand-boys or street-boys, she came out a
+little farther. I felt sure by her manner that she
+was alone in the room. She looked down at us,
+looked us well over for a moment or two, and then
+she said&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'Are you talking to the parrot?'<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[86]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>She did not call out or speak loudly at all, but her
+voice was very clear.</p>
+
+<p>'Yes,' Peterkin replied. As he had started the
+whole business I thought it fair to let him speak
+before me. 'Yes, but he called out to us first. He
+called us "naughty boys."'</p>
+
+<p>'I heard him,' said the little girl, 'and I thought
+perhaps you <i>were</i> naughty boys, teasing him, you
+know, and I was going to call to you to run away.
+But&mdash;' and she glanced at us again. I could see
+that she wanted to go on talking, but she did not
+quite know how to set about it.</p>
+
+<p>So I thought I might help things on a bit.</p>
+
+<p>'Thank you,' I said, taking off my cap. 'My
+little brother is very interested in the parrot. He
+seems so clever.'</p>
+
+<p>At another time Pete would have been very
+offended at my calling him 'little,' but just now he
+was too eager to mind, or even, I daresay, to notice.</p>
+
+<p>'So he is,' said the little girl. 'I could tell you
+lots about him, but it's rather tiresome talking down
+to you from up here. Wait a minute,' she added,
+'and I'll come down to the dining-room. I may go
+downstairs now, and nurse is out, and I'm very dull.'</p>
+
+<p>We were so pleased that we scarcely dared look at<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[87]</a></span>
+each other, for fear that somehow it should go wrong
+after all. We did glance along the terrace, but nobody
+was coming. If only her nurse would stay out
+for ten minutes longer, or even less.</p>
+
+<p>We stood there, almost holding our breath. But
+it was not really&mdash;it could not have been&mdash;more than
+half a minute, before the dark head and white pinafore
+appeared again, this time, of course, on the
+ground floor; the window there was a little bit open
+already, to air the room perhaps.</p>
+
+<p>We would have liked to go close up to the small
+balcony where she stood, but we dared not, for fear
+of the nurse coming. And the garden was very tiny,
+we were only two or three yards from the little girl,
+even outside on the pavement.</p>
+
+<p>She looked at us first, looked us well over, before
+she began to speak again. Then she said&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'Have you been to see the parrot already?'</p>
+
+<p>'Oh yes,' said Peterkin, in his very politest tone,
+'oh yes, thank you.' I did not quite see why he said
+'thank you.' I suppose he meant it in return for her
+coming downstairs. 'I've been here two, no, three
+times, and Giles,' he gave a sort of nod towards me,
+'has been here two.'</p>
+
+<p>'Is your name Giles?' she asked me. She had a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[88]</a></span>
+funny, little, rather condescending manner of speaking
+to us, but I didn't mind it somehow.</p>
+
+<p>'Yes,' I replied, 'and his,' and I touched Pete, 'is
+"Peterkin."'</p>
+
+<p>'They are queer names; don't you think so? At
+least,' she added quickly, as if she was afraid she had
+said something rude, 'they are very uncommon.
+"Giles" and "Perkin."'</p>
+
+<p>'Not "Perkin,"' I said, "Peterkin."'</p>
+
+<p>'Oh, I thought it was like a man in my history,'
+she said, 'Perkin War&mdash;something.'</p>
+
+<p>'No,' said Peterkin, 'it isn't in history, but it's in
+poetry. About a battle. I've got it in a book.'</p>
+
+<p>'I should like to see it,' she said. 'There's lots of
+<i>my</i> name in history. My name is Margaret. There
+are queens and princesses called Margaret.'</p>
+
+<p>Pete opened his mouth as if he was going to speak,
+but shut it up again. I know what he had been
+on the point of saying,&mdash;'Are you a princess?' 'a
+shut-up princess?' he would have added very likely,
+but I suppose he was sensible enough to see that if
+she had been 'shut-up,' in the way he had been fancying
+to himself, she would scarcely have been able to
+come downstairs and talk to us as she was doing.
+And she was not dressed like the princesses in his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[89]</a></span>
+stories, who had always gold crowns on and long
+shiny trains. Still, though she had only a pinafore
+on, I could see that it was rather a grand one, lots of
+lace about it, like one of Elf's very best, and though
+her hair was short and her face small and pale, there
+was something about her&mdash;the way she stood and
+the way she spoke&mdash;which was different from many
+little girls of her age.</p>
+
+<p>Peterkin took advantage very cleverly of what she
+had said about his name.</p>
+
+<p>'I'll bring you my poetry-book, if you like,' he
+said. 'It's a quite old one. I think it belonged to
+grandmamma, and she's as old as&mdash;as old as&mdash;' he
+seemed at a loss to find anything to compare poor
+grandmamma to, till suddenly a bright idea struck
+him&mdash;'nearly as old as Mrs. Wylie, I should think,'
+he finished up.</p>
+
+<p>'Oh,' said Margaret, 'do you know Mrs. Wylie?
+I've never seen her, but I think I've heard her talk.
+Her house is next door to the parrot's.'</p>
+
+<p>'Yes,' said I, 'but I wonder you've never seen her.
+She often goes out.'</p>
+
+<p>'But&mdash;' began the little girl again, 'I've been&mdash;oh,
+I do believe that's my dinner clattering in the
+kitchen, and nurse will be coming in, and I've never<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[90]</a></span>
+told you about the parrot. I've lots to tell you.
+Will you come again? Not to-morrow, but on
+Wednesday nurse is going out to the dressmaker's.
+I heard her settling it. Please come on Wednesday,
+just like this.'</p>
+
+<p>'We could come a little earlier, perhaps,' I
+said.</p>
+
+<p>Margaret nodded.</p>
+
+<p>'Yes, do,' she replied, 'and I'll be on the look-out
+for you. I shall think of lots of things to say. I
+want to tell you about the parrot, and&mdash;about lots of
+things,' she repeated. 'Good-bye.'</p>
+
+<p>We tugged at our caps, echoing 'good-bye,' and
+then we walked on towards the farther-off end of the
+terrace, and when we got there we turned and walked
+back again. And then we saw that we had not left
+the front of Margaret's house any too soon, for a
+short, rather stout little woman was coming along,
+evidently in a hurry. She just glanced at us as
+she passed us, but I don't think she noticed us
+particularly.</p>
+
+<p>'That's her nurse, I'm sure,' said Peterkin, in a
+low voice. 'I don't think she looks unkind.'</p>
+
+<p>'No, only rather fussy, I should say,' I replied.</p>
+
+<p>We had scarcely spoken to each other before,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[91]</a></span>
+since bidding Margaret good-bye. Pete had been
+thinking deeply, and I was waiting to hear what he
+had to say.</p>
+
+<p>'I wonder,' he went on, after a moment or two's
+silence,&mdash;'I wonder how much she knows?'</p>
+
+<p>'Why?' I exclaimed. 'What do you think there
+is to know?'</p>
+
+<p>'It's all very misterous, still,' he answered
+solemnly. 'She&mdash;the little girl&mdash;said she had lots to
+tell us about the parrot and other things. And she
+didn't want her nurse to see us talking to her. And
+she said she could come downstairs <i>now</i>, but, I'm
+sure, they don't let her go out. She wouldn't be so
+dull if they did.'</p>
+
+<p>'Who's "they"?' I asked.</p>
+
+<p>'I don't quite know,' he replied, shaking his head.
+'Some kind of fairies. P'raps it's bad ones, or
+p'raps it's good ones. No, it can't be bad ones, for
+then they wouldn't have planned the parrot telling
+us about her, so that we could help her to get free.
+The parrot is a sort of messenger from the good
+fairies, I believe.'</p>
+
+<p>He looked up, his eyes very bright and blue, as
+they always were when he thought he had made a
+discovery, or was on the way to one. And I, half in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[92]</a></span>
+earnest, half in fun, like I'd been about it all the
+time, let my own fancy go on with his.</p>
+
+<p>'Perhaps,' I said. 'We shall find out on Wednesday,
+I suppose, when we talk more to Margaret.
+We needn't call her the invisible princess any more.'</p>
+
+<p>'No, but she is a princess sort of little girl, isn't
+she?' he said, 'though her hair isn't as pretty as
+Blanche's and Elf's, and her face is very little.'</p>
+
+<p>'She's all right,' I said.</p>
+
+<p>And then we had to hurry and leave off talking,
+for we had been walking more slowly than we knew,
+and just then some big clock struck the quarter.</p>
+
+<p>I think, perhaps, I had better explain here, that
+none of us&mdash;neither Margaret, nor Peterkin, nor I&mdash;thought
+we were doing anything the least wrong in
+keeping our making acquaintance a secret. What
+Margaret thought about it, so far as she did think of
+that part of it, you will understand as I go on; and
+Pete and I had our minds so filled with his fairies
+that we simply didn't think of anything else.</p>
+
+<p>It was growing more and more interesting, for
+Margaret had something very jolly about her, though
+she wasn't exactly pretty.</p>
+
+<p>I can't remember if it did come into my mind, a
+very little, perhaps, that we should tell somebody&mdash;mamma,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[93]</a></span>
+perhaps, or Clement&mdash;about our visits to
+Rock Terrace even then. But if it did, I think I put
+it out again, by knowing that Margaret meant it to
+be a secret, and that, till we saw her again, and heard
+what she was going to tell us, it would not be fair to
+mention anything about it.</p>
+
+<p>We were both very glad that Wednesday was only
+the day after to-morrow. It would have been a great
+nuisance to have had to wait a whole week, perhaps.
+And we were very anxious when Wednesday morning
+came, to see what sort of weather it was, for on
+Tuesday it rained. Not very badly, but enough for
+nurse to tell Peterkin that it was too showery for
+him to come to meet me, and it would not have been
+much good if he had, as we couldn't have spoken to
+Margaret.</p>
+
+<p>Nor could we have strolled up and down the
+terrace or stood looking at the parrot, even if he'd
+been out on the terrace, which he wouldn't have been
+on at all on a bad day&mdash;if it was rainy. It would have
+been sure to make some of the people in the houses
+wonder at us; just what we didn't want.</p>
+
+<p>But Wednesday was fine, luckily, and this time I
+got off from school to the minute without any one or
+anything stopping me.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[94]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>I ran most of the way to the corner of Lindsay
+Square, all the same; and I was not too early either,
+for before I got there I saw Master Peterkin's sturdy
+figure steering along towards me, not far off. And
+when he got up to me I saw that he had a small
+brown-paper parcel under his arm, neatly tied up
+with red string.</p>
+
+<p>He was awfully pleased to see me so early, for his
+round face was grinning all over, and as a rule it was
+rather solemn.</p>
+
+<p>'What's that you've got there?' I asked.</p>
+
+<p>He looked surprised at my not knowing.</p>
+
+<p>'Why, of course, the poetry-book,' he said. 'I
+promised it her, and I've marked the poetry about
+"Peterkin." It's the Battle of Blen&mdash;Blen-hime&mdash;mamma
+said, when I learnt it, that that's the right
+way to say it; but Miss Tucker' ('Miss Tucker' was
+Blanche's and the little ones' governess) 'called it
+Blen<i>nem</i>, and I always have to think when I say it.
+I wish they didn't call him "<i>little</i> Peterkin," though,'
+he went on, 'it sounds so babyish.'</p>
+
+<p>'I don't see that it matters, as it isn't about you
+yourself,' I said. 'I'd forgotten all about it; I think
+it's rather sharp of you to have remembered.'</p>
+
+<p>'I couldn't never forget anything I'd promised <i>her</i>,'<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[95]</a></span>
+said Pete, and you might really have thought by his
+tone that he believed he was the prince going to
+visit the Sleeping Beauty&mdash;after she'd come awake, I
+suppose.</p>
+
+<p>We did not need to hurry; we were actually
+rather too early, so we went on talking.</p>
+
+<p>'How about the flowers we meant to get for her?'
+I said suddenly.</p>
+
+<p>'<i>I</i> didn't forget about them,' he answered, 'but
+we didn't promise them, and I thought it would be
+better to ask her first. She might like chocolates
+best, you know.'</p>
+
+<p>'All right,' I said, and I thought perhaps it was
+better to ask her first. You see, if she didn't want
+her nurse to know about our coming to see her it
+would have been tiresome, as, of course, Margaret
+could not have told a story.</p>
+
+<p>There she was, peeping out of the downstairs
+window already when we got there. And when she
+saw us she came farther out, a little bit on to the
+balcony. It was a sunny day for winter, and
+besides, she had a red shawl on, so she could not very
+well have caught cold. It was a very pretty shawl,
+with goldy marks or patterns on it. It was like one
+grandmamma had been sent a present of from India,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[96]</a></span>
+and afterwards Margaret told me hers had come
+from India too. And it suited her, somehow, even
+though she was only a thin, pale little girl.</p>
+
+<p>She smiled when she saw us, though she did not
+speak till we were near enough to hear what she
+said without her calling out. And when we stopped
+in front of her house, she said&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'I think you might come inside the garden. We
+could talk better.'</p>
+
+<p>So we did, first glancing up at the next-door
+balcony, to see if the parrot was there.</p>
+
+<p>Yes, he was, but not as far out as usual, and
+there was a cloth, or something, half-down round his
+cage, to keep him warmer, I suppose.</p>
+
+<p>He was quite silent, but Margaret nodded her
+head up towards him.</p>
+
+<p>'He told me you were coming,' she cried, 'though
+it wasn't in a very polite way. He croaked out&mdash;"Naughty
+boys! naughty boys!"'</p>
+
+<p>We all three laughed a little.</p>
+
+<p>'And now,' Margaret went on, 'I daresay he won't
+talk at all, all the time you are here.'</p>
+
+<p>'But will he understand what we say?' asked
+Peterkin, rather anxiously.</p>
+
+<p>Margaret shook her head.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 311px;">
+<img src="images/i115.png" width="311" height="500" alt="PETE HELD OUT HIS BROWN-PAPER PARCEL. &#39;THIS IS THE POETRY-BOOK,&#39; HE SAID.&mdash;p. 97." title="PETE HELD OUT HIS BROWN-PAPER PARCEL. &#39;THIS IS THE POETRY-BOOK,&#39; HE SAID.&mdash;p. 97." />
+<span class="caption">PETE HELD OUT HIS BROWN-PAPER PARCEL. &#39;THIS IS THE POETRY-BOOK,&#39; HE SAID.&mdash;p. 97.</span>
+</div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[97]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>'I really don't know,' she replied. 'We had
+better talk in rather low voices. I don't <i>think</i>,' she
+went on, almost in a whisper, 'that he is fairy enough
+to hear if we speak very softly.'</p>
+
+<p>Peterkin gave a sort of spring of delight.</p>
+
+<p>'Oh!' he exclaimed, 'I am <i>so</i> glad you think he
+is fairyish, too.'</p>
+
+<p>'Of course I do,' said she; 'that's partly what I
+wanted to tell you.'</p>
+
+<p>We came closer to the window. Margaret looked
+at us again in her examining way, without speaking,
+for a minute, and before she said anything, Pete held
+out his brown-paper parcel.</p>
+
+<p>'This is the poetry-book,' he said, 'and I've put a
+mark in the place where it's about my name.'</p>
+
+<p>He pulled off his cap as he handed the packet to
+her, and stood with his curly wig looking almost red
+in the sunlight, though it was not very bright.</p>
+
+<p>'Put it on again,' said Margaret, in her little
+queer way, meaning his cap. 'And thank you very
+much, Perkin, for remembering to bring it. I think
+I should like to call you "Perkin," if you don't mind.
+I like to have names of my own for some people, and
+I really thought yours was Perkin.'</p>
+
+<p>I wished to myself she would have a name of her<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[98]</a></span>
+own for <i>me</i>, but I suppose she thought I was too
+big.</p>
+
+<p>'I think you are very nice boys,' she went on,
+'not "naughty" ones at all; and if you will promise
+not to tell any one what I am going to tell <i>you</i>, I will
+explain all I can. I mean you mustn't tell any one
+till I give you leave, and as it's only about my own
+affairs, of course you can promise.'</p>
+
+<p>Of course we did promise.</p>
+
+<p>'Listen, then,' said Margaret, glancing up first of
+all at the parrot, and drawing back a little into the
+inside of the room. 'You can hear what I say, even
+though I don't speak very loudly, can't you?'</p>
+
+<p>'Oh yes! quite well,' we replied.</p>
+
+<p>'Well, then, listen,' she repeated. 'I have no
+brothers or sisters, and Dads and Mummy are in
+India. I lived there till about three years ago, and
+then they came here and left me with my grandfather.
+That's how people always have to do who
+live in India.'</p>
+
+<p>'Didn't you mind awfully?' I said. 'Your father
+and mother leaving you, I mean?'</p>
+
+<p>'Of course I minded,' she replied. 'But I had
+always known it would have to be. And they will
+come home again for good some day; perhaps before<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[99]</a></span>
+very long. And I have always been quite happy till
+lately. Gran is very good to me, and I'm used to
+being a good deal alone, you see, except for big people.
+I've always had lots of story books, and not <i>very</i>
+many lessons. So, after a bit, it didn't seem so very
+different from India. Only <i>now</i> it's quite different.
+It's like being shut up in a tower, and it's very queer
+altogether, and I <i>believe</i> she's a sort of a witch,' and
+Margaret nodded her head mysteriously.</p>
+
+<p>'<i>Who?</i>' we asked eagerly.</p>
+
+<p>'The person I'm living with&mdash;Miss Bogle&mdash;isn't
+her name witchy?' and she smiled a little. 'No,
+no, not nurse,' for I had begun to say the word.
+'<i>She</i> is only rather a goose. No, this house belongs
+to Miss Bogle, and she's quite old&mdash;oh, as old as old!
+And she's got rheumatism, so she very seldom goes
+up and down stairs. And nurse does just exactly
+what Miss Bogle tells her. It was this way. Gran
+had to go away&mdash;a good way, though not so far as
+India, and he is always dreadfully afraid of anything
+happening to me, I suppose. So he sent me here
+with nurse, and he told me I would be very happy.
+He knew Miss Bogle long ago&mdash;I think she had a
+school for little boys once; perhaps that was before
+she got to be a witch. But I've been dreadfully unhappy,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[100]</a></span>
+and I don't know what's going to happen to
+me if I go on like this much longer.'</p>
+
+<p>She stopped, out of breath almost.</p>
+
+<p>'Do you think she's going to enchanter you?'
+asked Peterkin, in a whisper. 'Do you think she
+wasn't asked to your christening, or anything like
+that?'</p>
+
+<p>Margaret shook her head again.</p>
+
+<p>'<i>Something</i> like that, I suppose,' she replied.
+'She looks at me through her spectacles so queerly,
+you can't think. You see, I was ill at Gran's before
+I came here: not very badly, though he fussed a
+good deal about it. And he thought the sea-air
+would do me good. But I've often had colds, and I
+never was treated like this before&mdash;never. For ever
+so long, <i>she</i>,' and Margaret nodded towards somewhere
+unknown, 'wouldn't let me come downstairs
+at all. And then I cried&mdash;sometimes I <i>roared</i>, and
+luckily the parrot heard, and began to talk about it
+in his way. And you see it's through him that <i>you</i>
+got to know about me, so I'm sure he's on the other
+side, and knows she's a witch, but&mdash;&mdash;'</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[101]</a></span></p>
+<h2>CHAPTER VII</h2>
+
+<h3>THE GREAT PLAN</h3>
+
+
+<div class='unindent'><span class="smcap">At</span> that moment the clock&mdash;a clock somewhere
+near&mdash;struck. Margaret started, and listened,&mdash;'One,
+two, three.' She looked pleased.</div>
+
+<p>'It's only a quarter to one,' she said. 'Half-an-hour
+still to my dinner. What time do you need to
+get home by?'</p>
+
+<p>'A quarter-past will do for us,' I said.</p>
+
+<p>'Oh, then it's all right,' she replied. 'But I must
+be quick. I want to know all that the parrot told
+you.'</p>
+
+<p>'It was more what he had said to Mrs. Wylie,' I
+explained, 'copying you, you know. And, at first,
+she called you "that poor child," and told us she was
+so sorry for you.'</p>
+
+<p>'But now she won't say anything. She pinched<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[102]</a></span>
+up her lips about you the other day,' added
+Peterkin.</p>
+
+<p>Margaret seemed very interested, but not very
+surprised.</p>
+
+<p>'Oh, then, Miss Bogle is beginning to bewitch her
+too,' she said. 'Nurse is a goose, as I told you.
+She just does everything Miss Bogle wants. And if
+it wasn't for the parrot and you,' she went on
+solemnly, 'I daresay when Gran comes home he'd
+find me turned into a pussy-cat.'</p>
+
+<p>'Or a mouse, or even a frog,' said Peterkin, his
+eyes gleaming; 'only then he wouldn't know it was
+you, unless your nurse told him.'</p>
+
+<p>'She wouldn't,' said Margaret, 'the witch would
+take care to stop her, or to turn her into a big cat
+herself, or something. There'd be only the parrot,
+and Gran mightn't understand him. It's better not
+to risk it. And that's what I'm planning about.
+But it will take a great deal of planning, though I've
+been thinking about it ever since you came, and I
+felt sure the good fairies had sent you to rescue me.
+When can you come again?'</p>
+
+<p>'Any day, almost,' said Pete.</p>
+
+<p>'Well, then, I'll tell you what. I'll be on the
+look-out for you passing every fine day about this<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[103]</a></span>
+time, and the first day I'm sure of nurse going to
+London again&mdash;and I know she has to go once more
+at least&mdash;I'll manage to tell you, and <i>then</i> we'll fix
+for a long talk here.'</p>
+
+<p>'All right,' I said, 'but we'd better go now.'</p>
+
+<p>There was a sound of footsteps approaching, so
+with only a hurried 'good-bye' we ran off.</p>
+
+<p>We did not need to stroll up and down the
+terrace to-day, as we knew Margaret's nurse was
+away; luckily so, for we only just got home in time
+by the skin of our teeth, running all the way, and
+not talking.</p>
+
+<p>I wish I could quite explain about myself, here,
+but it is rather difficult. I went on thinking about
+Margaret a lot, all that day; all the more that Pete
+and I didn't talk much about her. We both seemed
+to be waiting till we saw her again and heard her
+'plans.'</p>
+
+<p>And I cannot now feel sure if I really was in
+earnest at all, as she and Peterkin certainly were,
+about the enchantment and the witch. I remember
+I laughed at it to myself sometimes, and called it
+'bosh' in my own mind. And yet I did not quite
+think it only that. After all, I was only a little boy
+myself, and Margaret had such a common-sensical<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[104]</a></span>
+way, even in talking of fanciful things, that somehow
+you couldn't laugh at her, and Pete, of course, was
+quite and entirely in earnest.</p>
+
+<p>I think I really had a strong belief that <i>some</i> risk
+or danger was hanging over her, and I think this
+was natural, considering the queer way our getting
+to know her had been brought about. And any boy
+would have been 'taken' by the idea of 'coming to
+the rescue,' as she called it.</p>
+
+<p>There was a good deal of rather hard work at
+lessons just then for me. Papa and mamma wanted
+me to get into a higher class after Christmas, and I
+daresay I had been pretty idle, or at least taking
+things easy, for I was not as well up as I should
+have been, I know. So Peterkin and I had not as
+much time for private talking as usual. I had often
+lessons to look over first thing in the morning, and
+as mamma would not allow us to have candles in
+bed, and there was no gas or electric light in our
+room, I had to get up a bit earlier, when I had work
+to look over or finish. And nurse was very good
+about that sort of thing: there was always a jolly
+bright fire for me in the nursery, however early I
+was.</p>
+
+<p>Our best time for talking was when Peterkin<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[105]</a></span>
+came to meet me. But we had two or three wet
+days about then. And Margaret did not expect us
+on rainy days, even if Pete had been allowed to come,
+which he wasn't.</p>
+
+<p>It was, as far as I remember, not till the Monday
+after that Wednesday that we were able to pass
+along Rock Terrace. And almost before we came in
+real sight of her, I felt certain that the little figure
+was standing there on the look-out.</p>
+
+<p>And so she was&mdash;red shawl and white pinafore,
+and small dark head, as usual.</p>
+
+<p>We made a sort of pretence of strolling past her
+house at first, but we found we didn't need to. She
+beckoned to us at once, and just at that moment the
+parrot, who was out in <i>his</i> balcony, most luckily&mdash;or
+cleverly, Peterkin always declares he did it on
+purpose&mdash;screeched out in quite a good-humoured
+tone&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'Good morning! good morning! Pretty Poll!
+Fine day, boys! Good morning!'</p>
+
+<p>'Good morning, Poll,' we called out as we ran
+across the tiny plot of garden to Margaret.</p>
+
+<p>'I'm so glad you've come,' she said, 'but you
+mustn't stop a minute. I've been out in a bath-chair
+this morning&mdash;I've just come in; and now I'm<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[106]</a></span>
+to go every day. It's horrid, and it's all nonsense,
+when I can walk and run quite well. It's all that
+old witch. I'm going again to-morrow and Wednesday;
+but I'm going to manage to make it later on
+Wednesday, so that you can talk to me on the
+Parade. Nurse is going to London all day on
+Wednesday, but I'm to go out just the same, for the
+bath-chair man is somebody that Miss Bogle knows
+quite well. So if you watch for me on the Parade,
+between the street close to here,' and she nodded
+towards the nearest side of Lindsay Square, 'and
+farther on <i>that</i> way,' and now she pointed in the
+direction of our own house, 'I'll look out for you,
+and we can have a good talk.'</p>
+
+<p>'All right,' we replied. 'On Wednesday&mdash;day
+after to-morrow, if it's fine, of course.'</p>
+
+<p>'Yes,' she said; 'though I'll <i>try</i> to go, even if it's
+not <i>very</i> fine, and you must try to come. I know
+now why nurse has to go to London. It's to see her
+sister, who's in an hospital, and Wednesday's the
+only day, and she's a dressmaker&mdash;that's why I
+thought nurse had to go to a dressmaker's. I'm
+going on making up my plans. It's getting worse
+and worse. After I've been out in the bath-chair,
+Miss Bogle says I'm to lie down most of the afternoon!<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[107]</a></span>
+Just fancy&mdash;it's so <i>dreadfully</i> dull, for she
+won't let me read. She says it's bad for your eyes,
+when you're lying down. Unless I do something
+quick, I believe she'll turn me into a&mdash;oh! I don't
+know what,' and she stopped, quite out of
+breath.</p>
+
+<p>'A frog,' said Peterkin. He had enchanted frogs
+on the brain just then, I believe.</p>
+
+<p>'No,' said Margaret, 'that wouldn't be so bad, for
+I'd be able to jump about, and there's nothing I love
+as much as jumping about, especially in water,' and
+her eyes sparkled with a sort of mischief which I
+had seen in them once or twice before. 'No, it
+would be something much horrider&mdash;a dormouse,
+perhaps. I should hate to be a dormouse.</p>
+
+<p>'You shan't be changed into a dormouse or&mdash;or
+<i>anything</i>,' said Peterkin, with a burst of indignation.</p>
+
+<p>'Thank you, Perkins,' Margaret replied; 'but
+please go now and remember&mdash;Wednesday.'</p>
+
+<p>We ran off, and though we thought we had only
+been a minute or two at Rock Terrace, after all we
+were not home much too early.</p>
+
+<p>'We must be careful on Wednesday,' I said.
+'I'm afraid my watch is rather slow.'</p>
+
+<div class="figright" style="width: 278px;">
+<img src="images/i128.png" width="278" height="500" alt="WE HAD NO DIFFICULTY IN FINDING HER BATH-CHAIR.&mdash;p. 108." title="WE HAD NO DIFFICULTY IN FINDING HER BATH-CHAIR.&mdash;p. 108." />
+<span class="caption">WE HAD NO DIFFICULTY IN FINDING HER BATH-CHAIR.&mdash;p. 108.</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>'Dinner isn't always quite so pumptual on<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[108]</a></span>
+Wednesdays,' said Pete, 'with its being a half-holiday,
+you know.'</p>
+
+<p>It turned out right enough on Wednesday.</p>
+
+<p>Considering what a little girl she was then&mdash;only
+eight and a bit&mdash;Margaret was very clever with her
+plans and settlings, as we have often told her since.
+I daresay it was with her having lived so much
+alone, and read so many story-books, and made up
+stories for herself too, as she often did, though we
+didn't know that then.</p>
+
+<p>We had no difficulty in finding her bath-chair,
+and the man took it quite naturally that she should
+have some friends, and, of course, made no objection
+to our walking beside her and talking to her. He
+was a very nice kind sort of a man, though he
+scarcely ever spoke. Perhaps he had children of
+his own, and was glad for Margaret to be amused.
+He took great care of the chair, over the crossing the
+road and the turnings, and no doubt he had been
+told to be extra careful, but as Miss Bogle had no
+idea that Margaret knew a creature in the place I
+don't suppose 'the witch' had ever thought of telling
+him that he was not to let any one speak to her.</p>
+
+<p>It was a very fine day&mdash;a sort of November
+summer, and when you were in the full sunshine it<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[109]</a></span>
+really felt quite hot. There were bath-chairs standing
+still, for the people in them to enjoy the warmth
+and to stare out at the sea.</p>
+
+<p>Margaret did not want to stare at it, and no more
+did we. But it was more comfortable to talk with
+the chair standing still; for though to look at one
+going it seems to crawl along like a snail, I can tell
+you to keep up with it you have to step out pretty
+fast, faster than Peterkin could manage without a
+bit of running every minute or so, which is certainly
+<i>not</i> comfortable, and faster than I myself could
+manage as well as talking, without getting short of
+breath.</p>
+
+<p>So we were very glad to pull up for a few minutes,
+though we had already got through a good deal of
+business, as I will tell you.</p>
+
+<p>Margaret had made up her mind to run away!
+Fancy that&mdash;a little girl of eight!</p>
+
+<p>Pete and I were awfully startled when she burst
+out with it. She could stand Miss Bogle and the
+dreadful dulness and loneliness of Rock Terrace no
+longer, she declared, not to speak of what might
+happen to her in the way of being turned into a
+kitten or a mouse or <i>something</i>, if the witch got
+really too spiteful.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[110]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>'And where will you go to?' we asked.</p>
+
+<p>'Home,' she said, 'at least to my nursey's, and
+that is close to home.'</p>
+
+<p>We were so puzzled at this that we could scarcely
+speak.</p>
+
+<p>'To your <i>nurse's!</i>' we said at last.</p>
+
+<p>'Yes, to my own nurse&mdash;my old nurse!' said
+Margaret, quite surprised that we didn't understand.
+And then she explained what she thought she had
+told us.</p>
+
+<p>'That stupid thing who is my nurse now,' she said,
+'isn't my <i>real</i> nurse. I mean she has only been with
+me since I came here. She belongs to Miss Bogle&mdash;I
+mean Miss Bogle got her. My own darling nursey
+had to leave me. She stayed and stayed because of
+that bad cold I got, you know, but as soon as I was
+better she <i>had</i> to go, because her mother was so old
+and ill, and hasn't <i>nobody</i> but nursey to take care of
+her. And then when Gran had to go away he
+settled it all with that witchy Miss Bogle, and she
+got this goosey nurse, and my own nursey brought
+me here. And she cried and cried when she went
+away, and she said she'd come some day to see if I
+was happy, but the witch said no, she mustn't, it
+would upset me; and so she's never dared to; and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[111]</a></span>
+now you can fancy what my life has been,' Margaret
+finished up, in quite a triumphant tone.</p>
+
+<p>Peterkin was nearly crying by this time. But I
+knew I must be very sensible. It all seemed so very
+serious.</p>
+
+<p>'But what will your grandfather say when he
+knows you've run away?' I asked, while Peterkin
+stood listening, with his mouth wide open.</p>
+
+<p>'He'd be very glad to know where I was, <i>I</i> should
+say,' Margaret replied. 'My own nursey will write
+to him, and I will myself. It'll be a good deal better
+than if I stayed to be turned into something he'd
+never know was me. Then, what would Dads and
+Mummy say to <i>him</i> for having lost me?'</p>
+
+<p>'The parrot'd tell, p'raps,' said Pete.</p>
+
+<p>'As if anybody would believe him!' exclaimed
+Margaret, 'except people who understand about
+fairies and witches and things like that, that you
+two and I know about.'</p>
+
+<p>She was giving <i>me</i> credit for more believing in
+'things like that' than I was feeling just then, to
+tell the truth. But what I did feel rather disagreeably
+sure of, was this queer little girl's determination.
+She sometimes spoke as if she was twenty. Putting
+it all together, I had a sort of instinct that it was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[112]</a></span>
+best not to laugh at her ideas at all, as the next thing
+would be that she and her devoted 'Perkins' would
+be making plans without me, and really getting lost,
+or into dreadful troubles of some kind. So I contented
+myself with just saying&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'Why should Miss Bogle want to turn you into
+anything?'</p>
+
+<p>'Because witches are like that,' said Peterkin,
+answering for his princess.</p>
+
+<p>'And because she hates the bother of having me,'
+added Margaret. 'She has written to Gran that I am
+very troublesome&mdash;nurse told me so; nurse can't hold
+her tongue&mdash;and I daresay I am,' she added truly.
+'And so, if I seemed to be lost, she'd say it wasn't
+her fault. And as I suppose I'd never be found,
+there'd be an end of it.'</p>
+
+<p>'You couldn't but be found <i>now</i>,' said Peterkin,
+'as, you see, <i>we'd</i> know.'</p>
+
+<p>'If she didn't turn <i>you</i> into something too,' said
+Margaret, with the sparkle of mischief in her eyes
+again.</p>
+
+<p>Pete looked rather startled at this new idea.</p>
+
+<p>'The best thing to do is for me to go away to a
+safe place while I'm still myself,' she added.</p>
+
+<p>'But have you got the exact address? Do you<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[113]</a></span>
+know what station to go to, and all that sort of
+thing?' I asked. 'And have you got money
+enough?'</p>
+
+<p>'Plenty,' she said, nodding her head; 'plenty for
+all I've planned. Of course I know the station&mdash;it's
+the same as for my own home, and nursey lives
+in the village where the railway comes. Much
+nearer than <i>our</i> house, which is two miles off. And
+I know nursey will have me, even if she had to
+sleep on the floor herself. The only bother is that
+I'll have to change out of the train from <i>here</i>, and
+get into another at a place that's called a Junction.
+Nursey and I had to do that when we came here,
+and I heard Gran explain it all to her, and I know
+it's the same going back, for the nurse I have <i>now</i>
+told me so. When she goes to London she stays in
+the same railway; but if you're <i>not</i> going to London,
+you have to get into another one. And nursey
+and I had to wait nearly half-an-hour, I should
+think, and that's the part I mind,' and, for the first
+time, her eager little face looked anxious. 'The
+railway people would ask me who I was, and where
+I was going, as, you see, I look so much littler than
+I am; so I've planned for you two kind boys to come
+with me to that changing station, and wait till I've<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[114]</a></span>
+got into the train that goes to Hill Horton; that's
+<i>our</i> station. I've plenty of money,' she went on
+hurriedly, for, I suppose, she saw that I was looking
+very grave, and Peterkin's face was pink with
+excitement.</p>
+
+<p>'It isn't that,' I said; 'it's&mdash;it's the whole thing.
+Supposing you got lost after all, it would be&mdash;&mdash;'</p>
+
+<p>'No, no! I won't get lost,' she said, speaking again
+in her very grown-up voice. 'And remember, you're
+on your word of honour as <i>gentlemen!</i>&mdash;<i>gentlemen!</i>'
+she repeated, 'not to tell any one without my leave.
+If you do, I'll just run away by myself, and very
+likely get lost or stolen, or something. And how
+would you feel then?'</p>
+
+<p>'We are not going to break our promise,' I said.
+'You needn't be afraid.'</p>
+
+<p>'I'm not,' she said, and her face grew rather red.
+'I always keep <i>my</i> word, and I expect any one I
+trust to keep theirs.'</p>
+
+<p>And though she was such a little girl, not much
+older than Elvira, whom we often called a 'baby,' I
+felt sure she <i>would</i> 'keep hers.' It certainly wouldn't
+mend matters to risk her starting off by herself,
+as I believe she would have done if we had failed
+her.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[115]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>It has taken longer to write down all our talking
+than the talking itself did, even though it was a little
+interrupted by the bath-chair man every now and
+then taking a turn up and down, 'just to keep Missy
+moving a bit,' he said.</p>
+
+<p>Margaret's plans were already so very clear in her
+head that she had no difficulty in getting us to
+understand them thoroughly, and I don't think I
+need go on about what she said, and what we
+said. I will tell what we fixed to do, and what
+we did do.</p>
+
+<p>Next Wednesday&mdash;a full week on&mdash;was the day
+she had settled for her escape from Rock Terrace.
+It was a long time to wait, but it was the day her
+nurse was pretty sure&mdash;really quite sure, Margaret
+thought&mdash;to go to London again, for she had said so.
+She went by a morning train, and did not come back
+till after dark in the evening, so there was no fear of
+our running up against her at the railway station.
+There was a train that would do for Hill Horton,
+after waiting a little at the Junction, at about three
+o'clock in the afternoon; and as it was my half-holiday,
+Peterkin and I could easily get leave to go
+out together if it was fine, and if it wasn't, we would
+have to come without! We trusted it would be<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[116]</a></span>
+fine; and I settled in my own mind that if we <i>had</i>
+to come without asking, I'd leave a message with
+James the footman, that they weren't to be frightened
+about us at home, for I didn't want mamma and all
+the others to be in a fuss again, like the evening
+Peterkin was lost.</p>
+
+<p>Margaret said we needn't be away more than
+about an hour and a half. I don't quite remember
+how she'd got all she knew about the times of the
+trains. I think it was from the cook or housemaid
+at Miss Bogle's, for I know she said one of them came
+from near Hill Horton, and that she was very good-natured,
+and liked talking about Margaret's home and
+her own.</p>
+
+<p>So it was settled.</p>
+
+<p>Just to make it even more fixed, we promised to
+go round by Rock Terrace on Monday at the usual
+time, and Margaret was either to speak to us from
+the dining-room window, or, if she couldn't, she would
+hang out a white handkerchief somewhere that we
+should be sure to see, which would mean that it was
+all right.</p>
+
+<p>We were to meet her at the corner of her row of
+houses nearest Lindsay Square, at half-past two on
+Wednesday. How she meant to do about her bath-chair<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[117]</a></span>
+drive, and all the rest of it, she didn't tell us,
+and, really, there wasn't time.</p>
+
+<p>But I felt sure she would manage it, and Peterkin
+was even surer than I.</p>
+
+<p>The last thing she said was&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'Of course, I shall have very little luggage; not
+more than you two boys can easily carry between
+you.'</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[118]</a></span></p>
+<h2>CHAPTER VIII</h2>
+
+<h3>A TERRIBLE IDEA</h3>
+
+
+<div class='unindent'><span class="smcap">That</span> was on a Wednesday, and the same day the
+next week was to be <i>the</i> day. On the Monday, as we
+had planned, we strolled along Rock Terrace. Luckily,
+it was a fine day, and we could look well about us
+without appearing to have any particular reason for
+doing so. It would have seemed rather funny if we
+had been holding up umbrellas, or, I should say, if <i>I</i>
+had been, for when it rained Peterkin wasn't allowed
+to come to meet me.</div>
+
+<p>We stood still in front of the parrot's house. He
+was out on the balcony. I wondered if he would
+notice us, or if he did, if he would condescend to
+speak to us.</p>
+
+<p>Yes, I felt that his ugly round eyes&mdash;don't you
+think all parrots' eyes are ugly, however pretty their<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[119]</a></span>
+feathers are?&mdash;were fixed on us, and in a moment or
+two came his squeaky, croaky voice&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'Good morning, boys! Good morning! Pretty
+Poll!'</p>
+
+<p>'He didn't say "naughty boys,"' I remarked.</p>
+
+<p>'No, of course not,' replied Peterkin; 'because
+he knows all about it now, you see.'</p>
+
+<p>'We mustn't stand here long, however,' I said. 'I
+wond&mdash;&mdash;'</p>
+
+<p>'I wonder why Margaret hasn't hung out a handkerchief
+if she couldn't get to speak to us,' I was
+going to have said, but just at that moment we heard
+a voice on the upstairs balcony&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'Good Polly,' it said, 'good, good Polly.'</p>
+
+<p>And the parrot repeated with great pride&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'Good, good Polly.'</p>
+
+<p>But when we looked up there was no one to be
+seen, only I thought one of the glass doors of Margaret's
+dining-room clicked a little. And I was right.
+In another moment there she was herself, on the
+dining-room balcony&mdash;half on it, that's to say, and
+half just inside.</p>
+
+<p>'Isn't he good?' she said, when we came as near
+as we dared to hear her. 'I told him to let me know
+as soon as he saw you, for I couldn't manage the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[120]</a></span>
+handkerchief, and I was afraid you might have gone
+before I could catch you. Nurse has been after me
+so this morning, for the witch was angry with me
+yesterday for standing at the window without my
+shawl. But you mustn't stay,' and she nodded in her
+queenly little way. 'It's keeping all right&mdash;Wednesday
+at half-past two, at the corner next the Square&mdash;wet
+or fine. Good-bye.'</p>
+
+<p>'Good-bye, all right,' we whispered, but she heard
+us.</p>
+
+<p>So did the parrot.</p>
+
+<p>'Good-bye, boys; good Polly! good, good Polly!'
+and something else which Peterkin declared meant,
+'Wednesday at half-past two.'</p>
+
+<p>I felt pretty nervous, I can tell you, that day and
+the next. At least I suppose it's what people call
+feeling very nervous. I seemed half in a dream, and,
+as if I couldn't settle to anything, all queer and
+fidgety. A little, just a very little perhaps, like what
+you feel when you know you are going to the
+dentist's, especially if you <i>haven't</i> got toothache; for
+when you have it badly, you don't mind the thought
+of having a tooth out, even a thumping double one.</p>
+
+<p>Yet I should have felt disappointed if the whole
+thing had been given up, and, worse than that,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[121]</a></span>
+horribly frightened if it had ended in Margaret's
+saying she'd run away by herself without us helping
+her, as I know&mdash;I have said so two or three times
+already, I'm afraid: it's difficult to keep from repeating
+if you're not accustomed to writing and feel
+very anxious to explain things clearly&mdash;as I know
+she really would have done.</p>
+
+<p>And then there was the smaller worry of wondering
+what sort of weather there was going to be on
+Wednesday, which did matter a good deal.</p>
+
+<p>I shall never forget how thankful I felt in <ins title="Transcriber's Note: this word is italicized in the original">the</ins>
+morning when it came, and I awoke, and opened my
+eyes, without any snorting for once, to hear Peterkin's
+first words&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'It's a very fine day, Gilley&mdash;couldn't be better.'</p>
+
+<p>'Thank goodness,' I said.</p>
+
+<p>He was sitting up, as usual; but I don't think he
+had stared me awake this morning, for he was gazing
+out in the direction of the window, where up above
+the short blind a nice show of pale-blue sky was to
+be seen; a wintry sort of blue, with the early mist
+over it a little, but still quite cheering and 'lasting'
+looking.</p>
+
+<p>'All the same,' I went on, speaking more to myself,
+perhaps, than to him, 'I wish we were well<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[122]</a></span>
+through it, and your princess safe with her old
+nurse.'</p>
+
+<p>For I could not have felt comfortable about her, as
+I have several times said, even if <i>we</i> had not promised
+to help her. More than that&mdash;I do believe she was
+so determined, that supposing mamma or Mrs. Wylie
+or any grown-up person had somehow come to know
+about it, Margaret would have kept to her plan, and
+perhaps even hurried it on and got into worse
+trouble.</p>
+
+<p>She needed a lesson; though I still do think, and
+always shall think, that old Miss Bogle and her new
+nurse and everybody were not a bit right in the way
+they tried to manage her.</p>
+
+<p>I hurried home from school double-quick that
+morning, you may be sure. And Peterkin and I
+were ready for dinner&mdash;hands washed, hair brushed,
+and all the rest of it&mdash;long before the gong sounded.</p>
+
+<p>Mamma looked at us approvingly, I remember,
+when she came into the dining-room, where we were
+waiting before the girls and Clement had made their
+appearance.</p>
+
+<p>'Good boys,' she said, smiling, 'that's how I like
+to see you. How neat you both look, and down first,
+too!'<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[123]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>I felt rather a humbug, but I don't believe Peterkin
+did; he was so completely taken up with the
+thought of Margaret's escape, and so down-to-the-ground
+sure that he was doing a most necessary piece
+of business if she was to be saved from the witch's
+'enchantering,' as he would call it.</p>
+
+<p>But as I was older, of course, the mixture of feelings
+in my mind <i>was</i> a mixture, and I couldn't stand
+being altogether a humbug.</p>
+
+<p>So I said to mamma&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'It's mostly that we want to go out as soon as
+ever we've had our dinner; you know you gave us
+leave to go?'</p>
+
+<p>'Oh yes,' said she. 'Well, it's a very nice day, and
+you will take good care of Peterkin, won't you, Giles?
+Don't tire him. Are any of your schoolfel&mdash;&mdash;'</p>
+
+<p>But at that moment a note was brought to her,
+which she had to send an answer to, and when she
+sat down at the table again, she was evidently still
+thinking of it, and forgot she had not finished her
+question, which I was very glad of.</p>
+
+<p>So we got off all right, though I had a feeling that
+Clement looked at us <i>rather</i> curiously, as we left the
+dining-room.</p>
+
+<p>At the <i>very</i> last moment, I did give the message<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[124]</a></span>
+I had thought about in my own mind, with James.
+Just for him to say that mamma and nobody was
+to be frightened if we <i>were</i> rather late of coming
+back&mdash;<i>even</i> if it should be after dark; that we should
+be all right.</p>
+
+<p>And then we ran off without giving James time
+to say anything, though he did open his mouth and
+begin to stutter out some objection. He was rather
+a donkey, but I knew that he was to be trusted, so
+I just laughed in his face.</p>
+
+<p>We were a little before the time at the corner of
+the square, but that was a good thing. It would
+never have done to keep <i>her</i> waiting, Peterkin said.
+He always spoke of her as if she was a kind of queen.
+And he was right enough. All the same, my heart
+did beat in rather a funny way, thinking to myself
+what could or should we do if she didn't come?</p>
+
+<p>But we were not kept waiting long. In another
+minute or so, a little figure appeared round the
+corner, hastening towards us as fast as it could, but
+evidently a good deal bothered by a large parcel,
+which at the first glance looked nearly as big as
+itself.</p>
+
+<p>Of course it was Margaret.</p>
+
+<p>'Oh,' she exclaimed, 'I am so glad you are here<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[125]</a></span>
+already. It's this package. I had no idea it would
+seem so heavy.'</p>
+
+<p>'It's nothing,' said Peterkin, valiantly, taking it
+from her as he spoke.</p>
+
+<p>And it really wasn't very much&mdash;what had made
+it seem so conspicuous was that the contents were
+all wrapped up in her red shawl, and naturally it
+looked a queer bundle for a little girl like her to be
+carrying. She was not at all strong either, even for
+a little girl, and afterwards I was not surprised at
+this, for the illness she had spoken of as a bad cold
+had really been much worse than that.</p>
+
+<p>'Let's hurry on,' she said, 'I shan't feel safe till
+we've got to the station,' for which I certainly thought
+she had good reason.</p>
+
+<p>I had meant to go by the front way, which was
+actually the shortest, but the scarlet bundle staggered
+me. Luckily I knew my way about the streets
+pretty well, so I chose rather less public ones. And
+before long, even though the package was not very
+heavy, Peterkin began to flag, so I had to help him
+a bit with it.</p>
+
+<p>But for that, there would have been nothing about
+us at all noticeable. Margaret was quite nicely and
+quietly dressed in dark-blue serge, something like<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[126]</a></span>
+Blanche and Elvira, and we just looked as if we were
+a little sister and two schoolboy brothers.</p>
+
+<p>'Couldn't you have got something less stary to
+tie up your things in?' I asked her when we had
+got to some little distance from Rock Terrace, and
+were in a quiet street.</p>
+
+<p>She shook her head.</p>
+
+<p>'No,' she said, 'it was the only thing. I have a
+nice black bag, as well as my trunks, of course, but
+the witch or nurse has hidden it away. I <i>couldn't</i>
+find it. It's just as if they had thought I might be
+planning to run away. I <i>nearly</i> took nurse's waterproof
+cape; she didn't take it to London to-day,
+because it is so fine and bright. But I didn't like to,
+after all. It won't matter once we are in the train,
+and at Hill Horton it will be a good thing, as my
+own nursey will see it some way off.'</p>
+
+<p>We were almost at the station by now, and I told
+Margaret so.</p>
+
+<p>'All right,' she said. 'I have the money all ready.
+One for me to Hill Horton, and two for you to the
+Junction station,' and she began to pull out her
+purse.</p>
+
+<p>'You needn't get it out just yet,' I said. 'We
+shall have quite a quarter of an hour to wait. If<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[127]</a></span>
+you give me your purse once we're inside, I will tell
+you exactly what I take out. How much is there
+in it?'</p>
+
+<p>'A gold half-sovereign,' she replied, 'and a half-crown,
+and five sixpences, and seven pennies.'</p>
+
+<p>'There won't be very much over,' I said, 'though
+we are all three under twelve; so halves will do, and
+returns for Pete and me. Second-class, I suppose?'</p>
+
+<p>'Second-class!' repeated Margaret, with great
+scorn; 'of course not. I've never travelled anything
+but first in my life. I don't know what Gran would
+say, or nursey even, if she saw me getting out of a
+<i>second</i>-class carriage.'</p>
+
+<p>She made me feel a little cross, though she didn't
+mean it. <i>We</i> often travelled second, and even third,
+if there were a lot of us and we could get a carriage
+to ourselves. But, after all, it was Margaret's own
+affair, and as she was to be alone from the Junction
+to Hill Horton, perhaps it was best.</p>
+
+<p>'<i>I</i> don't want you to travel second, I'm sure,' I
+said, 'if only there's enough. I'd have brought some
+of my own, but unluckily I'm very short just now.'</p>
+
+<p>'I've&mdash;'began Peterkin, but Margaret interrupted
+him.</p>
+
+<p>'As if I'd let you pay anything!' she said indignantly.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[128]</a></span>
+'I'd rather travel third than <i>that</i>. You are
+only coming out of kindness to me.'</p>
+
+<p>After all, there was enough, even for first-class,
+leaving a shilling or so over. Hill Horton was not
+very far away.</p>
+
+<p>A train was standing ready to start, for the station
+was a terminus. I asked a guard standing about if
+it was the one for Hill Horton, and he answered yes,
+but we must change at the Junction, which I knew
+already.</p>
+
+<p>So we all got into a first-class carriage, and settled
+ourselves comfortably, feeling safe at last.</p>
+
+<p>'I wish we were going all the way with you,' said
+Peterkin, with a sigh made up of satisfaction, as he
+wriggled his substantial little person into the arm-chair
+first-class seat, and of regret.</p>
+
+<p>'I'll be all right,' said Margaret, 'once I am in
+the Hill Horton railway.'</p>
+
+<p>For some things I wished too that we were going
+all the way with her, but for others I couldn't help
+feeling that I should be very glad to be safe home
+again and the adventure well over.</p>
+
+<p>'By the day after to-morrow,' I thought, 'there
+will be no more reason for worrying, if Margaret
+keeps her promise of writing to us.'<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[129]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>I had made her promise this, and given her an
+envelope with our address on. For otherwise, you
+see, we should not have heard how she had got on,
+as no one but the parrot knew that she had ever
+seen us or spoken to us.</p>
+
+<p>Then the train moved slowly out of the station,
+and Margaret's eyes sparkled with triumph. And
+we felt the infection of her high spirits. After all,
+we were only children, and we laughed and joked
+about the witch, and the fright her new nurse would
+be in, and how the parrot would enjoy it all, of
+which we felt quite sure.</p>
+
+<p>We were very merry all the way to the Junction.
+It was only about a quarter-of-an-hour off, and just
+before we got there the guard looked at our tickets.</p>
+
+<p>'Change at the Junction,' he said, when he caught
+sight of the 'Hill Horton,' on Margaret's.</p>
+
+<p>'Of course, we know that, thank you,' she said,
+rather pertly perhaps, but it sounded so funny that
+Pete and I burst out laughing again. I suppose we
+were all really very excited, but the guard laughed too.</p>
+
+<p>'How long will there be to wait for the Hill
+Horton train?' I had the sense to ask.</p>
+
+<p>'Ten minutes, at least,' he replied, glancing at his
+watch, the way guards nearly always do.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[130]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>I was glad he did not say longer, for the sooner
+Peterkin and I caught a train home again, after seeing
+Margaret off, the better. And I knew there were
+sure to be several in the course of the afternoon.</p>
+
+<p>As soon as we stopped we got out&mdash;red bundle
+and all. I did not see our guard again, he was
+somewhere at the other end; but I got hold of
+another, not so good-natured, however, and rather in
+a hurry.</p>
+
+<p>'Which is the train for Hill Horton? Is it in
+yet?' I asked.</p>
+
+<p>He must have thought, so I explained it to myself
+afterwards, that we had just come in to the
+station, and were at the beginning of our journey.</p>
+
+<p>'Hill Horton,' I <i>thought</i> he said, but, as you will
+see, my ears must have deceived me, 'all right. Any
+carriage to the front&mdash;further back are for&mdash;&mdash;.' I
+did not clearly hear&mdash;I think it must have been
+'Charing Cross,' but I did not care. All that
+concerned <i>us</i> was 'Hill Horton.'</p>
+
+<p>'Come along,' I called to the two others, who had
+got a little behind me, lugging the bundle between
+them, and I led the way, as the man had pointed
+out.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[131]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>It seemed a very long train, and as he had said
+'to the front,' I thought it best to go pretty close up
+to the engine. There were two or three first-class
+carriages next to the guard's van, but they were all
+empty, and I had meant to look out for one with
+nice-looking people in it for Margaret to travel
+with. Farther back there were some ladies and
+children in some first-class, but I was afraid of
+putting her into a wrong carriage.</p>
+
+<p>'I expect you will be alone all the way,' I said to
+her. 'I suppose there are not very many people
+going to Hill Horton.'</p>
+
+<p>'Not first-class,' said Margaret. 'There are often
+lots of farmers and village people, I daresay. Nursey
+said it was very crowded on market days, but I don't
+know when it is market days. But it is rather
+funny, Giles, to be getting into the same train
+again!'</p>
+
+<p>'No,' I replied, 'these carriages will be going to
+split off from the others that go on to London. The
+man said it would be all right for Hill Horton at the
+front. They often separate trains like that. I daresay
+we shall go a little way out of the station and
+come back again. You'll see. And he said&mdash;the
+<i>first</i> man, I mean&mdash;that we should have at least ten<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[132]</a></span>
+minutes to wait, and we've scarcely been two, so
+we may as well get in with you for a few
+minutes.'</p>
+
+<p>'Yes, do,' said Margaret, 'but don't put my
+package up in the netted place, for fear I couldn't
+get it down again myself. The trains never stop
+long at our station.'</p>
+
+<p>So we contented ourselves with leaving the red
+bundle on the seat beside her. It was lucky, I told
+her, that the carriage <i>wasn't</i> full, otherwise it would
+have had to go up in the rack, where it wouldn't
+have been very firm.</p>
+
+<p>'It is so fat,' said Peterkin, solemnly.</p>
+
+<p>'Something like you,' I said, at which we all
+laughed again, as if it was something very witty.
+We were still feeling rather excited, I think, and
+rather proud&mdash;at least I was&mdash;of having, so far, got
+on so well.</p>
+
+<p>But before we had finished laughing, there came
+a startling surprise. The train suddenly began to
+move! We stared at each other. Then I remembered
+my own words a minute or two ago.</p>
+
+<p>'It's all right,' I said, 'we'll back into the station
+again in a moment.'</p>
+
+<p>Margaret and Peterkin laughed again, but rather<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[133]</a></span>
+nervously. At least, Margaret's laugh was not quite
+hearty; though, as for Peterkin, I think he was
+secretly delighted.</p>
+
+<p>On we went&mdash;faster and faster, instead of slower.
+There was certainly no sign of 'backing.' I put my
+head out of the window. We were quite clear of
+the Junction by now, getting every instant more
+and more into the open country. At last I had to
+give in.</p>
+
+<p>'We're off, I do believe,' I said. 'There's been
+some mistake about our waiting ten minutes. We're
+clear on the way to Hill Horton.'</p>
+
+<p>'<i>I'm</i> very glad,' said Pete. 'I always wanted to
+come all the way.'</p>
+
+<p>'But perhaps it needn't be all the way,' I said.
+'Do you remember, Margaret, how many stations
+there are between the Junction and yours?'</p>
+
+<p>'Three or four, I think,' she replied.</p>
+
+<p>'Oh well, then,' I said, 'it won't matter. We can
+get out the first time we stop, and I daresay we shall
+soon get a train back again, and not be late home
+after all.'</p>
+
+<p>Margaret's face cleared. She was thoughtful
+enough not to want us to get into trouble through
+helping her.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[134]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>'We shall be stopping soon, I think,' she said,
+'for this seems a fast train.'</p>
+
+<p>But to me her words brought no satisfaction.
+For it did indeed seem a fast train, and a much more
+horrible idea than the one of our going all the way
+to Hill Horton suddenly sprang into my mind&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>Were we in the Hill Horton train at all?</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[135]</a></span></p>
+<h2>CHAPTER IX</h2>
+
+<h3>IN A FOG</h3>
+
+
+<div class='unindent'><span class="smcap">I waited</span> a minute or two before I said anything to
+the others. They went on laughing and joking, and
+I kept looking out of the window. At last I turned
+round, and then Margaret started a little.</div>
+
+<p>'What's the matter, Giles?' she said. 'You're
+quite white and funny looking.'</p>
+
+<p>And Peterkin stared at me too.</p>
+
+<p>'It's&mdash;'I began, and then I felt as if I really
+couldn't go on; but I had to. 'It's that I am dreadfully
+afraid,' I said, 'almost quite sure now, that we
+are in the wrong train. I've seen the names of two
+stations that we've passed without stopping already.
+Do you remember the names of any between the
+Junction and Hill Horton, Margaret?'</p>
+
+<p>She shook her head.</p>
+
+<p>'No,' she said, 'but I know we never pass any<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[136]</a></span>
+without stopping; at least I think so. They are
+quite little stations, and I've never known the train
+go as fast as this till after the Junction, when we
+were in the London train. I've been to London
+several times with Gran, you see.'</p>
+
+<p>Then it suddenly struck her what I meant.</p>
+
+<p>'Oh!' she exclaimed, with a little scream, 'is it
+<i>that</i> you are afraid of, Giles? Do you think we are
+in the <i>London</i> train? I did think it was funny that
+we were getting back into the same one, but you said
+that the man said that the carriages at the front were
+for Hill Horton?'</p>
+
+<p>'Well, I <i>thought</i> he did,' I replied, 'but&mdash;' one's
+mind works quickly when you are frightened sometimes&mdash;'he
+<i>might</i> have said "Victoria," for the
+"tor" in "Victoria" and "Horton" sound rather
+alike.'</p>
+
+<p>'But wouldn't he have said "London"?' asked
+Peterkin.</p>
+
+<p>'No, I think they generally say the name of the
+station in London,' I explained. 'There are so many,
+you see.'</p>
+
+<p>Then we all, for a minute or two, gazed at each
+other without speaking. Margaret had got still
+paler than usual, and I fancied, or feared, I heard<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[137]</a></span>
+her choke down something in her throat. Peterkin,
+on the contrary, was as red as a turkey-cock, and his
+eyes were gleaming. I think it was all a part of
+the fairy-tale to him.</p>
+
+<p>'What shall we do?' said Margaret, at last, and
+I was forced to answer, 'I don't know.'</p>
+
+<p>Bit by bit things began to take shape in my
+mind, and it was no good keeping them to myself.</p>
+
+<p>'There'll be the extra money to pay for our
+tickets to London,' I said at last.</p>
+
+<p>'How much will it be? Isn't there enough over?'
+asked Margaret quietly, and I could not help admiring
+her for it, as she took out her purse and gave it to
+me to count over what was left.</p>
+
+<p>There were only four or five shillings. I shook
+my head.</p>
+
+<p>'I don't know how much it will be, but I'm quite
+sure there's not enough. You see, though we're only
+halves, it's first-class.'</p>
+
+<p>'And what will they do to us if we can't pay,' she
+went on, growing still whiter. 'Could we&mdash;could we
+possibly be sent to prison?'</p>
+
+<p>'Oh no, no. I don't think so,' I answered, though
+I was really not at all sure about it; I had so often<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[138]</a></span>
+seen notices stuck up on boards at railway stations
+about the punishments of passengers not paying
+properly, or trying to travel without tickets. 'But&mdash;I'm
+afraid they would be very horrid to us somehow&mdash;perhaps
+telegraph to papa or mamma.'</p>
+
+<p>'Oh!' cried Margaret, growing now as red as she
+had been white, 'and that would mean my being shut
+up again at Rock Terrace&mdash;worse than before. I
+don't know <i>what</i> the witch wouldn't do to me,' and
+she clasped her poor little hands in a sort of despair.</p>
+
+<p>Then Peterkin burst out&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'I've got my gold half-pound with me,' he said, in
+rather a queer voice, as if he was proud of being able
+to help and yet half inclined to cry.</p>
+
+<p>'Goodness!' I exclaimed, 'why on earth didn't
+you say so before?'</p>
+
+<p>'I&mdash;I&mdash;wanted it for something else,' said he. 'I
+don't quite know why I brought it.'</p>
+
+<p>He dived into his pocket, and dug out a very grimy
+little purse, out of which, sure enough, he produced a
+half-sovereign.</p>
+
+<p>The relief of knowing that we should not get into
+trouble as far as our journey <i>to</i> London was concerned,
+was such a blessing, that just for the moment
+I forgot all the rest of it.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[139]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>'Anyway we can't be put in prison now,' said
+Margaret, and a little colour came into her face.
+'Oh, Perkins, you <i>are</i> a nice boy!'</p>
+
+<p>I did think her praising him was rather rough
+on <i>me</i>, for I had had bother enough, goodness knows,
+about the whole affair, even though I had made a
+stupid mistake.</p>
+
+<p>We whizzed on, for it was an express train, and for
+a little while we didn't speak. Peterkin was still
+looking rather upset about his money. He told me
+afterwards that he had been keeping it for his
+Christmas presents, especially one for Margaret, as
+we had never had a chance of getting her any flowers.
+But all that was put right in the end.</p>
+
+<p>After a bit Margaret said to me, in a half-frightened
+voice&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'What shall we do when we get to London, Giles?
+Do you think perhaps the guard would help us to go
+back again to the Junction, when he sees it was a
+mistake? As we've got money to pay to London, he'd
+see we hadn't meant to cheat.'</p>
+
+<p>'No,' I said, 'he wouldn't have time, and besides I
+don't think it'll be the same one. And if we said
+anything, he'd most likely make us give our names,
+or take us to some station-master or somebody, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[140]</a></span>
+then there'd be no chance of our keeping out of a lot
+of bother.'</p>
+
+<p>'You mean,' said she, in a shaky voice, 'we
+should have to go all the way back, and I'd be
+sent to the witch again?'</p>
+
+<p>'Something like it, I'm afraid,' I said. 'If I just
+explain that we got into the wrong train and pay up,
+they'll have no business to meddle with us.'</p>
+
+<p>'But what are we to do, then?' she asked
+again.</p>
+
+<p>'I don't know,' I replied. I'm afraid I was rather
+cross. I was so sick of it all, you see, and so fearfully
+bothered.</p>
+
+<p>Margaret at last began to cry. She tried to choke
+it down, but it was no use.</p>
+
+<p>I felt awfully sorry for her, but somehow the very
+feeling so bad made me crosser, and I did not try to
+comfort her up.</p>
+
+<p>Pete, on the contrary, tugged out his pocket-handkerchief,
+which was quite a decently clean one, and
+began wiping her eyes. This made her try again to
+stop crying. She pulled out her own handkerchief
+and said&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'Dear little Perkins, you are so kind.'</p>
+
+<p>I glanced at them, not very amiably, I daresay.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[141]</a></span>
+And I was on the point of saying that, instead of crying
+and petting each other, they'd better try to think
+what we should do, for I knew we must be getting
+near London by this time, when I saw something
+white on the floor of the carriage.</p>
+
+<p>I stooped to pick it up. It had dropped out of
+Margaret's pocket when she pulled out her handkerchief.
+It was an envelope, or what had been one,
+and for a moment I thought it was the one I had
+given her with our address on, to use when she wrote
+to us from Hill Horton, but <i>that</i> one couldn't have
+got so dirty and torn-looking in the time. And when
+I looked at it more closely, I saw that it was jagged
+and nibbled in a queer way, and <i>then</i> I saw that it
+had the name 'Wylie' on it, and an address in
+London. And when I looked still more closely, I
+saw that it had never been through the post or had a
+stamp on, and that it had a large blot in one corner.
+Evidently the person who had written on it had not
+liked to use it because of the blot, and the name on it
+was <i>Miss</i>, not <i>Mrs</i>. Wylie, </p>
+
+<div class='sig'><span style="margin-right: 2em;">'19 Enderby Street</span><br />
+<span class="smcap">London</span>, S.W.'<br />
+</div>
+
+<p>I turned it round and round without speaking for
+a moment or two. I couldn't make it out. Then I
+said<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[142]</a></span>&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'What's this, Margaret? It must have dropped
+out of your pocket.'</p>
+
+<p>She stopped crying&mdash;well, really, I think she had
+stopped already, for whatever her faults were she
+wasn't a babyish child&mdash;to look at it. She seemed
+puzzled, and felt in her pocket again.</p>
+
+<p>'No, of course it's not the envelope you gave me,'
+she said. 'I've got it safe, and&mdash;oh, I believe I know
+how this old one got into my pocket. I remember a
+day or two ago when I was trying if it would do to
+tie my handkerchief on to Polly's cage, he was
+nibbling some paper. He's very fond of nibbling
+paper, and it doesn't hurt him, for he doesn't eat it.
+But he would keep pecking at me when I was tying
+the handkerchief, and I was vexed with him, and so
+when he dropped this I picked it up and shook it at
+him, and told him he shouldn't have it again, and then
+I put it into my pocket. He was very tiresome that
+day, not a bit a fairy; he is like that sometimes.'</p>
+
+<p>'But how did he come to have an envelope with
+"Miss Wylie" on?' I said. 'He doesn't live in Mrs.
+Wylie's house, but in the one between yours and hers,
+and this must have come from <i>her</i>.'</p>
+
+<p>'I daresay she gave it him to play with, or her
+servant may have given it him,' said Margaret, 'You<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[143]</a></span>
+see he's sometimes at the end of the balcony nearest
+her, and sometimes at our end. I think his servants
+have put him more at our end since she's been away;
+perhaps they've heard me talking to him. Anyway,
+I'm sure this old envelope must have come out of his
+cage.'</p>
+
+<p>I did not speak for a moment. I was gazing at
+the address.</p>
+
+<p>'Margaret,' I exclaimed, 'look at it.'</p>
+
+<p>She did so, and then stared up at me, with a
+puzzled expression in her eyes, still red with crying.</p>
+
+<p>'I believe,' I went on, 'I believe this is going to
+help us.'</p>
+
+<p>Peterkin, who had been listening with all his ears,
+could contain himself no longer.</p>
+
+<p>'And the parrot <i>must</i> be a fairy after all,' he said,
+'and he must have done it on purpose.'</p>
+
+<p>But Margaret did not seem to hear what he said,
+she was still gazing at me and wondering what I
+was going to say.</p>
+
+<p>'Don't you see,' I went on, touching the envelope,
+'this must be the house of some of Mrs. Wylie's
+relations? Very likely she's staying with them there,
+and anyway they'd tell us where she is, as we know
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[144]</a></span>she's still in London. She told us she was going to
+be there for a fortnight. And she's very kind. We
+would ask her to lend us money enough to go back
+to the Junction, and then we'd be all right. You
+have got your ticket for Hill Horton, and we have
+our returns for home.'</p>
+
+<p>'Oh,' cried Margaret, 'how clever you are to have
+thought of it, Giles! But,' and the bright look went
+out of her face, 'you don't think she'd make me go
+back to the witch, do you? Are you sure she
+wouldn't?'</p>
+
+<p>'I really don't think she would,' I said. 'I know
+she has often been sorry for you, for she knew you
+weren't at all happy. And we'd tell her more about
+it. She is awfully kind.'</p>
+
+<p>I meant what I said. Perhaps I saw it rather too
+favourably; the idea of finding a friend in London
+was such a comfort just then, that I felt as if everything
+else might be left for the time. I never
+thought about catching trains at the Junction or
+about its getting late and dark for Margaret to be
+travelling alone from there to Hill Horton, or anything,
+except just the hope&mdash;the tremendous hope&mdash;that
+we might find our kind old lady.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 321px;">
+<img src="images/i167.png" width="321" height="500" alt="HE LOOKED AT THE TICKETS .&nbsp;.&nbsp;. &#39;HOW&#39;S THIS?&#39; HE SAID.&mdash;p. 145." title="HE LOOKED AT THE TICKETS .&nbsp;.&nbsp;. &#39;HOW&#39;S THIS?&#39; HE SAID.&mdash;p. 145." />
+<span class="caption">HE LOOKED AT THE TICKETS .&nbsp;.&nbsp;. &#39;HOW&#39;S THIS?&#39; HE SAID.&mdash;p. 145.</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>The train slackened, and very soon we pulled up.
+It wasn't the station yet, however, but the place where<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[145]</a></span>
+they stop to take tickets, just outside. I know it so
+well now, for we pass it ever so often on our way
+from and to school several times a year. But whenever
+we pass it, or stop at it, I think of that miserable
+day and all my fears.</p>
+
+<p>The man put his head in at the window. He was
+a stranger.</p>
+
+<p>'Tickets, please,' he said.</p>
+
+<p>I was ready for him&mdash;tickets, Peterkin's half-sovereign,
+and all. I held out the tickets.</p>
+
+<p>'There's been a mistake,' I began. 'I shall have
+to pay up,' and when he heard that, he opened the
+door and came in.</p>
+
+<p>He looked at the tickets.</p>
+
+<p>'Returns&mdash;half-returns to the Junction,' he said,
+'and a half to Hill Horton. How's this?'</p>
+
+<p>'We got into the wrong train at the Junction,' I
+replied. 'In fact, we got back into the same one we
+had just got out of. I expect the guard thought I
+said "Victoria" when I said "Hill Horton," for he
+told us to go to the front.'</p>
+
+<p>'And didn't he tell you, you were wrong when he
+looked at the tickets before you started?' the man
+asked, still holding our tickets in his hand and
+examining us rather queerly.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[146]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>I began to feel angry, but I didn't want to have
+any fuss, so instead of telling him to mind his own
+business, as I was ready to pay the difference, I
+answered again quite coolly&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'No one looked at the tickets at the Junction.
+There were two or three empty carriages at
+the front: perhaps no one noticed us getting
+in.'</p>
+
+<p>I thought I heard the man murmur to himself
+something about 'rum go. Three kids by themselves,
+and first-class.'</p>
+
+<p>So, though I was getting angrier every moment, I
+just said&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'I don't see that it matters. Here we are, anyway,
+and I'll pay if you'll tell me how much.'</p>
+
+<p>He counted up.</p>
+
+<p>'Eight-and-six&mdash;no, eight-and-tenpence.'</p>
+
+<p>I held out the half-sovereign. He felt in his
+pocket and gave me back the change&mdash;a shilling and
+twopence, and walked off with the halves of Pete's
+and my return tickets and the half-sovereign.</p>
+
+<p>We all began to breathe more freely; but, as the
+train slowly moved again at last&mdash;we had been
+standing quite a quarter-of-an-hour&mdash;a new trouble
+started.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[147]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>'It's very dark,' said Margaret, 'and it can't be
+late yet.'</p>
+
+<p>I looked out of the window. Yes, it was very
+dark. I put my head out. It felt awfully chilly too&mdash;a
+horrid sort of chilly feeling. But that wasn't
+the worst of it.</p>
+
+<p>'It's a fog,' I said. 'The horridest kind&mdash;I can't
+see the lights almost close to us. It's getting worse
+every minute. I believe it'll be as dark as midnight
+when we get into the station. What luck, to be
+sure!'</p>
+
+<p>The other two seemed more excited than frightened.</p>
+
+<p>'I've never seen a really bad fog,' said Margaret,
+as if she was rather pleased to have the chance.</p>
+
+<p>Pete said nothing. I expect he'd have had a
+fairy-tale all ready about a prince lost in a mist, if
+I'd given him an opening. But I was again rather
+taken aback. How were we to find our way to
+Enderby Street?</p>
+
+<p>I had meant to walk, you see, in spite of the red
+bundle! For I was afraid of being cheated by the
+cabman; and I was afraid too of running quite short
+of money, in case we <i>didn't</i> find Mrs. Wylie, or that
+she had left, and that, if the worst came to the worst,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[148]</a></span>
+I might have to go to a hotel with the two children,
+and telegraph to mamma to say where we were.
+Papa, unluckily, was not in London just then. He
+had gone away on business somewhere&mdash;I forget
+where&mdash;for a day or two, and besides, I was not at all
+sure of the exact address of his chambers, otherwise
+I might have telegraphed <i>there</i>. I only knew it was
+a long way from Victoria.</p>
+
+<p>Indeed, I don't think I thought about that at all
+at the time, though afterwards mamma said to me I
+might have done so, <i>had</i> the worst come to the worst.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[149]</a></span></p>
+<h2>CHAPTER X</h2>
+
+<h3>BERYL</h3>
+
+
+<div class='unindent'><span class="smcap">Yes</span>, the fog <i>was</i> a fog, and no mistake. I don't
+think I have ever seen so bad a one since we came to
+live in London, or else it seemed to me terribly bad
+that day because I was not used to it, and because I
+was so anxious.</div>
+
+<p>I felt half provoked and yet in a way glad that
+Margaret and Peterkin were not at all frightened, but
+rather pleased. They followed me along the platform
+after we got out of the carriage, lugging the
+bundle between them. It was not really heavy, and
+I had to go first, as the station was pretty full in
+that part, in spite of the fog. The lamps were all
+lighted, but till you got within a few yards of one
+you scarcely saw it.</p>
+
+<p>I went on, staring about me for some one to ask
+advice from. At last, close to a book-stall, where<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[150]</a></span>
+several lights together made it a little clearer, I saw
+a railway man of some kind, standing, as if he was
+not in a hurry.</p>
+
+<p>'Can you tell me where Enderby Street is, if you
+please?' I asked as civilly as I knew how.</p>
+
+<p>'Enderby Street,' he repeated, in surprise. 'Of
+course; it's no distance off.'</p>
+
+<p>Wasn't I thankful?</p>
+
+<p>'How far?' I said.</p>
+
+<p>'Well&mdash;it depends upon which part of it you
+want. It's a long street. But if you're a stranger
+you'll never find your way in this fog. Better take
+a hansom.'</p>
+
+<p>'Thank you,' I said. 'It's only a shilling, I suppose?'</p>
+
+<p>He glanced at me again; he had been turning away.
+By this time the two children were close beside me.
+He saw that we belonged to each other.</p>
+
+<p>'A shilling for two&mdash;one-and-six for three,' he
+replied. 'Hansom or four-wheeler,' and then he
+moved off.</p>
+
+<p>Just then Margaret began to cough, and a new
+fear struck me. She looked very delicate, and she
+had had a bad cold. Supposing the fog made her
+very ill? I was glad the man had spoken of a four-wheeler.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[151]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>'Stuff your handkerchief or something into your
+mouth,' I said, 'so as not to get the fog down your
+throat. I'm going to call a four-wheeler.'</p>
+
+<p>In some ways that dreadful day was not as bad
+as it might have been. There were scarcely any cabs
+about, but just then one stopped close to the end of
+the platform.</p>
+
+<p>'Jump in,' I said, and before the driver had time
+to make any objection, for I know they do sometimes
+make a great favour of taking you anywhere in a fog,
+we were all inside.</p>
+
+<p>I heard him growling a little, but when I put my
+head out of the window again, and said '19 Enderby
+Street,' he smoothed down.</p>
+
+<p>We drove off, slowly enough, but that was to be
+expected. I pulled up both windows, for Margaret
+kept on coughing, in spite of having her handkerchief,
+and Peterkin's too, for all I knew, stuffed over
+her mouth and throat. They were both very quiet,
+but I <i>think</i> they were rather enjoying themselves.
+I suppose my taking the lead, as I had had to, since
+our troubles began, and managing things, made them
+feel 'safe,' as children like to do, at the bottom of their
+hearts, however they start by talking big.</p>
+
+<p>It <i>was</i> a horrid fog, but the lights made it not<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[152]</a></span>
+quite so bad outside, for the shops had got all their
+lamps on, and we could see them now and then.
+There was a lot of shouting going on, and yet every
+sound was muffled. There were not many carts or
+omnibuses or anything on wheels passing, and what
+there were, were moving slowly like ourselves.</p>
+
+<p>After a few minutes it got darker again; it must
+have been when we got into Enderby Street, I suppose,
+for there are no shops, or scarcely any, there.
+I've often and often passed along it since, but I never
+do without thinking of that evening, or afternoon, for
+it was really not yet four o'clock.</p>
+
+<p>And then we stopped.</p>
+
+<p>'Nineteen, didn't you say?' asked the driver as I
+jumped out.</p>
+
+<p>'Yes, nineteen,' I said. 'Stop here for a moment
+or two, till I see if we go in.'</p>
+
+<p>For it suddenly struck me that <i>if</i> we had the awful
+bad luck not to find Mrs. Wylie, we had better keep
+the cab, to take us to some hotel, otherwise it might
+be almost impossible to get another. And then we
+should be out in the street, with Margaret and her
+bundle, and worse still, her cough.</p>
+
+<p>I made my way, more by feeling than seeing, up
+the steps, and fumbled till I found the bell. I had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[153]</a></span>
+not actually told the others to stay in the cab, though
+I had taken care to keep the window shut when I got
+out, and I never dreamt but what they'd stay where
+they were till I had found out if Mrs. Wylie was
+there.</p>
+
+<p>But just as the door opened&mdash;the servant came in
+double-quick time luckily, the reason for which was
+explained&mdash;I heard a rustling behind me, and lo and
+behold, there they both were, and the terrible red
+bundle too, looking huger and queerer than ever, as
+the light from inside fell on it.</p>
+
+<p>We must have looked a funny lot, as the servant
+opened the door. She&mdash;it was a parlour-maid&mdash;did
+start a little, but I didn't give her time to speak,
+though I daresay she thought we were beggars,
+thanks to those silly children.</p>
+
+<p>'Mrs. Wylie is staying here,' I said. I thought it
+best to speak decidedly. 'Is she at home?'</p>
+
+<p>I suppose my way of speaking made her see we
+were not beggars, and perhaps she caught sight of the
+four-wheeler, looming faintly through the fog, for she
+answered quite civilly.</p>
+
+<p>'She is not exactly staying here. She is in rooms
+a little way from here, but she comes round most
+afternoons. I thought it was her when you rang,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[154]</a></span>
+but I don't think she'll be coming now&mdash;not in this
+fog.'</p>
+
+<p>My heart had gone down like lead at the first
+words&mdash;'she is not,' but as the servant went on I got
+more hopeful again.</p>
+
+<p>'Can you&mdash;' I began&mdash;I was going to have asked
+for Mrs. Wylie's address, but just then Margaret
+coughed; the worst cough I had heard yet from her.
+'Why couldn't you have stayed in the cab?' I said
+sharply, and perhaps it was a good thing, to show
+that we <i>had</i> a cab waiting for us. 'Please,' I went
+on, 'let this little girl come inside for a minute. The
+fog makes her cough so.'</p>
+
+<p>The parlour-maid stepped back, opening the door
+a little wider, but there was something doubtful in
+her manner, as if she was not quite sure if she was
+not running a risk in letting us in. I pushed Margaret
+forward, and not Margaret only! She was
+holding fast to her precious bundle, and Peterkin was
+holding fast to <i>his</i> side of it, so they tumbled in together
+in a way that was enough to make the servant
+stare, and I stayed half on the steps, half inside, but
+from where I was I could see into the hall quite well.
+It looked so nice and comfortable, compared with the
+horribleness outside. It was a square sort of hall.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[155]</a></span>
+The house was not a big one, not nearly as big as
+ours at home, but lots bigger than the Rock Terrace
+ones, of course.</p>
+
+<p>'Can you give me Mrs. Wylie's address?' I said.
+'I think the best thing we can do is to&mdash;' but I was
+interrupted again.</p>
+
+<p>A girl&mdash;a grown-up girl, a lady, I mean&mdash;came
+forward from the inner part of the hall.</p>
+
+<p>'Browner,' she said, 'do shut the door. You are
+letting the fog get all over the house, and it is
+bitterly cold.'</p>
+
+<p>She was blinking her eyes a little as she spoke:
+either the light or the fog, or both, hurt them. Perhaps
+she had been sitting over the fire in a darkish
+room. 'Blinking her eyes' doesn't sound very pretty,
+but it was, I found afterwards, a sort of trick of hers,
+and somehow it suited her. <i>She</i> was very pretty. I
+didn't often notice girls' looks, but I couldn't help
+noticing hers. Everything about her was pretty; her
+voice too, though she spoke a little crossly. She was
+rather tall, and her hair was wavy, almost as wavy
+as Elf's, and the colour of her dress, which was pinky-red,
+and everything about her, seemed to suit, and I
+just stood&mdash;we all did&mdash;staring at her.</p>
+
+<p>And as soon as she caught sight of us&mdash;I daresay<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[156]</a></span>
+we seemed quite a little crowd at the door&mdash;she
+stared too!</p>
+
+<p>Then she came forward quickly, her voice growing
+anxious, and almost frightened.</p>
+
+<p>'What is the matter?' she exclaimed. 'Has
+there been an accident? Who are these&mdash;children?'</p>
+
+<p>Browner moved towards her.</p>
+
+<p>'Indeed, Miss,' she began, but the girl stopped
+her.</p>
+
+<p>'Shut the door first,' she said decidedly. 'No,
+no, come in, please,' this was to me; I suppose I
+seemed to hesitate, 'and tell me what you want, and
+who you are?'</p>
+
+<p>Her voice grew more hesitating as she went on,
+and it must have been very difficult to make out
+what sort of beings we were. Margaret's colourless
+face and dark eyes and hair, and the bright red of the
+bundle, at the first hasty glance, might almost have
+made you think of a little Italian wandering
+musician; but the moment I spoke I think the girl
+saw we were not that class.</p>
+
+<p>'We are friends of Mrs. Wylie's&mdash;Mrs. Wylie who
+lives at Rock Terrace,' I said, 'and&mdash;and we've come
+to her because&mdash;oh! because we've got into a lot of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[157]</a></span>
+trouble, and the fog's made it worse, and we don't
+know anybody else in London.'</p>
+
+<p>Then, all of a sudden&mdash;I'm almost ashamed to tell
+it, even though it's a good while ago now, and I
+really was scarcely more than a little boy myself&mdash;something
+seemed to get into my throat, and I felt as
+if in another moment it would turn into a sob.</p>
+
+<p>Margaret is awfully quick in some ways. She
+heard the choke in my voice and darted to me, leaving
+the bundle to Pete's tender mercies; so half of it
+dropped on to the floor and half stuck to him, as he
+stood there staring with his round blue eyes.</p>
+
+<p>Margaret stretched up and flung her arms round
+my neck.</p>
+
+<p>'Giles, Giles,' she cried, 'don't, oh don't!' Then
+she burst out&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'It's all my fault; at least it's all for me, and
+Giles and Perkins have been so good to me. Oh
+dear, oh dear, what shall I do?' and she began
+coughing again in a miserable way. I think it was
+partly that she was trying not to cry.</p>
+
+<p>Seeing her so unhappy, made me pull myself together.
+I was just going to explain things a little
+to the girl, when she spoke first. She looked very
+kind and sorry.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[158]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>'I'll tell you what's the first thing to do,' she said,
+'and that's to get this child out of the cold,' and she
+opened a door a little farther back in the hall, and
+got us all in, the maid following.</p>
+
+<p>It was a very nice, rather small dining-room; a
+bright fire was burning, and the girl turned on an
+electric lamp over the table. There were pretty
+ferns and things on it, ready for dinner, just like
+mamma has them at home.</p>
+
+<p>'Now,' she began again, but there seemed nothing
+but interruptions, for just at that moment another
+door was heard to open, and as the one of the room
+where we were was not shut, we could hear some one
+calling&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'Beryl, Beryl, is there anything the matter? Has
+your aunt come?'</p>
+
+<p>It was a man's voice&mdash;quite a kind one, but rather
+fussy.</p>
+
+<p>'Wait a moment or two, I'll be back directly,'
+said the girl, and as she ran out of the room we heard
+her calling, 'I'm coming, daddy.'</p>
+
+<p>The parlour-maid drew back nearer the door, not
+seeming sure if she should leave us alone or not, and
+<i>we</i> drew a little nearer the fire. So that we could
+talk without her hearing us.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[159]</a></span></p><div class="figright" style="width: 347px;">
+<img src="images/i183.png" width="347" height="500" alt="&#39;NOW,&#39; SHE BEGAN .&nbsp;.&nbsp;. DRAWING MARGARET TO HER, &#39;TELL ME ALL ABOUT IT.&#39;&mdash;p. 159." title="&#39;NOW,&#39; SHE BEGAN .&nbsp;.&nbsp;. DRAWING MARGARET TO HER, &#39;TELL ME ALL ABOUT IT.&#39;&mdash;p. 159." />
+<span class="caption">&#39;NOW,&#39; SHE BEGAN .&nbsp;.&nbsp;. DRAWING MARGARET TO HER, &#39;TELL ME ALL ABOUT IT.&#39;&mdash;p. 159.</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>'Isn't she a kind lady?' said Margaret, glancing
+up at me. 'I think she looks very kind. You don't
+think she'll send me back to the witch, do you,
+Giles?'</p>
+
+<p>'Bother the witch,' I was on the point of saying,
+for I would have given anything by this time to be
+back in our homes again, witch or no witch. But I
+thought better of it. It wouldn't have been kind,
+with Margaret looking up at me, with tears in her big
+dark eyes, so white and anxious.</p>
+
+<p>'I shouldn't think so,' I replied. 'She must be
+Mrs. Wylie's niece, and we'll go on to Mrs. Wylie, and
+she will tell us what to do.'</p>
+
+<p>The girl&mdash;perhaps I'd better call her 'Beryl'
+now. We always do, though she is no longer Beryl
+Wylie. Beryl was back almost at once.</p>
+
+<p>'Now,' she began again, sitting down in an arm-chair
+by the fire, and drawing Margaret to her, 'tell
+me all about it. In the first place, who are you?
+What are your names?'</p>
+
+<p>'Lesley,' I said. 'At least <i>ours</i> is,' and I touched
+Peterkin. 'I'm Giles and he's Peterkin. We know
+Mrs. Wylie, and we live on the Marine Parade.'</p>
+
+<p>Beryl nodded.</p>
+
+<p>'Yes,' she said, 'I've heard of you. And,' she<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[160]</a></span>
+touched Margaret gently, 'this small maiden? What
+is her name&mdash;she is not your sister?'</p>
+
+<p>'No,' I replied. 'She is Margaret&mdash;&mdash;' I stopped
+short. For the first time it struck me that I had
+never heard her last name!</p>
+
+<p>'Margaret Fothergill,' she said quickly. 'I live
+next door but one to Mrs. Wylie, and next door to
+the parrot. Do you know the parrot in Rock
+Terrace?'</p>
+
+<p>Beryl nodded again.</p>
+
+<p>'I have heard of him too,' she said.</p>
+
+<p>But suddenly a new idea&mdash;I should rather say
+the old one&mdash;struck Margaret again. Her voice
+changed, and she clasped her hands piteously.</p>
+
+<p>'You won't, oh, you won't send me back to the
+witch? Say you won't.'</p>
+
+<p>'What does she mean?' asked Beryl, turning to
+me, as if she thought Margaret was half out of her
+mind, though, all the same, she drew her still
+closer.</p>
+
+<p>'She&mdash;we&mdash;' I began, and Peterkin opened his
+mouth too. But I suppose I must have glanced at
+the servant, for Beryl turned towards her, as if to
+tell her not to wait. Then she changed and said
+instead<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[161]</a></span>&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'Bring tea in here, Browner, as quickly as you
+can. You can put it on the side table.'</p>
+
+<p>Browner went off at once; she seemed a very
+good-natured girl. And then, as quickly as I could,
+helped here and there by Margaret and by Peterkin
+(though to any one less 'understanding' than Beryl,
+his funny way of muddling up real and fancy would
+certainly not have 'helped'), I told our story. It
+was really wonderful how Beryl took it all in.
+When I stopped at last, almost out of breath, she
+nodded her head quietly.</p>
+
+<p>'We won't talk it over just yet,' she said. 'The
+first thing to do is to see my auntie. You three
+stay here while I run round to her, and try to
+enjoy your tea. I shall not be long. It is very
+near.'</p>
+
+<p>The idea of tea did seem awfully tempting, but
+a new thought struck me.</p>
+
+<p>'The cab!' I exclaimed, 'the four-wheeler! It's
+waiting all this time, and if we send it away, most
+likely we shan't be able to get another in the fog.
+There'll be such a lot to pay, too. Don't you think
+we'd better go with you in it to Mrs. Wylie, and perhaps
+she'd lend us money to go to the Junction by
+the first train? I don't think we should stay to have<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[162]</a></span>
+tea, thank you,' though, as I said it, a glance at Margaret's
+poor little white face made me wish I needn't
+say it. She was clinging to Beryl so by this time as
+if she felt safe.</p>
+
+<p>And Peterkin looked almost as piteous as she did.</p>
+
+<p>Beryl gently loosened Margaret's hold of her, and
+got up from the big leather arm-chair where she had
+been sitting.</p>
+
+<p>'Never mind about the cab,' she said. 'I will go
+round in it to my aunt, and perhaps bring her back
+in it. I will settle with the man. I may be a
+quarter-of-an-hour or twenty minutes away. So all
+you three have got to do in the meantime is to have
+a good tea, and trust me. And don't think about
+witches, or bad fairies, or anything disagreeable till
+you see me again,' she added, nodding to the two
+children. 'Browner, you will see that they have
+everything they want.'</p>
+
+<p>Browner smiled, and Beryl ran off, and in a
+minute or two we heard her come downstairs again,
+with her cloak and hat on, no doubt, and the front
+door shut, and I heard the cab drive away.</p>
+
+<p>Talking of fairies, I can't imagine anything more
+like the best of good ones than Beryl Wylie seemed
+to us that afternoon.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[163]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Browner was very kind and sensible. For after
+she had poured out our tea, and handed us a plateful
+of bread-and-butter and another of little cakes, she
+left the room, showing us the bell, in case we wanted
+more milk or anything.</p>
+
+<p>And then&mdash;perhaps it may seem very thoughtless
+of us, but, as I have said before, even I, the eldest,
+wasn't very old&mdash;we really enjoyed ourselves! It
+was so jolly to feel warm and to have a good tea,
+and, above all, to know that we had found kind
+friends, who would tell us what to do.</p>
+
+<p>Margaret seemed perfectly happy, and to have got
+rid of all her fears of being sent back to the witch.
+And Peterkin, in those days, was never very surprised
+at anything, for nothing that could happen
+was as wonderful as the wonders of the fairy-land he
+lived in. So he was quite able to enjoy himself
+without any trying to do so.</p>
+
+<p>I do feel, however, rather ashamed of one bit of
+it all. You'd scarcely believe that it never came
+into my head to think that mamma might be
+frightened about us, even though the afternoon was
+getting on into evening, and the darkness outside
+made it seem later than it really was!</p>
+
+<p>I can't understand it of myself, considering that I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[164]</a></span>
+had seen with my own eyes how frightened she
+had been the evening Peterkin got lost. I suppose
+my head had got tired and confused with all the
+fears and things it had been full of, but it is rather
+horrid to remember, all the same.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[165]</a></span></p>
+<h2>CHAPTER XI</h2>
+
+<h3>DEAR MAMMA</h3>
+
+
+<div class='unindent'><span class="smcap">Beryl</span> must have been away longer than she had
+expected, for when we heard the front bell ring and a
+minute later she hurried in, her first words were&mdash;</div>
+
+<p>'Did you think I was never coming back? I
+will explain to you what I have been doing.'</p>
+
+<p>When her eyes fell on us, however, her expression
+changed. She looked pleased, but a little surprised,
+as she took in that we had not been, by any means,
+sitting worrying ourselves, but quite the contrary.
+Margaret was actually in the middle of a laugh,
+which did not seem as if she was feeling very bad,
+even though it turned into a cough. Peterkin was
+placidly content, and I was&mdash;well, feeling considerably
+the better for the jolly good tea we had had.</p>
+
+<p>'We've been awfully comfortable, thank you,' I
+said, getting up, 'and&mdash;will you please tell us what<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[166]</a></span>
+you think we'd better do? And&mdash;please&mdash;how much
+was the cab?'</p>
+
+<p>'Never mind about that,' she said. 'Here is my
+aunt,' and then I heard a little rustle at the door, and
+in came Mrs. Wylie, who had been taking off her
+wraps in the hall, looking as neat and white-lacy
+and like herself as if she had never come within a
+hundred miles of a fog in her life.</p>
+
+<p>'She <i>would</i> come,' Beryl went on, smiling at the
+old lady as if she loved her very much. 'Auntie is
+always so kind.'</p>
+
+<p>I began to feel very ashamed of all the trouble we
+were giving, and I'm sure my face got very red.</p>
+
+<p>'I'm so sorry,' I said, as Mrs. Wylie shook hands
+with us, 'I never thought of you coming out in the
+fog.'</p>
+
+<p>'It will not hurt me,' she replied; 'but I feel
+rather anxious about this little person,' and she laid
+her hand on Margaret's shoulder, for just then Margaret
+coughed again.</p>
+
+<p>'Oh,' I exclaimed, 'you don't think it will make
+her cough worse, do you?' and I felt horribly frightened.
+'We'll wrap her up much more, and once we
+are clear of London, there won't be any fog. I daresay
+it's quite light still, in the country. It can't be<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[167]</a></span>
+late. But hadn't we better go at once? Will you
+be so very good as to lend us money to go back to
+the Junction? I know mamma will send it you at
+once.'</p>
+
+<p>All my fears seemed to awaken again as I
+hurried on, and the children's faces grew grave and
+anxious.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Wylie sat down quietly.</p>
+
+<p>'My dear boy,' she said, 'there can be no question
+of any of you, Margaret especially, going back to-night.
+The fog is very bad, and it is very cold
+besides. My niece has told me the whole story,
+and&mdash;&mdash;'</p>
+
+<p>'I suppose you think we've all been dreadfully
+naughty,' I interrupted. 'I did not mean to be, and
+<i>they</i> didn't,' glancing at the others. 'But of course
+I'm older, only&mdash;&mdash;'</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Wylie laid her hand on my arm.</p>
+
+<p>'There will be a good deal to talk over,' she said,
+speaking still very quietly, but rather gravely.
+'And I feel that your dear mamma is the right
+person to&mdash;to explain things&mdash;your mistakes, and
+all about it. I believe certainly you did not <i>mean</i>
+to do wrong.'</p>
+
+<p>Her mention of mamma startled me into remembering<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[168]</a></span>
+at last how frightened she and all of
+them would be at home.</p>
+
+<p>'Oh!' I exclaimed, 'if we stay away all night,
+what <i>will</i> mamma do?'</p>
+
+<p>'I was just going to tell you what we have done,'
+said Mrs. Wylie. 'That was what kept us&mdash;Beryl
+and me. We have telegraphed to your mamma.
+She will not be frightened now. Indeed, I hope she
+may have got the telegram in time to prevent her
+beginning to be anxious. And we also&mdash;' but here
+she stopped, for a glance at Margaret, as she told me
+afterwards, reminded her of Margaret's fears lest she
+should be sent back to Rock Terrace and Miss Bogle.
+And what she had been on the point of saying was,
+that they had also telegraphed to 'the witch.'</p>
+
+<p>'It was awfully good of you,' I said, feeling more
+and more ashamed of the trouble we were causing.</p>
+
+<p>I would have given anything to go home that
+night, even if it had been to find papa and mamma
+more displeased with me than they had ever been in
+their life, and, as I was beginning to see, as they had
+a right to be. But in the face of all Mrs. Wylie and
+Beryl were doing, I could not possibly have gone
+against what they thought best.</p>
+
+<p>'I shall also write to your mamma to-night,' Mrs.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[169]</a></span>
+Wylie went on. 'There is plenty of time. It is
+not really as late as the fog makes it seem. And
+the first thing we now have to do,' for just then
+Margaret had another bad fit of coughing, 'is to put
+this child to bed. If you are not better in the
+morning, or rather if you are any worse, we must
+send for the doctor.'</p>
+
+<p>'Oh, <i>please</i> don't!' said Margaret, as soon as she
+could speak. 'It's only the fog got into my throat.
+It doesn't hurt me at all, as it did when I had that
+very bad cold at home. I don't like strange doctors,
+<i>please</i>, Mrs. Wylie. And to-morrow nursey can send
+for our own doctor at home at Hill Horton, if I'm
+not quite well. I may go home to my nursey quite
+early, mayn't I? And you will tell their mamma
+not to be vexed with them, won't you? They only
+wanted to help me.'</p>
+
+<p>She looked such a shrimp of a creature, with her
+tiny face, so pale too, that nobody could have found
+it in their heart to scold her. Mrs. Wylie just patted
+her hand and said something about putting it all
+right, but that she must go to bed now and have a
+good long sleep.</p>
+
+<p>And just then Beryl, who had left us with Mrs.
+Wylie, came back to say that everything was ready<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[170]</a></span>
+for Margaret upstairs, and then she walked her and
+the red bundle off&mdash;to put her to bed.</p>
+
+<p>I really think that by this time Margaret was so
+tired that she scarcely knew where she was: she
+did not make the least objection, but was as meek as
+a mouse. You would never have thought her the
+same child as the determined little 'ordering-about'
+sort of child I knew she could be, and I, rather
+suspected, generally <i>had</i> been till she came under
+stricter management.</p>
+
+<p>When she was alone with us&mdash;with Peterkin and
+me&mdash;Mrs. Wylie spoke a little more about the whole
+affair. But not very much. She had evidently made
+up her mind to leave things in mamma's hands.
+And she did not at all explain any of the sort of
+mystery there seemed about Margaret.</p>
+
+<p>She rang the bell and told Browner to take
+us upstairs to the little room that had been got
+ready for us, and where we were to sleep, saying,
+that she herself was now going to write to
+mamma.</p>
+
+<p>'<i>And</i> to Miss Bogle,' she added, 'though I thought
+it better not to say so to Margaret.'</p>
+
+<p>She looked at us rather curiously as she spoke; I
+think she most likely wanted to find out what we<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[171]</a></span>
+really believed about 'the witch.' Peterkin started,
+and grew very red.</p>
+
+<p>'You won't let her go back there?' he exclaimed.
+'I'm sure she'll run away again if you do.'</p>
+
+<p>It sounded rather rude, but Mrs. Wylie knew
+that he did not mean it for rudeness. She only
+looked at him gravely.</p>
+
+<p>'I am very anxious to see how your little friend
+is to-morrow morning,' she replied. 'I earnestly
+hope she has not caught any serious cold.'</p>
+
+<p>The way she said it frightened me a little somehow,
+though we children often caught cold and
+didn't think much about it. But then we were all
+strong. None of us ever coughed the way Margaret
+used to about that time, except when we had
+hooping-cough, and it wasn't that that she had got,
+I knew.</p>
+
+<p>'You don't think she is going to be badly ill?' I
+said, feeling as if it would be all my fault if she
+was.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Wylie only repeated that she hoped not.</p>
+
+<p>We couldn't do much in the way of dressing or
+tidying ourselves up, as we had nothing with us, not
+even a red bundle. We could only wash our faces
+and hands, which were <i>black</i> with the fog, so having<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[172]</a></span>
+them clean was an improvement. And there was a
+very pretty brush and comb put out for us&mdash;Beryl's
+own. I think it was awfully good of her to lend us
+her nice things like that. I don't believe Blanchie
+would have done it, though I daresay mamma would.
+So we made ourselves as decent-looking as we could,
+and our collars didn't look as bad that evening as in
+the daylight the next morning.</p>
+
+<p>And then Beryl put her head in at the door and
+told us to come down to the drawing-room, where
+her father was.</p>
+
+<p>'He is not able to go up and down stairs just now,'
+she said. 'His rheumatism is very bad. So he
+stays in the drawing-room, and we dine earlier than
+usual for his sake&mdash;at seven.'</p>
+
+<p>She went on talking, partly to make us more
+comfortable, for I knew we were both looking very
+shy. And just outside the drawing-room door she
+smiled and said, 'Don't be frightened of him, he is
+the kindest person in the world.'</p>
+
+<div class="figright" style="width: 285px;">
+<img src="images/i199.png" width="285" height="500" alt="THE FRILLS HAD WORKED UP ALL ROUND HIS FACE.&mdash;p. 173." title="THE FRILLS HAD WORKED UP ALL ROUND HIS FACE.&mdash;p. 173." />
+<span class="caption">THE FRILLS HAD WORKED UP ALL ROUND HIS FACE.&mdash;p. 173.</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>So he was, I am sure. He had white hair and a
+thin white face, and he was sitting in a big arm-chair,
+and he shook hands kindly, and didn't seem
+to mind our being there a bit. Of course, Beryl had
+explained it all to him, and it was easy to see that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[173]</a></span>
+he was most awfully fond of her, and pleased with
+everything she did. All the same, I was very glad,
+though it sounds horrid, that he couldn't come downstairs.
+It didn't seem half so frightening with only
+Mrs. Wylie and Beryl.</p>
+
+<p>Peterkin got very sleepy before dinner was really
+over. I think he nodded once or twice at dessert,
+though he was very offended when I said so afterwards.
+I began to feel jolly tired too, and we were
+both very glad to go to bed. There was a fire in our
+room. 'Miss Wylie had ordered it because of the
+fog,' the servant said. Wasn't it kind of her?</p>
+
+<p>We couldn't help laughing at the things they had
+tried to find for us instead of proper night things&mdash;jackety
+sort of affairs, with lots of frills and fuss. I
+don't know if they belonged to mother Wylie or to
+Beryl. But we were too sleepy to mind, though
+next morning Pete was awfully offended when I said
+he looked like Red-Riding Hood's grandmother, as
+the frills had worked up all round his face, and he
+looked still queerer when he got out of bed, as
+his robe trailed on the floor, with his being so
+short.</p>
+
+<p>He did not wake as early as usual, but I did.
+And for a minute or two I <i>couldn't</i> think where I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[174]</a></span>
+was. And I didn't feel very happy when I did
+remember.</p>
+
+<p>The fog had gone, but it still looked gloomy, compared
+with home. Still I was glad it was clear, both
+because I wanted so to go home, and also because
+of Margaret's cold. I think that was what I first
+thought of. If only she didn't get ill, I thought I
+wouldn't mind how angry they were with me. As
+to Peterkin, I would stand up for him, if he needed
+it, though I didn't think he would. They'd be sure
+to remind me how much older I was, and pleasant
+things like that. And yet when I went over and
+over it in my own mind, I couldn't get it clear
+what else I could have done. There <i>are</i> puzzles like
+that sometimes, and anyway it was better than if
+Margaret had run away alone, and perhaps got really
+lost.</p>
+
+<p>And, after all, as you will hear, I hadn't much
+blame to bear. The name of this chapter will show
+thanks to whom <i>that</i> was.</p>
+
+<p>When we were dressed&mdash;and oh, how we longed
+for clean collars!&mdash;we made our way down to the
+dining-room. Beryl was there already, and I saw
+that she looked even prettier by daylight, such as it
+was than the evening before. She smiled kindly,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[175]</a></span>
+and said she hoped we had managed to sleep
+well.</p>
+
+<p>'Oh yes, thank you,' we said, 'but&mdash;' and we
+both looked round the room. 'How is Margaret?'</p>
+
+<p>'None the worse, I am glad to say,' Beryl
+answered, and then I thought to myself I might
+have guessed it, by Beryl's bright face. 'I really
+think it was only the fog that made her cough so
+last night. She looks a very delicate little girl, however,
+and she speaks of having had a very bad cold
+not long ago, which may have been something worse
+than a cold. So I made her stay in bed for breakfast,
+till&mdash;&mdash;'</p>
+
+<p>At that moment the parlour-maid brought in a
+telegram. Beryl opened it, and then handed it to
+me. It was from mamma.</p>
+
+<p>'A thousand thanks for telegram and letter.
+Coming myself by earliest train possible.'</p>
+
+<p>'It's very good of mamma,' I said, and in my
+heart I was glad she was coming before we&mdash;or I&mdash;saw
+papa. For though he is very kind too, he is not
+quite so 'understanding,' and a good deal sharper,
+especially with us boys. I suppose fathers need
+to be, and I suppose boys need it more than
+girls.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[176]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>'Yes,' said Beryl, and though she had been so
+awfully jolly about the whole affair, I could tell by
+her tone that she was glad that some one belonging
+to us was coming to look after us all. 'It is very
+satisfactory. My aunt said she would come round
+early too. I think it will be quite safe for Margaret
+to get up now, so I will go and tell her she may.
+You will find some magazines and picture-papers in
+my little sitting-room, behind this room, if you can
+amuse yourselves there till auntie comes.'</p>
+
+<p>I stopped her a moment as she was leaving the
+room, to ask what I knew Peterkin was longing to
+hear.</p>
+
+<p>'Mamma will take us home, of course,' I said,
+'but what do you think will be done about
+Margaret?'</p>
+
+<p>'They&mdash;' whom he meant by 'they' I don't know,
+and I don't think he knew himself&mdash;'they won't
+send her back to the witch, you don't think, do
+you?' he burst out, growing very red.</p>
+
+<p>Beryl hesitated. Then she said quietly&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'No, I <i>don't</i> think so,' and Peterkin gave a great
+sigh of relief. If she had answered that she <i>did</i>
+think so, I believe he would have broken into a
+howl. I really do.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[177]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>It seemed rather a long time that we had to wait
+in Beryl's room before anything else happened.
+Peterkin said it felt a good deal like waiting at the
+dentist's, and I agreed with him. It was the looking
+at the picture-papers that put it into his head, I
+think.</p>
+
+<p>We heard the front-door bell ring several times,
+and once I was sure I caught Beryl's voice calling,
+'Auntie, is it you?' but it must have been nearly
+twelve o'clock&mdash;breakfast had been a good deal later
+than at home&mdash;before the door of the room where we
+were, opened, and some one came in. I was standing
+staring out of the window, which looked into a very
+small sort of fernery or conservatory, and wishing
+Beryl had told me to water the plants, when I heard
+a voice behind me.</p>
+
+<p>'Boys!' it said; 'Giles?' and turning round, I
+saw that it was mamma. I forgot all about being
+found fault with and everything else, and just flew
+to her, and so did poor old Pete, and then&mdash;I am
+almost ashamed to tell it, though perhaps I should
+not be&mdash;I broke out crying!</p>
+
+<p>Mamma put her arms round me. I don't know
+what she had been meaning to say to us, or to me,
+perhaps, in the way of blame, but it ended in her<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[178]</a></span>
+hugging me, and saying 'poor old Gilley.' She
+hugged Peterkin too, though he wasn't crying, and
+had no intention of it, <i>unless</i> his beloved Margaret
+was to be sent back to Miss Bogle, and then, I have
+no doubt, he would have howled loudly enough.
+His whole mind was fixed on this point, and he had
+hardly patience even to be hugged, before he burst
+out with it.</p>
+
+<p>'Mummy, mummy,' he said,'they're not going to
+send her back to the witch, are they?'</p>
+
+<p>Mamma understood. She knew Peterkin's little
+ways so well,&mdash;how he got his head full of a thing,
+and could take in nothing else,&mdash;and she saw that
+it was best to satisfy him at once if we were to have
+any peace.</p>
+
+<p>'No,' she said. 'The little girl is not to go back
+to Miss Bogle.'</p>
+
+<p>Peterkin gave a great sigh of comfort. After all,
+he <i>had</i> rescued his princess, I suppose he said to
+himself. <i>I</i> thought it very extraordinary that
+mamma should be able to speak so decidedly about
+it, and I daresay she saw this, for she went on almost
+at once&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'I have a good deal to explain. Some unexpected
+things happened yesterday and this morning. But<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[179]</a></span>
+for this, I should have come by an earlier
+train.'</p>
+
+<p>Here, I think, before I go on to say what these
+unexpected things were, is a good place for telling
+what mamma said to me afterwards, when we were
+by ourselves, about the whole affair, and my part in
+it. She quite allowed that I had not meant to do
+wrong or to be deceitful, or anything like that, and
+that I had been rather in a hole. But she made me
+see that, to start with, I should not have promised
+Margaret to keep it a secret, and she said she was
+sure that Margaret would have given in to our
+telling <i>her</i>&mdash;mamma, I mean&mdash;of her troubles, if I
+had spoken to her sensibly and seriously about it.
+And now that I know Margaret so well, I think so
+too. For she is particularly sensible for her age,
+especially since she has got her head clearer of fairy-tales
+and witches and enchantments and ogres and
+all the rest of it; and even then, there was a good
+deal of sense and reasonableness below her self-will
+and impatience.</p>
+
+<p>Now, I can go on with what mamma told us.
+The first she heard of it all was the telegram from
+Mrs. Wylie, for she had been out till rather late and
+found it lying on the hall-table when she came in,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[180]</a></span>
+before she had even heard that Pete and I had not
+turned up at the nursery tea. That was what Beryl
+had hoped&mdash;that the news of our being all right
+would come before mamma had had a chance of
+being anxious. At first she was completely puzzled,
+but James, who was faithful to his promise, though
+rather stupid, helped to throw a little light on it by
+giving her my message.</p>
+
+<p>And then, as she was still standing in the hall,
+talking to him and trying to think what in the
+world had made us dream of going to London to
+Mrs. Wylie's, all by ourselves, there came a great ring
+at the bell, and when James opened, a startled-looking
+maid-servant's voice was heard asking for
+Mrs. Lesley.</p>
+
+<p>'I am Mrs. Wylie's parlour-maid,' she said, 'and I
+offered to run round, for the old lady next door to us,
+Miss Bogle, to ask if Mrs. Lesley would have the
+charity&mdash;I was to say&mdash;to come to see her. The
+little young lady, Miss Fothergill, who lives with
+her, has been missing all the afternoon. Miss Bogle
+did not know it till an hour or two ago, as she always
+rests in her own room till four o'clock. But I was
+to say she would explain it all to Mrs. Lesley, if she
+could possibly come to see Miss Bogle at once.'<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[181]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Mamma had gone forward and heard this all
+herself, though the maid had begun by giving the
+message to James. And she said immediately that
+she would come. She still had her going-out things
+on, you see, so no time was lost.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[182]</a></span></p>
+<h2>CHAPTER XII</h2>
+
+<h3>NO MYSTERY AFTER ALL</h3>
+
+
+<div class='unindent'><span class="smcap">We</span> listened with all our ears, you may be sure, to
+what mamma told us; she did so, very quickly. It
+takes me much longer to write it.</div>
+
+<p>'And did you see Miss Bogle?' I asked. 'And
+what <i>is</i> she like?'</p>
+
+<p>'The witch herself,' said Peterkin, his eyes nearly
+starting out of his head.</p>
+
+<p>'No, Peterkin,' said mamma, 'you are not to call
+her that any more. You must help me to explain
+to little Margaret, that Miss Bogle is a good old
+lady, who has meant nothing but kindness, though
+she made a great mistake in undertaking the charge
+of the child, for she is old and infirm and suffers
+sadly. Yes, of course, I saw her. She was terribly
+upset, the tears streaming down her poor face, though
+she had scarcely had time to be actually terrified<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[183]</a></span>
+about Margaret, thanks to Mrs. Wylie's telegram.
+She was afraid of the child having got cold, and she
+was altogether puzzled and miserable. And I was
+not able to explain very much myself, till I got Mrs.
+Wylie's <i>letter</i> this morning, fully telling all. Still, I
+comforted her by saying I knew Mrs. Wylie was
+goodness itself, and would take every care of all the
+three of you for the night. Miss Bogle had not
+missed Margaret, as she always rests in the afternoon,
+till about four. And, strange to say, the
+servants had not missed her either. The nurse was
+away for the day, and I suppose that the others, not
+being used to think about the child, had not given a
+thought to her, though it seems strangely careless,
+till it got near her tea-time, and then they ran to
+Miss Bogle and startled her terribly. The first
+thing she did was to send in to the next-door house'&mdash;('The
+parrot's house?' interrupted Pete)&mdash;'and to
+Mrs. Wylie's,' mamma went on, 'where the parlour-maid
+knew that you boys and Margaret had made
+friends, and she offered to speak to Miss Bogle,
+thinking that perhaps you had all gone a walk
+together, and would soon be coming in. And <i>while</i>
+she was telling Miss Bogle this, came the telegram,
+showing that indeed you had gone a walk, and more<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[184]</a></span>
+than a walk,'&mdash;here mamma turned away for a
+moment, and I <i>think</i> it was to hide a smile that she
+could not help. I suppose to grown-up people there
+was a comical side to the story,&mdash;'together. And
+then the poor old lady sent for me.'</p>
+
+<p>'And was that all that happened?' I asked.</p>
+
+<p>Mamma shook her head.</p>
+
+<p>'No,' she said. 'While I was still talking to
+Miss Bogle, came another telegram, from the little
+girl's nurse, her present nurse, to say that her sister
+was so ill that she could not leave her, and that she
+was writing to explain. Poor Miss Bogle! Her
+cup of troubles did seem full; I felt very sorry for
+her, and I promised to go back to see her, first
+thing this morning, which I did, before starting
+to fetch you boys. The nurse's letter had come, saying
+she did not know <i>when</i> she could return. And
+so&mdash;' mamma stopped for a moment&mdash;'it all ended&mdash;papa
+came back last night, so he was with me, and
+it was his idea first of all&mdash;in a way which I don't
+think you will be very sorry for,'&mdash;and again mamma
+smiled,&mdash;'in our settling that Margaret is to come
+home with <i>us</i>, and stay with us till there is time
+to hear from her grandfather, General Fothergill,
+what he wishes. How do you like the idea?'<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[185]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>'I'm awfully glad of it,' I said. And so I was.
+Not so much for the sake of having Margaret as a
+companion, as because it quite took away all responsibility
+and fears about her. For I felt sure she
+would never have settled down happily or contentedly
+in Miss Bogle's house.</p>
+
+<p>But as for Peterkin! You never saw anything
+like his delight. He took all the credit of it to
+himself, and was more certain than ever that the
+parrot was a fairy, Miss Bogle a witch, and himself
+a hero who had rescued a lovely princess. His
+eyes sparkled like&mdash;I don't know what to compare
+them to; and his cheeks got so red and fat that I
+thought they'd burst.</p>
+
+<p>And when I said quietly&mdash;I thought it a good
+thing to sober him down a bit, but I really meant it
+too&mdash;that I hoped Blanchie and Elf would like Margaret,
+he really looked as if he wanted to knock me
+down&mdash;ungrateful little donkey, after all I'd done
+and gone through for him and his princess! But
+mamma glanced at me, and I understood that she
+meant that it was better to say nothing much to him.
+He would grow out of his fancies by degrees. And
+she just said, quietly too, that she was sure the little
+girls would get on all right together, and that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[186]</a></span>
+Blanche and Elvira would do all they could to make
+Margaret happy.</p>
+
+<p>'And I am so thankful,' mamma went on, 'that
+the poor child is none the worse for her adventures,
+and able to travel back with us to-day. And I can
+never, never be grateful enough to Mrs. Wylie and
+her niece for their goodness to you. Miss Wylie is
+perfectly sweet.'</p>
+
+<p>Just as she said this the door opened and Beryl
+came in, leading Margaret with her. Mamma, of
+course, had already seen them upstairs, before she
+saw us.</p>
+
+<p>Margaret looked pale, naturally, paler than usual,
+I thought, and she never was rosy in those days,
+though she is now. But she seemed very happy and
+smiling, and she was not coughing at all. And
+another thing that pleased me, was that she came
+round and stood by mamma's chair, as if she already
+felt quite at home with her.</p>
+
+<p>Beryl drew a chair close to them and sat down.</p>
+
+<p>'I was just saying,' said mamma, 'that we shall
+never be able to thank you enough, dear Miss Wylie,
+for your goodness to these three.'</p>
+
+<p>'I am so glad, so <i>very</i> glad,' said Beryl, in her
+nice hearty sort of way, 'to have been of use. It<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[187]</a></span>
+was really quite a pleasant excitement last night&mdash;when
+it all turned out well, and Margaret was clever
+enough not to get ill. But please don't call me Miss
+Wylie. You have known dear old auntie so long&mdash;and
+she counts me almost like her own child. Do
+call me "Beryl."'</p>
+
+<p>And from that time she has always been 'Beryl'
+to us all.</p>
+
+<p>They, the Wylies, made us stay to luncheon. It
+was just about time for it by this. We did not see
+Mr. Wylie again, though he sent polite messages to
+mamma, and was very kind about it all.</p>
+
+<p>And Mrs. Wylie came in to luncheon, and petted
+us all round, and said that we must <i>all</i>&mdash;Blanche and
+Elvira, and Clement too, if he wasn't too big, come to
+have tea with her, as soon as she got back to Rock
+Terrace.</p>
+
+<p>We thanked her, of course. At least Peterkin and
+I did, but I noticed that Margaret got rather red and
+did not say anything except 'thank you' very faintly.
+She was still half afraid of finding herself again where
+she had been so unhappy, and indeed it took a good
+while, and a good deal of quiet talking too, to get it
+<i>quite</i> out of her head about Miss Bogle being a witch
+who was trying to 'enchanter' her, as her dear<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[188]</a></span>
+'Perkins' (she calls him 'Perkins' to this day)
+would persist in saying.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Wylie noticed her manner too, I fancy. For
+she went on to say, with a funny sort of twinkle in
+her eyes&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'There will be a great deal to tell the parrot.
+And I don't expect that he will feel quite happy in
+his mind about you, little Margaret, till he has
+seen you again. He will miss you sadly, I am
+afraid.'</p>
+
+<p>And at this, Margaret brightened up.</p>
+
+<p>'Yes,' she said, 'I <i>must</i> come to see dear Poll.
+But I may talk to him from your side of the balcony,
+mayn't I, Mrs. Wylie?'</p>
+
+<p>'Certainly,' said the kind old lady, 'and you must
+introduce your new friends to him. Mrs. Lesley's
+little girls, I mean.'</p>
+
+<p>Margaret liked the idea of this, I could see. She
+is not at all shy, and she still is very fond of planning,
+or managing things, and people too, for that matter,
+though of course she is much more sensible now,
+and not so impatient and self-willed as she used to
+be. Still, on the whole, she gets on better with
+Peterkin than with any of us, though she is fond of
+us, I know, and so are we of her. But Peterkin is<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[189]</a></span>
+just a sort of slave to her, and does everything she
+asks, and I expect it will always be like that.</p>
+
+<p>What a different journey it was that day to the
+miserable one the day before! To <i>me</i>, at least; for
+though I wasn't feeling particularly happy, as I will
+explain, in some ways, the horrible responsibility
+about the others had gone. <i>They</i> were as jolly as
+could be, but then I knew they hadn't felt half as
+bad as I had done. They sat in a corner, whispering,
+and I overheard that they were making plans for
+all sorts of things they would do while Margaret
+stayed with us. And Pete was telling her all about
+Blanche and Elf, especially about Elf, and about
+the lots of fairy story-books he had got, and how
+they three would act some of them together, till
+Margaret got quite pink with pleasure.</p>
+
+<p>I saw mamma looking at me now and then, as
+if she was wondering what I was thinking about.
+I <i>was</i> thinking a good deal. There were some things
+I couldn't yet quite understand about it all&mdash;why
+there should have been a sort of mystery, and why
+Mrs. Wylie had pinched up her lips when we had
+asked her about Margaret the day we went to tea
+with her. And besides this, I was feeling, in a kind
+of a way, rather ashamed of being taken home like<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[190]</a></span>
+a baby, even though mamma&mdash;and all of them, I
+must say&mdash;had been so very good, not to make a
+regular row and fuss, after the fright we had given
+them, or had <i>nearly</i> given them.</p>
+
+<p>But I didn't say anything more to mamma just
+then. For one thing, I saw that she was looking
+very tired, and no wonder, poor dear little mamma,
+when you think what a day of it she had had, and
+all the bother with the witch the night before, too.</p>
+
+<p>I never saw Miss Bogle, and I've never wanted
+to. I shall always consider that she was nearly as
+bad as if she <i>had</i> been a witch, and it was no thanks
+to her that poor little Margaret didn't get really lost,
+or badly ill, or something of that kind.</p>
+
+<p>They were expecting us when we got home.
+Blanche and Elf were in the hall, looking rather
+excited and very shy. But there was not much fear
+of shyness with Margaret and Peterkin, as neither
+of them was ever troubled with such a thing.</p>
+
+<p>I left Pete to do the honours, so to say, helped by
+mamma, of course. They all went off together upstairs
+to show Margaret her room and the nursery,
+and to introduce her to nurse and all the rest of it,
+and I went into the schoolroom&mdash;a small sort of
+study behind the dining-room, and sat down by myself,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[191]</a></span>
+feeling rather 'out of it' and 'flat,' and almost
+a little ashamed of myself and the whole affair
+somehow.</p>
+
+<p>And the fire was low and the room looked dull
+and chilly, and I began thinking how horrid it
+would be to go to school the next morning without
+having done my lessons properly, and not knowing
+what to say about having missed a day, without the
+excuse, or good reason, of having been ill.</p>
+
+<p>I had sat there some time, a quarter-of-an-hour or
+so, I daresay, when I heard the front-door bell ring.
+Then I heard James opening and the door shutting,
+and, a moment after, the door of the room where I
+was opened, and some one came in, and banged something
+down on to the table. By that I knew who
+it was. It was Clement, with his school-books.</p>
+
+<p>It was nearly dark by this time, and the room
+was not lighted up at all. So he did not see me at
+first, till I moved a little, which made him start.</p>
+
+<p>'Good gracious!' he exclaimed, 'is that you,
+Gilley? What are you doing all alone in the dark?
+James told me you had all come&mdash;the kid from Rock
+Terrace too. By jove&mdash;' and he began to laugh a
+little to himself.</p>
+
+<p>It seemed a sort of last straw. I was tired and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[192]</a></span>
+ashamed, and all wrong somehow. I did not speak
+till I was at the door, for I got up to leave the
+room at once. Then I said&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>'You needn't go at me like that. You might let
+me sit here if I want to. You don't suppose I've
+been enjoying myself these two days, do you?'</p>
+
+<p>He seemed to understand all about it at once.
+He caught hold of my arm and pulled me back again.</p>
+
+<p>'Poor old Gilley!' he said.</p>
+
+<p>Then he took up the poker and gave a good
+banging to the coals. There was plenty on the fire,
+but it had got black for want of stirring up. In a
+moment or two there was a cheery blaze. Clement
+pushed me into a seat and sat down near me on
+the table, his legs dangling.</p>
+
+<p>I have not said very much about Clem in this
+story&mdash;if it's worth calling a story&mdash;except just at
+the beginning, for it has really been meant to be
+about Peterkin and his princess. But I can't finish
+it without a little more about him&mdash;Clem, I mean.
+Some day, possibly, I may write about him especially,
+about our real school-life and all he has been
+to me, and how tremendously lucky I always think
+it has been for me to have such a brother. He is
+just as good as gold, without any pretence about it,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[193]</a></span>
+and jolly too. And I can never forget how kind he
+was that afternoon.</p>
+
+<p>'Poor old Gilley!' he repeated. 'It must have
+been rather horrid for you&mdash;much worse than for
+those two young imps. Mamma told me all about
+it, as soon as she got the letter&mdash;she told me a good
+deal last night about what Miss Bogie, or whatever
+the old thing's name is, had told her.'</p>
+
+<p>I looked up at this.</p>
+
+<p>'Yes?' I said. 'I don't understand it at all, yet.
+But, Clem, what shall I do about school to-morrow?
+I've no lessons ready or anything.'</p>
+
+<p>'Is it that that you are worrying about?' he
+said.</p>
+
+<p>'Partly, and&mdash;&mdash;'</p>
+
+<p>'Well, you can put <i>that</i> out of your head. It's
+all right. Mamma told me what to say&mdash;that there'd
+been a mistake about the trains, and you'd had to
+stay the night in London. It wasn't necessary to
+say more, and you'll find it all right, I promise you.'</p>
+
+<p>I was very glad of this, and I said so, and thanked
+Clem.</p>
+
+<p>He sat still for a minute or two as if he was
+expecting me to speak.</p>
+
+<p>'Well?' he said at last.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[194]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>'Mamma's been very good, <i>very</i> good about it
+altogether,' I said at last, 'and so has papa, by what
+she says. But still&mdash;' and then I hesitated.</p>
+
+<p>'Well?' said Clement again. 'What? I don't see
+that there's much to be down in the mouth about.'</p>
+
+<p>'It's just that&mdash;I feel rather a fool,' I said.
+'Anybody would laugh so at the whole affair if they
+heard it. I daresay Blanche will think I've no more
+sense than Pete. She has a horrid superior way
+sometimes, you know.'</p>
+
+<p>'You needn't bother about that, either,' said he.
+'She and Elf have got their heads perfectly full of
+Margaret. I don't suppose Blanche will ever speak
+of your part of it, or think of it even. As long as
+papa and mamma are all right&mdash;and I'm sure they
+are&mdash;you may count it a case of all's well that ends
+well.'</p>
+
+<p>I did begin to feel rather cheered up.</p>
+
+<p>'You're sure I'm not going to get a talking to,
+after all?' I said, still doubtfully. 'I saw mamma
+looking at me rather funnily in the train.'</p>
+
+<p>'Did you, my boy?' said another voice, and
+glancing round, I saw mamma, who had come into
+the room so quietly that neither of us had heard
+her.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[195]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>She sat down beside us. And then it was that she
+explained to me what I had done wrong, and been
+foolish about. I have already told what she said,
+and I felt that it was all true and sensible. And
+she was so kind&mdash;not laughing at me a bit, even for
+having a little believed about the witch and all that&mdash;that
+I lost the horrid, mortified, ashamed feelings
+I had been having.</p>
+
+<p>Just then the nursery tea-bell rang. I got up&mdash;slowly&mdash;I
+still felt a little funny and uncomfortable
+about Blanche, and even nurse. You see nurse
+made such a pet of Peterkin that she never scarcely
+could see that he should be found fault with, and
+of course he was a very good little chap, though not
+exactly an angel without wings&mdash;and certainly rather
+a queer child, with all his fairy-tale fancies.</p>
+
+<p>But mamma put her hand on my arm.</p>
+
+<p>'No,' she said. 'Clem and you are going to have
+tea in the drawing-room with me. The nursery
+party will be better left to itself to-day, and little
+Margaret is not accustomed to so many.'</p>
+
+<p>'I don't believe anything would make her feel
+shy, though,' I said. 'She is just as funny in her
+way as Peterkin in his. And, mamma, there are
+some things I don't understand still. Is there any<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[196]</a></span>
+sort of mystery? Why did Mrs. Wylie leave off
+talking about Margaret, and you too, I think, all of
+a sudden? I'm sure it was Mrs. Wylie's way of
+pinching up her lips about her, that made Pete surer
+than ever about the enchantment and the parrot and
+the witch and everything.'</p>
+
+<p>Mamma smiled.</p>
+
+<p>'No,' she said, 'there is no mystery at all. I will
+explain about it while we are having tea. It must
+be ready for us.'</p>
+
+<p>And she went into the drawing-room, Clement
+and I following her. It looked so nice and comfortable&mdash;I
+was jolly glad, I know, to be at home
+again!</p>
+
+<p>Then mamma told us&mdash;or me; I think Clem had
+heard it already&mdash;about Margaret.</p>
+
+<p>Her father and mother were in India, as I have
+said, have I not? And her grandfather was taking
+care of her. He was not a very old man, though he
+was a General. He had vineyards or something&mdash;yes,
+I am sure it was vineyards, in the south of
+France, and he had had to go, suddenly, to look after
+some business to do with them. And just when he
+was starting, Margaret got ill. It was the illness
+she had spoken of several times, which she called a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[197]</a></span>
+very bad cold. But it was much worse than that,
+though she didn't know.</p>
+
+<p>Her grandfather put off going till she was getting
+better, and the doctors said she must have change of
+air. He couldn't take her with him, and he had to
+go, so the only thing he could think of was to ask
+old Miss Bogle, who had been Margaret's father's
+governess once&mdash;or General Fothergill's own governess
+when he was a little boy; I am not sure which&mdash;to
+take charge of her. He had forgotten how old,
+Miss Bogle was, and I think she must have forgotten
+it herself! She wasn't fit to look after a child,
+especially as Margaret's nurse had to leave just
+then.</p>
+
+<p>So you can pretty well understand how dull and
+lonely Margaret was. And General Fothergill was
+in such a fuss about her, and so terrified of her
+getting any other illness, that he forbade her making
+friends with any one out of Miss Bogle's house, unless
+he was asked about it, and wrote to give leave.</p>
+
+<p>And when Mrs. Wylie found out about her, she&mdash;or
+Miss Bogle&mdash;<i>did</i> write to ask leave for her to
+know <i>us</i>, explaining how good and sensible mamma
+was about children every way. But till the leave
+came Mrs. Wylie and mamma settled that it was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[198]</a></span>
+better to say nothing about it to us. And in this, <i>I</i>
+think, they made a mistake.</p>
+
+<p>That was all. The leave <i>did</i> come, while Margaret
+was with us. Of course, all that had happened was
+written to her grandfather, but she wasn't a bit
+scolded!</p>
+
+<p>Neither was her 'Perkins'; the big people only
+said that they must not be given so many fairy-stories
+to read.</p>
+
+<p><i>I</i> wasn't scolded either, though, so I should not
+complain. And several nice things came of it: the
+knowing Beryl Wylie, and the going to stay at
+General Fothergill's country house, and the having
+Margaret with us sometimes.</p>
+
+<p>I don't know what the parrot thought of it all.
+I believe he is still there, as clever and 'uncanny'
+as ever; at least so Mrs. Wylie said, the last time
+she came to see us.</p>
+
+<h3>THE END</h3>
+
+<div class='copyright'>
+<i>Printed by</i> <span class="smcap">R. &amp; R. Clark, Limited</span>, <i>Edinburgh</i><br />
+</div>
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+<tr><td align='left'><b>A CHRISTMAS POSY.</b></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><b>"CARROTS," JUST A LITTLE BOY.</b></td></tr>
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+<tr><td align='left'><b>CHRISTMAS-TREE LAND.</b></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><b>THE CUCKOO CLOCK.</b></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><b>FOUR WINDS FARM.</b></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><b>GRANDMOTHER DEAR.</b></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><b>ADVENTURES OF HERR BABY.</b></td></tr>
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+<tr><td align='left'><b>THE RECTORY CHILDREN.</b></td></tr>
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+<tr><td align='left'><b>TWO LITTLE WAIFS.</b></td></tr>
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+<tr><td align='left'><b>THE GIRLS AND I.</b></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><b>THE ORIEL WINDOW.</b></td></tr>
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+
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+<tr><td align='left'><b>"CARROTS."</b></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><b>A CHRISTMAS CHILD.</b></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><b>GRANDMOTHER DEAR.</b></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><b>THE CUCKOO CLOCK.</b></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><b>THE TAPESTRY ROOM.</b></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><b>"US."</b></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><b>ADVENTURES OF HERR BABY.</b></td></tr>
+</table></div>
+
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+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Peterkin, by Mary Louisa Molesworth
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PETERKIN ***
+
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@@ -0,0 +1,5314 @@
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Peterkin, by Mary Louisa Molesworth
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Peterkin
+
+Author: Mary Louisa Molesworth
+
+Illustrator: H. R. Millar
+
+Release Date: August 15, 2008 [EBook #26322]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PETERKIN ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Chris Curnow, Lindy Walsh, Emmy, and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+PETERKIN
+
+[Illustration: MAMMA . . . HUGGED HIM AS IF HE'D BEEN LOST FOR A YEAR.
+
+[_Frontispiece._]
+
+
+
+
+PETERKIN
+
+
+BY
+
+
+MRS. MOLESWORTH
+
+
+AUTHOR OF 'CARROTS,' 'CUCKOO CLOCK,' 'TELL ME A STORY'
+
+
+_WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY H. R. MILLAR_
+
+          =London=
+          MACMILLAN AND CO., LIMITED
+          NEW YORK: THE MACMILLAN COMPANY
+          1902
+
+
+          _All rights reserved_
+
+
+
+
+          TO
+
+          "ALEX"
+
+          ALEXANDER DOBREE HERRIES
+
+          I DEDICATE THIS LITTLE STORY
+
+
+          155 SLOANE STREET, S.W.
+          _May Day_ 1902
+
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+  CHAP.                                             PAGE
+
+     I. WHAT _CAN_ HAVE BECOME OF HIM?                 1
+
+    II. FOUND                                         19
+
+   III. AN INVITATION                                 34
+
+    IV. VERY MYSTERIOUS                               50
+
+     V. 'STRATAGEMS'                                  69
+
+    VI. MARGARET                                      84
+
+   VII. THE GREAT PLAN                               101
+
+  VIII. A TERRIBLE IDEA                              118
+
+    IX. IN A FOG                                     135
+
+     X. BERYL                                        149
+
+    XI. DEAR MAMMA                                   165
+
+   XII. NO MYSTERY AFTER ALL                         182
+
+
+
+
+ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+
+  MAMMA . . . HUGGED HIM AS IF HE'D BEEN LOST FOR A YEAR  _Frontispiece_
+
+  OUR MISSING PETERKIN                                 _To face page_ 13
+
+  NO SOONER DID HE CATCH SIGHT OF US TWO WITH HIS UGLY
+    ROUND BEADY EYES . . . THAN HE SHUT UP                   "   "    52
+
+  PETE HELD OUT HIS BROWN-PAPER PARCEL. 'THIS IS THE
+    POETRY-BOOK,' HE SAID                                    "   "    97
+
+  WE HAD NO DIFFICULTY IN FINDING HER BATH-CHAIR             "   "   108
+
+  HE LOOKED AT THE TICKETS . . . 'HOW'S THIS?' HE SAID       "   "   145
+
+  'NOW,' SHE BEGAN . . . DRAWING MARGARET TO HER, 'TELL
+    ME ALL ABOUT IT'                                         "   "   159
+
+  THE FRILLS HAD WORKED UP ALL ROUND HIS FACE                "   "   173
+
+
+
+
+PETERKIN
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+WHAT _CAN_ HAVE BECOME OF HIM?
+
+
+WE were all at tea in the nursery. All except him. The door burst open
+and James put his head in.
+
+'If you please, Mrs. Brough,' he began,--'Mrs. Brough' is the servants'
+name for nurse. Mamma calls her 'Brough' sometimes, but we always call
+her 'nurse,' of course,--'If you please, Mrs. Brough, is Master Peterkin
+here?'
+
+Nurse looked up, rather vexed. She doesn't like burstings in.
+
+'Of course not, James,' she said. 'He is out driving with his mamma. You
+must have seen them start.'
+
+'It's just that,' said James, in his silly way. 'It's his mamma that
+wants to know.'
+
+And then we noticed that James's face was much redder than usual. It may
+have been partly that he had run upstairs very fast, for he is really
+very good-natured, but it looked as if he was rather in a fuss, too.
+
+Nurse sat very bolt up in her chair, and _her_ face began to get queer,
+and her voice to get vexeder. Lots of people get cross when they are
+startled or frightened. I have noticed it.
+
+'What do you mean, James? Please to explain,' she said.
+
+'I can't stop,' he said, 'and I don't rightly understand, myself. His
+mamma sent Master Peterkin home before her, half-an-hour ago or more,
+but he hasn't come in, not as I've seen, nor nobody else, I'm afraid. So
+where he's got to, who can say?'
+
+And James turned to go.
+
+Nurse stopped him, getting up from her place as she spoke.
+
+'Was he in the carriage?' she asked.
+
+'Of course not. Beckett would have seen him in, all right, if he had
+been,' said James, in a very superior tone. 'He was to run home by
+himself a bit of a way, as I take it,' he added, as he hurried off at
+last.
+
+'I must go downstairs to your mamma,' said nurse. 'Miss Blanchie, my
+dear, will you look after Miss Elvira, and see that she doesn't spill
+her tea?'
+
+'_Nursie_,' said Elvira, in a very offended tone, 'you know I never
+spill my tea now.'
+
+'Not since the day before yesterday,' I was beginning to say, but I
+didn't. For I thought to myself, if there was any real trouble about
+Peterkin, it wouldn't be at all a good time to tease each other. I don't
+think Elf--that's Elvira's pet name--had understood about him being
+lost. Indeed, I don't think I had quite taken it in myself, till I saw
+how grave the two eldest ones were looking.
+
+'Clem,' I said, 'do you think there can really be anything the matter?'
+
+Clement is the eldest of us all, and he is always the one we go to first
+if we are in any trouble. But he is sometimes rather slow; he is not as
+quick and clever as Blanche, and she often puts him down at first,
+though she generally comes round to his way in the end. She answered for
+him now, though I hadn't spoken to her.
+
+'How can there not be something the matter?' she said sharply. 'If
+Peterkin has been half-an-hour or an hour, perhaps, wandering about the
+streets, it shows he has at least lost his way, and who knows where he's
+got to. I wish you wouldn't ask such silly questions, Giles.'
+
+Then, all of a sudden, Elf burst out crying. It may have been partly
+Blanche's sharp tone, which had startled her, and made her take more
+notice of it all.
+
+'Oh, Clem, Clem,' she wailed, 'could he have been stolened?'
+
+'No, no, darling,' said Clement, dabbing her face with his
+pocket-handkerchief. 'There are kind policemen in the streets, you know.
+They wouldn't let a little boy like Peterkin be stolen.'
+
+'But they does take little boys to pison,' said Elf. 'I've see'd them.
+It's 'cos of that I'm frightened of them for Peterkin.'
+
+That was not quite true. She had never thought of policemen till,
+unluckily, Clem spoke of them in his wish to comfort her. She did not
+mean to say what was not true, of course, but there never was such a
+child as Elf for arguing, even then when she was only four years old.
+Indeed, she's not half as bad now that she is eight, twice as old, and I
+often tell her so. Perhaps that evening it wasn't a bad thing, for the
+talking about policemen stopped her crying, which was even worse than
+her arguing, once she started a good roar.
+
+'It's just because of that, that I'm so frightened about dear sweet
+little Peterkin,' she repeated.
+
+'Rubbish, Elf,' I began, but Clem looked at me and I stopped.
+
+'You needn't be frightened that Peterkin will be taken to prison,
+Elfie,' he said in his kind, rather slow way. 'It's only naughty little
+boys that the policemen take to prison, and Peterkin isn't naughty,' and
+then he wiped Elf's eyes again, and she forgot to go on crying, for just
+then nurse came upstairs. _She_ was not actually crying, of course, but
+she did look very worried, so Clem and Blanche's faces did not clear up
+at all. Nor did mine, I suppose. I really did not know what to think, I
+was waiting to see what the others thought, for we three younger ones
+looked up to Clement and Blanche a good deal, and we still do. They are
+twins, and they seem to mix together so well. Blanche is quick and
+clever, and Clement is awfully sensible, and they are both very kind,
+though Clem is the gentlest. They are nearly sixteen now, and I am
+thirteen past, so at the time I am writing about they were twelve and I
+was going to be ten my next birthday, and Peterkin was eight and Elvira
+five. I won't say much about what sort of a boy Peterkin was, for as my
+story is mostly about him and the funny things he did and thought, it
+will show of itself.
+
+He _was_ a funny child; a queer child in some ways, I mean, and he still
+is. Mamma says it is stupid to say 'funny' when we mean queer or odd,
+but I think it says it better than any other word, and I am sure other
+children will think so too.
+
+Blanche was the first to speak to nurse.
+
+'Is mamma really frightened about Peterkin, nurse?' she asked. 'Tell us
+what it is.'
+
+But nurse had caught sight of her darling pet baby's red eyes.
+
+'Miss Blanchie,' she said, 'I asked you to look after Miss Elvira, and
+she's been crying.'
+
+'You asked me to see that she didn't spill her tea, and she hasn't spilt
+it. It's some nonsense she has got in her head about policemen taking
+strayed children to prison that she has been crying about,' replied
+Blanche, rather crossly.
+
+'I only wish,' began nurse, but the rest of her sentence she mumbled to
+herself, though I heard part of it. It was wishing that the policemen
+_had_ got Peterkin safely.
+
+'Of course, your poor mamma is upset about it,' she went on, though I
+could see she did not want to say very much for fear of Elf's beginning
+to cry again. 'It was this way. Your mamma had to go round by Belton
+Street, and she did not want to keep Master Peterkin out so late to miss
+his tea, so she dropped him at the corner of Lindsay Square, and told
+him to run home. It's as straight as straight can be, and he's often run
+that far alone. So where he's got to or gone to, there's no guessing.'
+
+'And what is mamma doing?' asked Blanche.
+
+'She has sent Mr. Drew and James off in different directions,' said
+nurse, 'and she has gone herself again in the carriage to the station,
+as it's just time for your papa's train, and he will know what more to
+do.'
+
+We did not live in London then; papa went up and down every day from the
+big town by the sea where our home was. Clement thinks perhaps I had
+better not say what town it is, as some people might remember about us,
+and I _might_ say things that would vex them; so I won't call it
+anything, though I must explain that it is not at all a little place,
+but quite big enough for any one to lose their way in, if they were
+strangers. But Peterkin wasn't a stranger; and the way he had to come
+was, as nurse said, as straight as straight.
+
+We all listened with grave faces to what nurse told us. Suddenly Clement
+got up--I can't say 'jumped up,' for he was always rather slow.
+
+'Nurse,' he said, 'mamma's out, so I can't ask her leave. But I've got
+an idea about Peterkin. Will you give me leave to go out for
+half-an-hour or so? I promise you I won't go far, but I would rather not
+tell you where I want to go, as it may be all nonsense.'
+
+Nurse looked at him doubtfully. She trusted Clem the most of us all, I
+know, and she had good reason to do so, for he was and is very
+trustworthy. And it was nice of him to ask her leave, considering he was
+twelve years old and quite out of the nursery, except that he still
+liked having tea there when he came in from school every evening.
+
+'Well, Master Clement,' said nurse, 'I don't quite know. Supposing you
+go out and don't get back as soon as you expect? It would be just a
+double fright for your poor mamma.'
+
+'Let me go too!' I exclaimed, and I jumped up so suddenly that I made
+all the cups rattle and nearly threw over the table altogether. 'Then if
+anything stops Clem getting back quickly, I can run home and explain.
+Anyway you'd be more comfortable if you knew the two of us were on the
+hunt together. You don't mind my coming, do you, Clem?'
+
+'No,' said Clem, 'but do let's go.'
+
+'And you won't be long?' pleaded nurse.
+
+Clem shook his head.
+
+'I don't think we can be--not if there's anything in my idea', he called
+out, as we ran off.
+
+We didn't take a minute to pull on our coats, which were hanging in the
+hall. I daresay I should never have thought of mine at all, if Clem
+hadn't reminded me, even though it was late in November and a cold
+evening. And as soon as we were outside and had set off at a good pace,
+I begged Clem to tell me what his idea was, and where we were going to
+look for Peterkin.
+
+'It's the parrot,' he replied; 'the parrot in Rock Terrace.'
+
+'I don't know what you mean,' I said. 'I never heard of a parrot, and I
+don't know where Rock Terrace is.'
+
+'Nonsense,' said Clem, stopping for a moment. 'You must have forgotten.'
+
+'I haven't indeed,' I said.
+
+'Not about the parrot that Peterkin has been dreaming of ever since we
+passed it on Saturday, when we were out with mamma--next door to old
+Mrs. Wylie's?' Clem exclaimed.
+
+'No,' I repeated. 'I wasn't with you that day, and----'
+
+'No more you were,' said Clem.
+
+'And,' I went on, 'I don't know where Mrs. Wylie lives, though I've
+often seen her herself at our house. And you know, Clement, that's just
+like Peterkin. If he's got anything very much in his head, he often
+doesn't speak of it, except to any one who knows about it already.'
+
+'He hasn't said very much about it, even to me,' said Clement. 'But, all
+the same, I know he has got it tremendously in his head.'
+
+'How do you mean? Is he making up fairy stories about it?'
+
+'Perhaps! You see he had never heard a parrot speaking. I'm not sure if
+he knew they ever did. But he wanted very much to see it again, and it
+just came into my mind all at once, that if he had a chance he might
+have run round there and lost his way. I don't suppose he _meant_ to
+when mamma told him to go home. It may just have struck him when he got
+to the corner of Lindsay Square.'
+
+I did not answer. We were walking so fast that it was not easy to go on
+speaking. But I did think it was very clever of Clement to have thought
+of it. It was so like Peterkin.
+
+Clement hurried on. It was quite dark by now, but the lamps were
+lighted, and Clem seemed quite sure of his way. In spite of feeling
+rather unhappy about Peterkin, I was enjoying myself a little. I did not
+think it possible that he was really badly lost, and it was very
+exciting to rush along the streets after dark like this, and then I
+could not help fancying how triumphant we should feel if we actually
+found him.
+
+It was not very surprising that I did not know where Rock Terrace was,
+or that I had never even heard of it. It was such a tiny little row of
+such tiny houses, opening out of one corner of Lindsay Square. The
+houses were rather pretty; at least, very neat-looking and
+old-fashioned, with a little bit of garden in front, and small iron
+gates. They looked as if old maids lived in them, and I daresay there
+were a good many.
+
+Clement hurried along till he was close to the farther off end. Then he
+stopped short, and for the first time seemed at a loss.
+
+'I don't know the number,' he said, 'but I'm sure it was almost the end
+house. And--yes--isn't that a big cage on the little balcony, Giles?
+Look well.'
+
+I peeped up. The light of the lamps was not very good in Rock Terrace.
+
+'Yes,' I said. 'It is a big cage, but I can't see if there's a bird in
+it.'
+
+'Perhaps they take him in at night,' said Clement. Then he looked up
+again at the balconies.
+
+'Let me see,' he went on, 'which side is Mrs. Wylie's? Mamma went in at
+the--' but before he had time to finish his sentence his doubts were set
+at rest--his doubts and all our fears about Peterkin. For the door on
+the left of the parrot's home opened slowly, letting out what seemed, in
+contrast with the darkness outside, a flood of light, just within which,
+in the small hall or lobby of the miniature house, stood two
+figures--the one, that of a short thin old lady with white hair, dressed
+all in black; the other, a short fat little boy in a thick coat--our
+missing Peterkin!
+
+[Illustration: OUR MISSING PETERKIN.--p. 13.]
+
+They were speaking to each other most politely.
+
+'So pleased to have seen you, my dear,' said Mrs. Wylie. 'Give my love
+to your dear mamma. I will not forget about the parrot, you may be sure.
+He shall have a proper invitation. And--you are quite certain you can
+find your way home? Oh, dear!--that poor child must have been bemoaning
+herself again! Polly always knows.'
+
+And as we stood there, our minds scarcely made up as to what we should
+do, we heard a queer croaking voice, from inside the house on the right
+of Mrs. Wylie--the parrot's voice, of course, calling out--
+
+'I'm so tired, Nana; I'm so tired. I won't be good; no, I won't.'
+
+Mrs. Wylie and Peterkin both stood silent for a moment, listening. So
+did we. Then Clement opened the gate and ran up the two or three steps,
+I following him.
+
+'Peterkin!' he exclaimed, 'mamma has been so frightened about you.'
+
+And Peterkin turned round and looked up in his face with his big blue
+eyes, apparently quite astonished.
+
+'Has mamma come back?' he said. 'I've only been here for a minute or
+two. I just wanted to look at the parrot.'
+
+Mrs. Wylie was a quick-witted old lady. She took it all in, in a moment.
+
+'Dear, dear!' she said. 'I am afraid it is my fault. I saw the dear boy
+looking up at the parrot next door when I came in from my stroll round
+to the pillar-box with a letter, and he told me he was one of Mrs.
+Lesley's little sons, and then we got talking. But I had no idea his
+mamma would be alarmed. I am afraid it has been much more than a few
+minutes. I _am_ sorry.'
+
+It was impossible to say anything to trouble the poor old lady: she
+looked as if she were going to cry.
+
+'It will be all right now,' said Clement. 'Mamma will be so delighted to
+see him safe and sound. But we had better hurry home. Come along,
+Peterkin.'
+
+But nothing would make Peterkin forget his good manners. He tugged off
+his sailor cap again, which he had just put on, and held out his hand,
+for the second or third time, I daresay, as he and his old lady had
+evidently been hobnobbing over their leave-takings for some minutes
+before we made our appearance.
+
+'Good-bye!' he said; 'and thank you very much. And I'll ask mamma to let
+me come whenever you fix the day for the parrot. And please tell me all
+he tells you about the little girl. And--thank you very much.'
+
+They were the funniest pair. She so tiny and thin and white, with bright
+dark eyes, like some bird's, and Peterkin so short and sturdy and rosy,
+with his big dreamy ones looking up at her. She was just a little taller
+than he. And suddenly I saw his rosy face grow still rosier; crimson or
+scarlet, really. For Mrs. Wylie made a dash at him and kissed him, and
+unluckily Peterkin did not like being kissed, except by mamma and Elf.
+His politeness, however, stood him in good stead. He did not pull away,
+or show that he hated it, as lots of fellows would have done. He stood
+quite still, and then, with another tug at his cap, ran down the steps
+after Clem and me.
+
+Clement waited a moment or two before he spoke. It was his way; but just
+now it was a good thing, as Mrs. Wylie did not shut the door quite at
+once, and everything was so quiet in that little side street, in the
+evening especially, that very likely our voices would have carried back
+to her. I, for my part, was longing to shake Peterkin, though I felt
+very inclined to burst out laughing, too. But I knew it was best to
+leave the 'rowing' to Clem.
+
+'Peterkin,' he began at last, 'I don't know what to say to you.'
+
+Peterkin had got hold of Clem's hand and was holding it tight, and he
+was already rather out of breath, as Clem was walking fast--very fast
+for him--and he has always been a long-legged chap for his age, thin and
+wiry, too; whereas, in those days--though, thank goodness, he is growing
+like a house on fire _now_--Peterkin was as broad as he was long. So to
+keep up with Clement's strides he had to trot, and that sort of pace
+soon makes a kid breathless, of course.
+
+'I--I never thought mamma'd be flightened,' he managed to get out at
+last. He had been a long time of saying his 'r's' clearly, and now they
+still all got into 'l's' if he was bothered or startled. 'I never
+thought she'd be flightened.'
+
+'Then you were a donkey,' I burst out, and Clement interrupted me.
+
+'How could she not have been frightened?' he went on. 'She told you to
+run straight home, which wouldn't have taken you five minutes, and you
+have been at least an hour.'
+
+'I thought it wouldn't be no farther to come this way,' replied
+Peterkin, 'and I only meant to look at the pallot one minute. And it
+would have been very lu--_rude_ not to speak to the old lady, and go
+into her house for a minute when she asked me. Mamma always says we
+mustn't be rude,' said Peterkin, plucking up some spirit.
+
+'Mamma always says we must be _obedient_' replied Clement, severely.
+
+Then he relapsed into silence, and his quick footsteps and Peterkin's
+short trotty ones were the only sounds.
+
+'I believe,' I couldn't help murmuring, half to myself, half to
+Peterkin--'I believe you've got some rubbish in your head about the
+parrot being a fairy. If I were mamma I'd stop your----' but at that I
+stopped _myself_. If Clement had heard me he would have been down upon
+me for disrespectfulness in saying to a baby like Pete what I thought
+mamma should or should not do; and I didn't care to be pulled up by
+Clement before the little ones.
+
+Peterkin was as sharp as needles in some ways. He guessed the end of my
+unfinished sentence.
+
+'No,' he half whispered, 'mamma'd _never_ stop me reading faily
+stolies--you know she wouldn't, Gilly, and it's velly unkind of you to
+say so.'
+
+'I didn't say so,' I replied.
+
+'Be quiet, both of you,' said Clem, 'and hurry on,' for we had slackened
+a little.
+
+But in spite of the breathlessness of the pace, I heard another gasp
+from Peterkin--
+
+'It _is_ velly like the blue-bird,' were the words I distinguished.
+
+And 'I knew I was right,' I thought to myself triumphantly.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+FOUND
+
+
+THE carriage was standing waiting at our own house when we got there.
+And there was some bustle going on, for the front door was not shut, and
+we could see into the hall, which of course was brightly lighted up.
+
+Papa was there, speaking to some one; he had his hat on, as if he was
+just coming out again. And--yes--it was Drew he was speaking to, and
+James too, I think--but behind them was poor mamma, looking so
+dreadfully unhappy. It did make me want to shake Peterkin again.
+
+They did not see us as quickly as we saw them, for it was dark outside
+and they were all talking: papa giving directions, I fancy.
+
+So they did jump when Clem--hurrying for once--rushed up the steps,
+dragging Peterkin after him.
+
+'We've found him--we've found him!' he shouted. 'In with you, Pete: show
+yourself, quick.'
+
+For mamma had got quite white, and looked as if she were going to faint
+or tumble down in some kind of a fit; but luckily before she had time
+for anything, there was that fat boy hugging and squeezing her so tight
+that she'd have been clever to move at all, though if she _had_ tumbled
+down he would have made a good buffer.
+
+'Oh, mamma, mamma--oh, mummy,' he said, and by this time he was howling,
+of course, 'I never meant to flighten you. I never did. I thought I'd
+been only five minutes, and I thought it was nearly as quick home that
+way.'
+
+And of course mamma didn't scold him! She hugged him as if he'd been
+lost for a year, and as if he was the prodigal son and the good brother
+mixed up together.
+
+But papa looked rather stern, and I was not altogether sorry to see it.
+
+'Where have you been, Peterkin?' he said. And then he glanced up at us
+two--Clem and me--as Peterkin seemed too busy crying to speak. 'Where
+has he been?' papa repeated. 'It was very clever of you to find him, I
+must say.'
+
+And mamma's curiosity began to awaken, now that she had got old Pete
+safe in her arms again. She looked up with the same question in her
+face.
+
+'Where--' she began.
+
+And I couldn't help answering.
+
+'It was all Clem's idea,' I said, for it really was only fair for Clem
+to get some praise. 'He thought of the parrot.'
+
+'The _parrot_', mamma repeated, growing more puzzled instead of less.
+
+'Yes,' said Clement. 'The parrot next door to Mrs. Wylie's. Perhaps you
+don't remember, mamma. It was the day Peterkin and I were out with
+you--Giles wasn't there--and you went in to Mrs. Wylie's and we waited
+outside, and the parrot was in a cage on the balcony, and we heard it
+talk.'
+
+'Yes,' said Peterkin, 'he _talked_,' as if that was an explanation of
+everything.
+
+Mamma's face cleared.
+
+'I think I do remember something about it,' she said. 'But I have never
+heard you mention it since, Peterkin?'
+
+'No,' said Peterkin, getting rather red.
+
+'He has spoken of it a little to me,' said Clement; 'that's how I knew
+it was in his mind. But Peterkin often doesn't say much about what he's
+thinking a lot about. It's his way.'
+
+'Yes,' said Peterkin, 'it's my way.'
+
+'And have you been planning all these days to run off to see the parrot
+again?' asked mamma. I wasn't quite sure if she was vexed or not, but
+_I_ was; it seemed so queer, queer as Pete often was, for him not to
+have confided in somebody.
+
+But we were mistaken.
+
+'No, no, truly, mamma,' he said, speaking in a much more determined way
+now, and shaking his curly head. 'I didn't ever think of it till after
+I'd got out of the calliage and I saw it was the corner of the big
+square where the little houses are at one end, and then I only meant to
+go for one minute. I thought it was nearly as quick that way, and I ran
+fast. I never meant to flighten you, mamma,' he repeated again, his
+voice growing plaintive. 'I wasn't planning it a bit all these days. I
+only kept thinking it _were_ like the blue-bird.'
+
+The last sentence was almost in a whisper; it was only a sort of honesty
+that forced him to say it. As far as Clement and I were concerned, he
+needn't have said it.
+
+'I knew he'd got some fairy-story rubbish in his head,' I muttered, but
+I don't think Peterkin heard me, though papa and mamma did; for I saw
+them glance at each other, and papa said something under his breath, of
+which I only caught the words 'getting too fanciful,' and 'schoolboy,'
+which made mamma look rather unhappy again.
+
+'I don't yet understand how old Mrs. Wylie got mixed up in it all,' said
+papa.
+
+'She lives next door to the parrot,' said Clem, and we couldn't help
+smiling at the funny way he said it.
+
+'And she saw me when she was coming back from the post, and she was very
+kind,' Peterkin went on, taking up the story again, as the smile had
+encouraged him. 'She 'avited me to go in, up to her drawing-room, so
+that I could hear him talking better. And he said lots of things.'
+
+'Oh yes, by the bye,' I exclaimed, 'there was something about a little
+girl, Mrs. Wylie said. What was it, Pete?'
+
+But Peterkin shut up at this.
+
+'I'll tell you the next time I go there. Mummy, you will let me go to
+see that old lady again, won't you?' he begged. 'She was so kind, and I
+only thought I'd been there five minutes. Mayn't I go again to see
+her?'
+
+'_And_ the parrot,' said mamma, smiling. She was sharp enough to take in
+that it was a quarter for Mrs. Wylie and three quarters for the parrot
+that he wanted so to go back to Rock Terrace. 'Well, you must promise
+never to pay visits on your own account again, Peterkin, and then we
+shall see. Now run upstairs to the nursery as fast as you can and get
+some tea. And I'm sure Clem and Giles will be glad of some more. I hope
+poor nurse and Blanche and Elfie know he is all right,' she added,
+glancing round.
+
+'Yes, ma'am. I took the liberty of going up to tell the young ladies and
+Mrs. Brough, when Master Peterkin first returned,' said James in his
+very politest and primmest tone.
+
+'That was very thoughtful of you,' said mamma, approvingly, which made
+James get very red.
+
+We three boys skurried upstairs after that. At least I did. Clement came
+more slowly, but as his legs were long enough to take two steps at a
+time, he got to the top nearly as soon as I did, and Peterkin came
+puffing after us. I was rather surprised that Blanche and Elf had been
+content to stay quietly in the nursery, considering all the excitement
+that had been going on downstairs, and I think it was very good of
+Blanche, for she told me afterwards that she had only done it to keep
+Elvira from getting into one of her endless crying fits. They always say
+Elf is such a nervous child that she can't help it, but _I_ think it's a
+good bit of it cross temper too.
+
+Still she is rather growing out of it, and, after all, that night there
+was something to cry about, and there might have been worse, as nurse
+said. She had been telling the girls stories of people who got lost,
+though she was sensible enough to make them turn up all right at the
+end. She can tell very interesting stories sometimes, but she keeps the
+_best_ ones to amuse us when we are ill, or when mamma's gone away on a
+visit, or something horrid like that has happened.
+
+They all three flew at Peterkin, of course, and hugged him as if he'd
+been shipwrecked, or putting out a fire, or something grand like that.
+And he took it as coolly as anything, and asked for his tea, as if he
+deserved all the petting and fussing.
+
+That was another of his little 'ways,' I suppose.
+
+Then, as we were waiting for the kettle to boil up again to make fresh
+tea, if you please, for his lordship--though Clem and I were to have
+some too, of course, and we did deserve it--all the story had to be
+told over for the third or fourth time, of the parrot, and old Mrs.
+Wylie meeting Pete as she came in, and his thinking he'd only been there
+about five minutes, and all the rest of it.
+
+'And what did the Polly parrot talk about?' asked Elf. She had a picture
+of a parrot in one of her books, and some rhymes about it.
+
+'Oh,' answered Peterkin,' he said, "How d'ye do?" and "Pretty Poll," and
+things like that.'
+
+'He said queerer things than that; you know he--' I began. I saw Pete
+didn't want to tell about the parrot copying the mysterious child that
+Mrs. Wylie had spoken of, so I thought I'd tease him a bit by reminding
+him of it. I felt sure he had got some of his funny ideas out of his
+fairy stories in his head; that the little girl--for Mrs. Wylie had
+spoken of a 'her'--was an enchanted princess or something like that, and
+I wasn't far wrong, as you will see. But I didn't finish my sentence,
+for Peterkin, who was sitting next me, gave me a sort of little kick,
+not to hurt, of course, and whispered, 'I'll tell you afterwards.' So I
+felt it would be ill-natured to tease him, and I didn't say any more,
+and luckily the others hadn't noticed what I had begun. Blanchie was on
+her knees in front of the fire toasting for us, and Elf was putting
+lumps of sugar into the cups, to be ready.
+
+Pete was as hungry as a hunter, and our sharp walk had given Clem and me
+a fresh appetite, so we ate all the toast and a lot of plum-cake as
+well, and felt none the worse for it.
+
+And soon after that, it was time to be tidied up to go down to the
+drawing-room to mamma. Peterkin and Elvira only stayed half-an-hour or
+so, but after they had gone to bed we three big ones went into the
+library to finish our lessons while papa and mamma were at dinner.
+Sometimes we went into the dining-room to dessert, and sometimes we
+worked on till mamma called us into the drawing-room: it all depended on
+how many lessons we'd got to do, or how fast we had got on with them.
+Clement and Blanche were awfully good about that sort of thing, and went
+at it steadily, much better than I, I'm afraid, though I could learn
+pretty quickly if I chose. But I did not like lessons, especially the
+ones we had to do at home, for in these days Clem and I only went to a
+day-school and had to bring books and things back with us every
+afternoon. And besides these lessons we had to do at home for school, we
+had a little extra once or twice a week, as we had French conversation
+and reading on half-holidays with Blanche's teachers, and they sometimes
+gave us poetry to learn by heart or to translate. We were not exactly
+_obliged_ to do it, but of course we didn't want Blanche, who was only a
+girl, to get ahead of us, as she would very likely have done, for she
+did grind at her lessons awfully. I think most girls do.
+
+It sounds as if we were rather hard-worked, but I really don't think we
+were, though I must allow that we worked better in those days, and
+learnt more in comparison, than we do now at--I won't give the name of
+the big school we are at. Clement says it is better not--people who
+write books never do give the real names, he says, and I fancy he's
+right. It is an awfully jolly school, and we are as happy as sand-boys,
+whatever that means, but I can't say that we work as Blanche does,
+though she does it all at home with governesses.
+
+That part of the evening--when we went back to the drawing-room to
+mamma, I mean--was one of the times I shall always like to remember
+about. It is very jolly now, of course, to be at home for the holidays,
+but there was then the sort of 'treat' feeling of having got our lessons
+done, and the little ones comfortably off to bed, and the
+grown-up-ness.
+
+Mamma looked so pretty, as she was always nicely dressed, though I liked
+some of her dresses much better than others--I don't like her in black
+ones at all; and the drawing-room was pretty, and then there was mamma's
+music. Her playing was nice, but her singing was still better, and she
+used to let us choose our favourite songs, each in turn. Blanche plays
+the violin now, very well, they say, and mamma declares she is really
+far cleverer at music than she herself ever was; but for all that, I
+shall never care for her fiddle anything like mamma's singing; if I live
+to be a hundred, I shall never forget it.
+
+It is a great thing to have really jolly times like those evenings to
+think of when you begin to get older, and are a lot away from home, and
+likely to be still less and less there.
+
+But I must not forget that this story is supposed to be principally
+about Peterkin and his adventures, so I'll go on again about the night
+after he'd been lost.
+
+He and I had a room together, and he was nearly always fast asleep, like
+a fat dormouse, when I went up to bed. He had a way of curling himself
+round, like a ball, that really did remind you of a dormouse. I believe
+it kept him from growing; I really do, though I did my best to pull him
+out straight. He didn't like that, ungrateful chap, and used to growl at
+me for it, and I believe he often pretended to be asleep when he wasn't,
+just to stop me doing it; for one night, nurse had come in to know what
+the row was about, and though she agreed with me that it was much better
+for him to lie properly stretched at his full length, she said I wasn't
+to wake him up because of it.
+
+But if he was generally fast asleep at night when I came to bed, he
+certainly made up for it by waking in the morning. I never knew anything
+like him for that. I believe he woke long before the birds, winter as
+well as summer, and then was his time for talking and telling me his
+stories and fancies. Once I myself was well awake I didn't mind, as it
+was generally rather interesting; but I couldn't stand the being
+awakened ages before the time. So we made an agreement, that if I didn't
+wake him up at night, he'd not bother me in the morning till I gave a
+sign that I was on the way to waking of myself. The sign was a sort of
+snort that's easy to make, even while you're still pretty drowsy, and it
+did very well, as I could lie quiet in a dreamy way listening to him.
+He didn't want me to speak, only to snort a little now and then till I
+got quite lively, as I generally did in a few minutes, as his stories
+grew more exciting, and there came something that I wanted him to alter
+in them.
+
+That night, however, when I went up to bed there was no need to think of
+our bargain, for Peterkin was as wide awake as I was.
+
+'Haven't you been to sleep yet?' I asked him.
+
+'Not exactly,' he said. 'Just a sort of half. I'm glad you've come,
+Gilley, for I've got a lot of things in my head.'
+
+'You generally have,' I said, 'but _I'm_ sleepy, if you're not. That
+scamper in the cold after you, my good boy, was rather tiring, I can
+tell you.'
+
+'I'm very sorry,' said he, in a penitent tone of voice, 'but you know,
+Giles, I never meant to----'
+
+'Oh, stop that!' I exclaimed; 'you've said it twenty times too often
+already. Better tell me a bit of the things in your head. Then you can
+go to sleep, and dream them out, and have an interesting story ready for
+me in the morning.'
+
+'Oh, but--' objected Pete, sitting up in bed and clasping his hands
+round his knees, his face very red, and his eyes very blue and bright,
+'they're not dreamy kind of things at all. There's really something
+very misterist--what is the proper word, Gilley?'
+
+'"Mysterious," I suppose you mean,' I said.
+
+'Yes, misterous,' repeated he, 'about what the parrot said, and I'm
+pretty sure that old lady thinks so too.'
+
+'Didn't she explain about it, at all?' I asked him. I began to think
+there _was_ something queer, perhaps, for Peterkin's manner impressed
+me.
+
+'Well, she did a little,' he replied. 'But I'd better tell you all,
+Gilley; just what I first heard, before she came up and spoke to me, you
+know, and----'
+
+Just then, however, there came an interruption.
+
+Mamma put her head in at the door.
+
+'Boys,' she said, 'not asleep yet? At least _you_ should be, Peterkin.
+You didn't wake him, I hope, Giles?'
+
+I had no time for an indignant 'No; of course, not,' before Pete came to
+my defence.
+
+'No, no, mummy! I was awake all of myself. I wanted him to come very
+much, to talk a little.'
+
+'Well, you must both be rather tired with all the excitement there has
+been,' mamma said. 'So go to sleep, now, and do your talking in the
+morning. Promise,--both of you--eh?'
+
+'Yes,' we answered; 'word of honour, mamma,' and she went away, quite
+sure that we would keep our promise, which was sealed by a kiss from
+her.
+
+Dear little mother! She did not often come up to see us in bed, for fear
+of rousing us out of our 'beauty' sleep, but to-night she had felt as if
+she must make sure we were all right after the fuss of Peterkin's being
+lost, you see.
+
+And of course we were as good as our word, and only just said
+'Good-night!' to each other; Pete adding, 'I'll begin at the beginning,
+and tell you everything, as soon as I hear your first snort in the
+morning, Giles.'
+
+'You'd better wait for my second or third,' I replied. 'I'm never very
+clear-headed at the first, and I want to give my attention, as it's
+something real, and not one of your make-ups,' I said. 'So, good-night!'
+
+It is awfully jolly to know that you are trusted, isn't it?
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+AN INVITATION
+
+
+I SLEPT on rather later than usual next morning. I suppose I really was
+tired. And when I began to awake, and gradually remembered all that had
+happened the night before, I heartily wished I hadn't promised Peterkin
+to snort at all.
+
+I took care not to open my eyes for a good bit, but I couldn't carry on
+humbugging that I was still asleep for very long. Something made me open
+my eyes, and as soon as I did so I knew what it was. There was
+Pete--bolt upright--as wide awake as if he had never been asleep,
+staring at me with all his might, his eyes as round and blue as could
+be. You know the feeling that some one is looking at you, even when you
+don't see them. I had not given one snort, and I could not help feeling
+rather cross with Peterkin, even when he exclaimed--
+
+'Oh, I am so glad you're awake!'
+
+'You've been staring me awake,' I said, very grumpily. 'I'd like to know
+who could go on sleeping with you wishing them awake?'
+
+'I'm very sorry if you wanted to go on sleeping,' he replied meekly. He
+did not seem at all surprised at my saying he had wakened me. He used to
+understand rather queer things like that so quickly, though we counted
+him stupid in some ways.
+
+'But as I am awake you can start talking,' I said, closing my eyes
+again, and preparing to listen.
+
+Pete was quite ready to obey.
+
+'Well,' he began, 'it was this way. Mamma didn't want me to be late for
+tea, so she stopped at the end of that big street--a little farther away
+than Lindsay Square, you know----'
+
+'Yes, Meredith Place,' I grunted.
+
+'And,' Pete went on, 'told me to run home. It's quite straight, if you
+keep to the front, of course.'
+
+'And you did run straight home, didn't you?' I said teasingly.
+
+'No,' he replied seriously, but not at all offended. 'When I got to the
+corner of the square I looked up it, and I remembered that it led to
+the funny little houses where Clem and I had seen the parrot. So, almost
+without settling it in my mind, I ran along that side of the square till
+I came to Rock Terrace. I ran _very_ fast----'
+
+'I wish I'd been there to see you,' I grunted again.
+
+'And I thought if I kept round by the back, I'd get out again to the
+front nearly as soon--running all the way, you see, to make up. And I'd
+scarcely got to the little houses when I heard the parrot. His cage was
+out on the balcony, you know. And it is very quiet there--scarcely any
+carts or carriages passing--and it was getting dark, and I think you
+hear things plainer in the dark; don't you think so, Gilley?'
+
+I did not answer, so he went on.
+
+'I heard the parrot some way off. His voice is so queer, you know. And
+when I got nearer I could tell every word he said. He kept on every now
+and then talking for himself--real talking--"Getting cold. Polly wants
+to go to bed. Quick, quick." And then he'd stop for a minute, as if he
+was listening and heard something I couldn't. _That_ was the strange
+part that makes me think perhaps he isn't really a parrot at all,
+Giles,' and here Pete dropped his voice and looked very mysterious. I
+had opened my eyes for good now; it was getting exciting.
+
+'What did he say?' I asked.
+
+'What you and Clement heard, and a lot more,' Peterkin replied. 'Over
+and over again the same--"I'm so tired, Nana, I won't be good, no I
+won't."'
+
+'Yes, that's what we heard,' I said, 'but what was the lot more?'
+
+'Oh, perhaps there wasn't so _very_ much more,' said he, consideringly.
+'There was something about "I won't be locked up," and "I'll write a
+letter," and then again and again, "I won't be good, I'm so tired." That
+was what you and Clement heard, wasn't it?'
+
+'Yes,' I said.
+
+'And one funny thing about it was that his voice, the parrot's, sounded
+quite different when he was talking his own talking, do you see?--like
+"Pretty Poll is cold, wants to go to bed"--from when he was copying the
+little girl's. It was always croaky, of course, but _squeakier_,
+somehow, when he was copying her.'
+
+Peterkin sat up still straighter and looked at me, evidently waiting for
+my opinion about it all. I was really very interested, but I wanted
+first to hear all he had in his head, so I did not at once answer.
+
+'Isn't it very queer?' he said at last.
+
+'What do you think about it?' I asked.
+
+He drew a little nearer me and spoke in a lower voice, though there was
+no possibility of any one ever hearing what he said.
+
+'P'raps,' he began, 'it isn't _only_ a parrot, or p'raps some fairy
+makes it say these things. The little girl might be shut up, you see,
+like the princess in the tower, by some _bad_ fairy, and there might be
+a _good_ one who wanted to help her to get out. I wonder if they ever do
+invite fairies to christenings now, and forget some of them,' he went
+on, knitting his brows, 'or not ask them, because they are bad fairies?
+I can't remember about Elf's christening feast; can you, Gilley?'
+
+'I can remember hers, and yours too, for that matter,' I replied. 'You
+forget how much older I am. But of course it's not like that now. There
+are no fairies to invite, as I've often told you, Pete. At least,' for,
+in spite of my love of teasing, I never liked to see the look of
+distress that came over his chubby face when any one talked that sort of
+common sense to him, 'at least, people have got out of the way of seeing
+them or getting into fairy-land.'
+
+'But we _might_ find it again,' said Peterkin, brightening up.
+
+And I didn't like to disappoint him by saying I could not see much
+chance of it.
+
+Then another idea struck me.
+
+'How about Mrs. Wylie?' I said. 'Didn't she explain it at all? You told
+her what you had heard, didn't you? Yes, of course, she heard some of it
+herself, when we were all three standing at the door of her house.'
+
+'Well,' said Peterkin, 'I was going to tell you the rest. I was
+listening to the parrot, and it was much plainer than _you_ heard,
+Gilley, for when you were there you only heard him from down below, and
+I was up near him--well, I was just standing there listening to him,
+when that old lady came up.'
+
+'I know all about that,' I interrupted.
+
+'No, you don't, not nearly all,' Peterkin persisted. He could be as
+obstinate as a little pig sometimes, so I said nothing. 'I was just
+standing there when she came up. She looked at me, and then she went in
+at her own gate, next door to the parrot's, you know, and then she
+looked at me again, and spoke over the railings. She said, "Are you
+talking to the parrot, my dear?" and I said, "No, I'm only listening to
+him, thank you"; and then she looked at me again, and she said, "You
+don't live in this terrace, I think?" And I said, "No, I live on the
+Esplanade, number 59." Then she pulled out her spectacles--long things,
+you know, at the end of a turtle-shell stick.'
+
+'Tortoise-shell,' I corrected.
+
+'Tortoise-shell,' he repeated, 'and then she looked at me again. "If you
+live at 59," she said, "I think you must be one of dear Mrs. Lesley's
+little sons," and I said, "That's just what I am, thank you." And then
+she said, "Won't you come in for a few minutes? You can see the Polly
+from my balcony, and it is getting cold for standing about. Are you on
+your way home from school?" So I thought it wouldn't be polite not to go
+in. She was so kind, you see,' and here his voice grew 'cryey' again, 'I
+never thought about mamma being flightened, and I only meant to stay a
+min----'
+
+'Shut up about all that,' I interrupted. 'We've had it often enough, and
+I want to hear what happened.'
+
+'Well,' he said, quite briskly again, 'she took me in, and up to her
+drawing-room. The window was a tiny bit open, and she made me stand just
+on the ledge between it and the balcony, so that I could see the parrot
+without his seeing me, for she said if he saw me he'd set up screeching
+and not talk sense any more. He knows when people are strangers. The
+cage was close to the old lady's end of the balcony, so that I could
+almost have touched it, and then I heard him say all those queer things.
+I didn't speak for a good while, for fear of stopping him talking. But
+after a bit he got fidgety; I daresay he knew there was somebody there,
+and then he flopped about and went back to his own talking, and said he
+was cold and wanted to go to bed, and all that. And somebody inside
+heard him and took him in. And then--' Pete stopped to rest his voice, I
+suppose. He was always rather fond of resting, whatever he was doing.
+
+'Hurry up,' I said. 'What happened after that?'
+
+'The old lady said I'd better come in, and she shut up the window--I
+suppose she felt cold, like the parrot--and she made me sit down; and
+then I asked her what made him say such queer things in his squeakiest
+voice; and she said he was copying what he heard, for there was a little
+girl in the _next_ house--not in his own house--who cried sometimes and
+seemed very cross and unhappy, so that Mrs. Wylie often is very sorry
+for her, though she has never really seen her. And I said, did she think
+anybody was unkind to the little girl, and she said she hoped not, but
+she didn't know. And then she seemed as if she didn't want to talk about
+the little girl very much, and she began to ask me about if I went to
+school and things like that, and then I said I'd better go home, and she
+came downstairs with me and--I think that's all, till you and Clement
+came and we all heard the parrot again.'
+
+'I wonder what started him copying the little girl again, after he'd
+left off,' I said.
+
+'P'raps he hears her through the wall,' said Pete. 'P'raps he hears
+quicker than people do. Yes,' he went on thoughtfully, 'I think he must,
+for the old lady has never heard exactly what the little girl said. She
+only heard her crying and grumbling. She told me so.'
+
+'I daresay she's just a cross little thing,' I said. 'And I think it was
+rather silly of Mrs. Wylie to let you hear the parrot copying her. It's
+a very bad example. And you said Mrs. Wylie seemed as if she didn't want
+to talk much about her.'
+
+'I think she's got some plan in her head,' said Peterkin, eagerly, 'for
+she said--oh, I forgot that--she said she was going to come to see
+mamma some day very soon, to ask her to let me go to have tea with her.
+And I daresay she'll ask you too, Gilley, if we both go down to the
+drawing-room when she comes.'
+
+'I hope it'll be a half-holiday, then,' I said, 'or, anyway, that she
+will come when I'm here. It is very funny about the crying little girl.
+Has she been there a long time? Did your old lady tell you that?'
+
+Peterkin shook his head.
+
+'Oh no, she's only been there since Mrs. Wylie came back from the
+country. She told me so.'
+
+'And when was that?' I asked, but Pete did not know. He was sometimes
+very stupid, in spite of his quickness and fancies. 'It's been long
+enough for the parrot to learn to copy her grumbling,' I added.
+
+'That wouldn't take him long,' said Peterkin, in his whispering voice
+again, '_if_ he's some sort of a fairy, you know, Gilley.'
+
+This time, perhaps, it was a good thing he spoke in a low voice, for at
+that moment nurse came in to wake us, or rather to make us get up, as we
+were nearly always awake already, and if she had heard the word
+'fairy,' she would have begun about Peterkin's 'fancies' again.
+
+Some days passed without our hearing anything of the parrot or the old
+lady or Rock Terrace. We did not exactly forget about it; indeed, it was
+what we talked about every morning when we awoke. But I did not think
+much about it during the day, although I daresay Pete did.
+
+So it was quite a surprise to me one afternoon, about a week after the
+evening of all the fuss, when, the very moment I had rung the front
+bell, the door was opened by Pete himself, looking very important.
+
+'She's come,' he said. 'I've been watching for you. She's in the
+drawing-room with mamma, and mamma told me to fetch you as soon as you
+came back from school. Is Clem there?'
+
+'No,' I said, 'it's one of the days he stays later than me, you know.'
+
+Peterkin did not seem very sorry.
+
+'Then she's come just to invite you and me,' he said. 'Clement _is_ too
+big, but she might have asked him too, out of polititude, you know.'
+
+He was always fussing about being polite, but I don't think I answered
+her in that way.
+
+'Bother,' I said, for I was cross; my books were heavier than usual,
+and I banged them down; 'bother your politeness. Can't you tell me what
+you're talking about? Who is "she" that's in the drawing-room? I don't
+want to go up to see her, whoever she is.'
+
+'Giles!' said Peterkin, in a very disappointed tone. 'You can't have
+forgotten. It's the old lady next door to the parrot's house, of course.
+I told you she meant to come. And she's going to invite us, I'm sure.'
+
+In my heart I was very anxious to go to Rock Terrace again, to see the
+parrot, and perhaps hear more of the mysterious little girl, but I was
+feeling rather tired and cross.
+
+'I must brush my hair and wash my hands first,' I said, 'and I daresay
+mamma won't want me without Clement. She didn't say me alone, did she?'
+
+'She said "your brothers,"' replied Peterkin, 'but of course you must
+come. And she said she hoped "they" wouldn't be long. So you must come
+as you are. I don't think your hands are very dirty.'
+
+It is one of the queer things about Peterkin that he can nearly always
+make you do what he wants if he's really in earnest. So I had to give
+in, and he went puffing upstairs, with me after him, to the
+drawing-room, when, sure enough, the old lady was sitting talking to
+mamma.
+
+Mamma looked up as we came in, and I saw that her eyes went past me.
+
+'Hasn't Clement come in?' she asked, and it made me wish I hadn't given
+in about it to Pete.
+
+'No, mamma,' I said. 'It's one of his late days, you know. And Peterkin
+made me come up just as I was.'
+
+I felt very ashamed of my hair and crushed collar and altogether. I
+didn't mind so much about my hands; boys' hands _can't_ be like ladies'.
+But Mrs. Wylie was so awfully neat--she might have been a fairy herself,
+or a doll dressed to look like an old lady. I felt as clumsy and messy
+as could be. But she was awfully jolly; she seemed to know exactly how
+uncomfortable it was for me.
+
+'Quite right, quite right,' she said. 'For I must be getting back. It
+looks rather stormy, I'm afraid. It was very thoughtful of you both, my
+dear boys, to hurry. I should have liked to see Mr. Clement again, but
+that must be another time. And may we fix the day now, dear Mrs. Lesley?
+Saturday next we were talking of. Will you come about four o'clock, or
+even earlier, my dears? The parrot stays out till five, generally, and
+indeed his mistress is very good-natured, and so is her maid. They were
+quite pleased when I told them I had some young friends who were very
+interested in the bird and wanted to see him again. So you shall make
+better acquaintance with him on Saturday, and perhaps--' but here the
+old lady stopped at last, without finishing her sentence.
+
+Nevertheless, as each of us told the other afterwards, both Peterkin and
+I finished it for her in our own minds. We glanced at each other, and
+the same thought ran through us--had Mrs. Wylie got some plan in her
+head about the little girl?
+
+'It is very kind indeed of you, Mrs. Wylie,' said mamma. 'Giles and
+Peterkin will be delighted to go to you on Saturday, won't you, boys?'
+
+And we both said, 'Yes, thank you. It will be very jolly,' so heartily,
+that the old lady trotted off, as pleased as pleased.
+
+Of course, I ran downstairs to see her out, and Pete followed more
+slowly, just behind her. She had a very nice, rather stately way about
+her, though she was so small and thin, and it never suited Pete to hurry
+in those days, either up or down stairs; his legs were so short.
+
+We were very eager for Saturday to come, and we talked a lot about it. I
+had a kind of idea that Mrs. Wylie had said something about the little
+girl to mamma, though mamma said nothing at all to us, except that we
+must behave very nicely and carefully at Rock Terrace, and not forget
+that, though she was so kind, Mrs. Wylie was an old lady, and old ladies
+were sometimes fussy.
+
+We promised we would be all right, and Peterkin said to me that he
+didn't believe Mrs. Wylie was at all 'fussy.'
+
+'She is too fairyish,' he said, 'to be like that.'
+
+That was a very 'Peterkin' speech, but I did not snub him for it, as I
+sometimes did. I was really so interested in all about the parrot and
+the invisible little girl that I was almost ready to join him in making
+up fanciful stories--that there was an ogre who wouldn't let her out, or
+that any one who tried to see her would be turned into a frog, or things
+like that out of the old fairy-tales.
+
+'But Mrs. Wylie _has_ seen her,' said Peterkin, 'and _she_ hasn't turned
+into a frog!'
+
+That was a rather tiresome 'way' of his--if I agreed about fairies and
+began making up, myself, he would get quite common-sensical, and almost
+make fun of my ones.
+
+'How do you know that she doesn't turn into a frog half the day?' I
+said. 'That's often the way in enchantments.'
+
+And then we both went off laughing at the idea of a frog jumping down
+from Mrs. Wylie's drawing-room sofa, and saying, 'How do you do, my
+dears?' instead of the neat little old lady.
+
+So our squabble didn't come to anything that time.
+
+Blanchie and Elf were rather jealous of our invitation, I think, though
+Blanche always said she didn't care to go anywhere without Clement. But
+Elf made us promise that some day we would get leave to take her round
+by the parrot's house for her to see him.
+
+Of course we never said anything to any one but ourselves about the
+shut-up little girl, and Clement had forgotten what he had heard that
+evening. He was very busy just then working extra for some prize he
+hoped to get at school--I forget what it was, but he did get it--and
+Blanche was helping him.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+VERY MYSTERIOUS
+
+
+SATURDAY came at last. Of course jolly things and times _do_ come,
+however long the waiting seems. But the worst of it is that they are so
+soon gone again, and then you wish you were back at the looking forward;
+perhaps, after all, it is often the jolliest part of it.
+
+Clement says I mustn't keep saying 'jolly'; he says 'nice' would be
+better in a book. He is looking it over for me, you see. _I_ think
+'nice' is a girl's word, but Clem says you shouldn't write slang in a
+book, so I try not to; though of course I don't really expect this story
+ever to be made into an actual book.
+
+Well, Saturday came, and Peterkin and I set off to Mrs. Wylie's. She was
+a very nice person to go to see; she seemed so really pleased to have
+us. And she hadn't turned into a frog, or anything of the kind. She was
+standing out on the little balcony, watching for us, with a snowy-white,
+fluffy shawl on the top of her black dress, which made her seem more
+fairyish, or fairy-godmotherish, than ever. I never did see any one so
+beautifully neat and spotless as she always was.
+
+As soon as the front door was opened, we heard her voice from upstairs.
+
+'Come up, boys, come up. Polly and I have both been watching for you,
+and he is in great spirits to-day, and so amusing.'
+
+We skurried up, and nearly tumbled over each other into the
+drawing-room. Then, of course, Peterkin's politeness came into force,
+and he walked forward soberly to shake hands with his old lady and give
+her mamma's love and all that sort of thing, which he was much better at
+than I. She had just stepped in from the balcony, but was quite ready to
+step out again at the parrot's invitation.
+
+'Come quick,' he said, 'Polly doesn't like waiting.'
+
+[Illustration: NO SOONER DID HE CATCH SIGHT OF US TWO WITH HIS UGLY
+ROUND BEADY EYES . . . THAN HE SHUT UP.--p. 52.]
+
+Really it did seem wonderful to me, though he wasn't the first parrot I
+had ever seen, and though I had heard him before--it did seem wonderful
+for a bird, only a bird, to talk so sensibly, and I felt as if there
+might be something in Peterkin's idea that he was more than he seemed.
+And to this day parrots, clever ones, still give me that feeling.
+
+They are very like children in some ways. They are so 'contrairy.' You'd
+scarcely believe it, but no sooner did the creature catch sight of us
+two with his ugly, round, painted-bead-looking eyes--I don't like
+parrot's eyes--than he shut up, and wild horses couldn't have made him
+utter another word, much less Mrs. Wylie.
+
+I was quite sorry for her, she seemed so disappointed.
+
+It was just like a tiresome baby, whose mamma and nurse want to show off
+and bring it down to the drawing-room all dressed up, and it won't go to
+anybody, or say 'Dada,' or 'Mam-ma,' or anything, and just screeches. I
+can remember Elvira being like that, and I daresay we all were.
+
+'It is too bad,' said our old lady. 'He has got to know me, and I have
+been teaching him some new words. And his mistress and her maid are out
+this afternoon, so I thought we should have him all to ourselves, and it
+would be so amusing. But'--just then a bright idea struck
+her--'supposing you two go back into the room, so that he can't see
+you, and I will say "Good-bye, my dears," very loud and plainly, to make
+him think you have gone. Then I will come out again, and you shall
+listen from behind the curtain. I believe he will talk then, just as he
+has been doing.'
+
+Pete and I were most willing to try--we were all three quite excited
+about it. It was really quite funny how his talking got the Polly
+treated as if he was a human being. We stalked back into the
+drawing-room, Mrs. Wylie after us, saying in a very clear tone--
+
+'Good-bye, then, my dears. My love to your mamma, and the next time you
+come I hope Poll-parrot will be more friendly.'
+
+And then I shut the door with a bang, to sound as if we had gone,
+though, of course, it was all 'acting,' to trick the parrot. Peterkin
+and I peeped out at him from behind the curtain, and we could scarcely
+help laughing out loud. He looked so queer--his head cocked on one side,
+listening, his eyes blinking; he seemed rather disgusted on the whole, I
+thought.
+
+Then Mrs. Wylie stepped out again.
+
+'Polly,' she said, 'I'm ashamed of you. Why couldn't you be kind and
+friendly to those nice boys who came to see you?'
+
+'Pretty Poll,' he said, in a coaxing tone.
+
+'No,' she replied; 'not pretty Poll at all. Ugly Poll, I should say.'
+
+'Polly's so tired; take Polly in. Polly's cold,' he said, in what we
+called his natural voice; and then it seemed as if the first words had
+reminded him of the little girl, for his tone suddenly changed, and he
+began again: 'I'm so tired, Nana. No, I won't be good; no, I won't. I'll
+write a letter, and I won't be locked up,' in the squeakier sort of
+voice that showed he was copying somebody else.
+
+'Nonsense!' said Mrs. Wylie. 'You are not tired or cold, Polly, and
+nobody is going to lock you up.'
+
+He was silent for a moment, and peeping out again, we saw that he was
+staring hard at the old lady.
+
+Then he said very meekly--I am not sure which voice it was in--
+
+'Polly be good! Polly very sorry!'
+
+Mrs. Wylie nodded approvingly.
+
+'Yes,' she said, 'that's a much prettier way to talk. Now, supposing we
+have a little music,' and she began to sing in a very soft, very thin,
+old voice a few words of 'Home, Sweet Home.'
+
+There was something very piteous about it. I think there is a better
+word than 'piteous'--yes, Clement had just told it me. It is 'pathetic.'
+I felt as if it nearly made me cry, and so did Peterkin. We told each
+other so afterwards, and though we were so interested in the parrot and
+in hearing him, I wished he would be quiet again, and let Mrs. Wylie go
+on with her soft, sad little song. But of course he didn't. He started,
+too, a queer sort of whistle, not very musical, certainly, but yet, no
+doubt, there was a bit of the tune in it, and now and then sounds rather
+like the words 'sweet' and 'home.' I do think, altogether, it was the
+oddest musical performance that ever was heard.
+
+And when it was over, there came another voice. It was the maid next
+door, who had stepped quietly on to the balcony--
+
+'I'm afraid, ma'am, I must take him in now,' she said, very
+respectfully. 'It is getting cold, and it would never do for him to get
+a sore throat just as he's learning to sing so. You are clever with him,
+ma'am; you are, indeed: there's quite a tune in his voice.'
+
+Mrs. Wylie gave a little laugh of pleasure.
+
+'And did the young gentlemen you were speaking of never come, after
+all?' the maid asked, as she was turning away, the big cage in her hand.
+
+'Oh yes,' said Mrs. Wylie, 'they are here still. But Polly was very
+naughty,' and she explained about it.
+
+'He's learnt that "won't be good" from next door,' said the girl, 'and I
+do believe he knows what it means.'
+
+'I very sorry; I be good,' here said the parrot.
+
+They both started.
+
+'Upon my word!' exclaimed the maid.
+
+'Has he learnt _that_ from next door?' said Mrs. Wylie, in a lower
+voice.
+
+'I hope so. It's very clever of him, and it's not unlikely. The child is
+getting better, I believe, and there's not near so much crying and
+complaining.'
+
+'So I have heard,' said the old lady, and we fancied she spoke rather
+mysteriously, 'and I hope,' she went on, but we could not catch her next
+words, as she dropped her voice, evidently not wishing us to hear.
+
+Peterkin squeezed my hand, and I understood. There _was_ a mystery of
+some kind!
+
+Then Mrs. Wylie came in and shut the glass door. She was smiling now
+with pleasure and satisfaction.
+
+'I did get him to talk, did I not?' she said. 'He _is_ a funny bird. By
+degrees I hope he will grow quite friendly with you too.'
+
+I did not feel very sure about it.
+
+'I'm afraid,' I said, 'that he will not see us enough for that. It isn't
+like you, Mrs. Wylie, for I daresay you talk to him every day.'
+
+'Yes,' she replied, 'I do now. I have felt more interested in him
+since--' here she hesitated a little, then she went on again--'since the
+evening I found Peterkin listening to him,' and she smiled very kindly
+at Pete. 'Before that, I had not noticed him very much; at least, I had
+not made friends with him. But he has a wonderful memory; really
+wonderful, you will see. He will not have forgotten you the next time
+you come, and each time he will cock his head and pretend to be shy, and
+gradually it will get less and less.'
+
+This was very interesting, but what Peterkin and I were really longing
+for was some news of the little girl. We did not like to ask about her.
+It would have seemed rather forward and inquisitive, as the old lady did
+not mention her at all. We felt that she had some reason for it, and of
+course, though we could not have helped hearing what she and the
+parrot's maid had said to each other, we had to try to think we _hadn't_
+heard it. Clement says that's what you should do, if you overhear things
+not meant for you, unless, sometimes, when your having heard them might
+really matter. _Then_, he says, it's your duty--you're in honour
+bound--to tell that you've heard, and _what_ you've heard.
+
+'Now,' said our old lady, 'I fancy tea will be quite ready. I thought it
+would be more comfortable in the dining-room. So shall we go
+downstairs?'
+
+We were quite ready, and we followed her very willingly. The dining-room
+was even smaller than the drawing-room, and that was tiny enough. But it
+was all so neat and pretty, and what you'd call 'old-fashioned,' I
+suppose. It reminded me of a doll-house belonging to one of our
+grandmothers--mamma's mother, who had kept it ever since she was a
+little girl, and when we go to stay with her in the country she lets us
+play with it. Even Peterkin and I are very fond of it, or used to be so
+when we were smaller. There's everything you can think of in it, down to
+the tiniest cups and saucers.
+
+The tea was very jolly. There were buns and cakes, and awfully good
+sandwiches. I remember that particular tea, you see, though we went to
+Mrs. Wylie's often after that, because it was the first time. The cups
+_were_ rather small, but it didn't matter, for as soon as ever one was
+empty she offered us more. I would really be almost ashamed to say how
+many times mine was filled.
+
+And Mrs. Wylie was very interesting to talk to. She had never had any
+children of her own, she told us, and her husband had been dead a long
+time. I think he had been a sailor, for she had lots of curiosities:
+queer shells, all beautifully arranged in a cabinet, and a book full of
+pressed and dried seaweed, and stuffed birds in cases. I don't care for
+stuffed birds: they look too alive, and it seems horrid for them not to
+be able to fly about and sing. Peterkin took a great fancy to some of
+the very tiny ones--humming-birds, scarcely bigger than butterflies;
+and, long afterwards, when we went to live in London, Mrs. Wylie gave
+him a present of a branch with three beauties on it, inside a glass
+case. He has it now in his own room. And she gave me four great big
+shells, all coloured like a rainbow, which I still have on my
+mantelpiece.
+
+Once or twice--I'm going back now to that first time we went to have tea
+with her--I tried to get the talk back to the little girl. I asked the
+old lady if she wouldn't like to have a parrot of her own. I thought it
+would be so amusing. But she said No; she didn't think she would care to
+have one. The one next door was almost as good, and gave her no trouble
+or anxiety.
+
+And then Peterkin asked her if there were any children next door. Mrs.
+Wylie shook her head.
+
+'No,' she said. 'The parrot's mistress is an old maid--not nearly as old
+as I am, all the same, but she lives quite alone; and on the other side
+there are two brothers and a sister, quite young, unmarried people.'
+
+'And is the--the little girl the only little girl or boy in _her_
+house?' asked Peterkin.
+
+He did stumble a bit over asking it, for it had been very plain that
+Mrs. Wylie did not want to speak about her; but I got quite hot when I
+heard him, and if we had been on the same side of the table, or if his
+legs had been as long as they are now, I'd have given him a good kick to
+shut him up.
+
+Our old lady was too good-natured to mind; still, there was something in
+her manner when she answered that stopped any more questions from Pete.
+
+'Yes,' she said, 'there are no other children in that house, or in the
+terrace, except some very tiny ones, almost babies, at the other end. I
+see them pass in their perambulators, dear little things.'
+
+It was quite dark by the time we had finished tea, and the lamps were
+lighted upstairs in the drawing-room, where Mrs. Wylie showed us some of
+the curiosities and things that I have already written about.
+
+They were rather interesting, but I think we've got to care more for
+collections and treasures like that, now, than we did then. Perhaps we
+were not quite old enough, and, I daresay, it was a good deal that the
+great reason we liked to go to Mrs. Wylie's was because of the parrot
+and the mysterious little girl. At least, _Peterkin's_ head was full of
+the little girl. I myself was beginning to get rather tired of all his
+talk about her, and I thought the parrot very good fun of himself.
+
+So when the clock struck six, and Mrs. Wylie asked us if mamma had fixed
+any time for us to be home by--it wasn't that she wanted to get rid of
+us, but she was very afraid of keeping us too late--we thought we might
+as well go, for mamma had said, 'soon after six.'
+
+'Is any one coming to fetch you?' Mrs. Wylie said.
+
+I didn't quite like her asking that: it made me seem so babyish. I was
+quite old enough to look after Pete, and the fun of going home by
+ourselves through the lighted-up streets was one of the things we had
+looked forward to.
+
+But I didn't want Master Peterkin to begin at me afterwards about not
+being polite, so I didn't show that I was at all vexed. I just said--
+
+'Oh no, Peterkin will be all right with me!'
+
+And then we said good-bye, and 'thank you very much for inviting us.'
+And Pete actually said--
+
+'May we come again soon, please?'
+
+His ideas of politeness were rather original, weren't they?
+
+But Mrs. Wylie was quite pleased.
+
+'Certainly, my dear. I shall count on your doing so. And I am glad you
+spoke of it, for I wanted to tell you that I am going to London the end
+of this next week for a fortnight. Will you tell your dear mamma so, and
+say that I shall come to see her on my return, and then we must fix on
+another afternoon? I am very pleased to think that you care to come,
+and I hope you feel the same,' she went on, turning to me.
+
+She was so kind that I felt I had been rather horrid, for I _had_
+enjoyed it all very much. And I said as nicely as I could, that I'd like
+to come again, only I hoped we didn't bother her. She beamed all over at
+that, and Peterkin evidently approved of it too, for he grinned in a
+queer patronising way he has sometimes, as if I was a baby compared to
+him.
+
+I was just going to pull him up for it after we had got on our coats and
+caps, and were outside and the door shut, but before I had got farther
+than--'I say, youngster,'--he startled me rather by saying, in a very
+melancholy tone--
+
+'It's too bad, Giles, isn't it? Her going away, and us hearing nothing
+of the little girl. I really thought she'd have asked her to tea too.'
+
+'How you muddle your "her's" and "she's"!' I said. But of course I
+understood him. 'I think you muddle yourself too. If there's a mystery,
+and you know you'd be very disappointed if there wasn't, you couldn't
+expect the little girl to come to tea just as if everything was quite
+like everybody else about her.'
+
+'No, that's true,' said he, consideringly. 'P'raps she's invisible
+sometimes, or p'raps she's like the "Light Princess," that they had to
+tie down for fear she'd float away, or p'raps----'
+
+'She's invisible to us, anyway,' I interrupted, for, as I said, I was
+getting rather tired of Pete's fancies about the little girl, 'and
+so----'
+
+But just as I got so far, we both stopped--we were passing the railing
+of the little girl's house at that moment, and voices talking rather
+loudly caught our ears. Peterkin touched my arm, and we stood quite
+still. No one could see us, it was too dark, and there was no lamp just
+there, though some light was streaming out from the lower windows of the
+house. One of them, the dining-room one, was a little open, even though
+it was a chilly evening.
+
+It was so queer, our hearing the voices and almost seeing into the room,
+_just_ as we had been making up our minds that we'd never know anything
+about the little girl; it seemed so queer, that we didn't, at first,
+think of anything else. It wasn't for some minutes, or moments,
+certainly, that it came into my head that we shouldn't stay there
+peeping and listening. I'm afraid it wasn't a very gentlemanly sort of
+thing to do. As for Peterkin, I'm pretty sure he never had the
+slightest idea that we were doing anything caddish.
+
+What we heard was this--
+
+'No, I don't want any more tea. I'd better go to bed. It's so dull,
+Nana.'
+
+Then another voice replied--it came from some one further back in the
+room, but we could not distinguish the words--
+
+'There aren't any stars. You may as well shut the window. And stars
+aren't much good. I want some one to play with me. Other little--' but
+just then we saw the shadow of some one crossing the room, and the
+window--it was a glass-door kind of window like the ones up above, which
+opened on to the balcony, for there was a little sort of balcony
+downstairs too--was quickly closed. There was no more to be heard or
+seen; not even shadows, for the curtains were now drawn across.
+
+Pete gave a deep sigh, and I felt that he was looking at me, though it
+was too dark to see, and there was no lamp just there. He wanted to know
+what I thought.
+
+'Come along,' I said, and we walked on.
+
+'Did you hear?' asked Peterkin at last. 'She said she wanted somebody to
+play with her.'
+
+'Yes,' I said, 'it is rather queer. You'd think Mrs. Wylie might have
+made friends with her, and invited her to tea. But it's no good our
+bothering about it,' and I walked a little faster, and began to whistle.
+I did not want Pete to go on again talking a lot about his invisible
+princess, for such she seemed likely to remain.
+
+It was far easier, however, to get anything into Peterkin's fancy than
+to get it out again, as I might have known by experience. We had not
+gone far before I felt him tugging at my arm.
+
+'Don't walk so fast, Gilley,' he said--poor, little chap, he was quite
+breathless with trying to keep up with me, so I had to slacken a
+bit,--'and do let me talk to you. When we get home I shan't have a
+chance--not till to-morrow morning in bed, I daresay; for they'll all be
+wanting to hear about Mrs. Wylie, and what we had for tea, and
+everything.'
+
+I did not so much mind about _that_ part of it, but I did not want to be
+awakened before dawn the next morning to listen to all he'd got to say.
+So I thought I might as well let him come out with some of it.
+
+'What do you want to talk about?' I said.
+
+'Oh! of course, you know,' he replied. 'It's about the _poor_ little
+girl. I am so dreffully sorry for her, Gilley, and I want to plan
+something. It's no good asking Mrs. Wylie. We'll have to do something
+ourselves. I'm afraid the people she's with lock her up, or something.
+_P'raps_ they daren't let her go out, if there's some wicked fairy, or a
+witch, or something like that, that wants to run off with her.'
+
+'Well, then, the best thing to do _is_ to lock her up,' I said sensibly.
+
+But that wasn't Peterkin's way of looking at things.
+
+'It's never like that in my stories,' he said--and I know he was shaking
+his curly head,--'and some of them are very, very old--nearly as old as
+Bible stories, I believe; so they must be true, you see. There's always
+somebody that comes to break the--the--I forget the proper word.'
+
+'The enchantment, you mean,' I said.
+
+'No, no; a shorter word. Oh, I know--the spell,' he replied. 'Yes,
+somebody comes to break the _spell_. And that's what we've got to do,
+Gilley. At least, I'm sure I've got to, and you must help me. You see,
+it's all been so funny. The parrot knows, I should think, for I'm sure
+he's partly fairy. But, very likely, he daren't say it right out, for
+fear of the bad fairy, and----'
+
+'Perhaps he's the bad fairy himself,' I interrupted, half joking, but
+rather interested, all the same, in Peterkin's ideas.
+
+'Oh no,' he replied, 'I know he's not, and I'm sure Mrs. Wylie has
+nothing to do with the bad fairy.'
+
+'Then why do you think she won't talk about the little girl, or invite
+her, or anything?' I asked.
+
+Pete seemed puzzled.
+
+'I don't know,' he said. 'There's a lot to find out. P'raps Mrs. Wylie
+doesn't know anything about the spell, and has just got some stupid,
+common reason for not wanting us to play with the little girl, or
+p'raps'--and this was plainly a brilliant idea--'_p'raps_ the spell's
+put on her without her knowing, and stops her when she begins to speak
+about it. Mightn't it very likely be that, Giles?'
+
+But I had not time to answer, for we had got to our own door by now, and
+it was already opened, as some tradesman was giving James a parcel. So
+we ran in.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+'STRATAGEMS'
+
+
+I REALLY don't quite know what made me listen to Peterkin's fancies
+about his invisible princess, as I got into the habit of calling her. It
+was partly, I suppose, because it amused me--we had nothing much to take
+us up just then: there was no skating that winter, and the weather was
+dull and muggy--and partly that somehow he managed to make me feel as if
+there might really be something in it. I suppose when anybody quite
+believes in a thing, it's rather catching; and Peterkin's head was so
+stuffed and crammed with fairy stories that at that time, I think, they
+were almost more real to him than common things.
+
+He went about, dreaming of ogres and magicians, and all the rest, so
+much, that I scarcely think anything marvellous would have surprised
+him. If I had suddenly shot up to the ceiling, and called out that I
+had learnt how to fly, I don't believe he would have been startled; or
+if I had shown him a purse with a piece of gold in it, and told him that
+it was enchanted, and that he'd always find the money in it however
+often he spent it, he'd have taken it quite seriously, and been very
+pleased.
+
+So the idea of an enchanted little girl did not strike us as at all out
+of the way.
+
+We did not talk about her any more that night after we had been at Mrs.
+Wylie's, for we had to hurry up to get neat again to come down to the
+drawing-room to mamma. Blanche and Elf were already there when we came
+in, and they, and mamma too, were full of questions about how we'd
+enjoyed ourselves, and about the parrot, and what we'd had for tea--just
+as I knew they would be; I don't mean that mamma asked what we'd had for
+tea, but the girls did.
+
+And then Pete and Elf went off to bed, and when I went up he was quite
+fast asleep, and if he hadn't been, I could not have spoken to him
+because of my promise, you know.
+
+He made up for it the next morning, however.
+
+I suppose he had had an extra good night, for I felt him looking at me
+long before I was at all inclined to open my eyes, or to snort for him
+to know I was awake. And when at last I did--it's really no good trying
+to go to sleep again when you feel there's somebody fidgeting to talk to
+you--there he was, his eyes as bright and shiny as could be, sitting
+bolt up with his hands round his knees, as if he'd never been asleep in
+his life?
+
+I couldn't help feeling rather cross, and yet I had a contradictory sort
+of interest and almost eagerness to hear what he had to say. I suppose
+it was a kind of love of adventure that made me join him in his fancies
+and plans. I knew that his fancies were only fancies really, but still I
+felt as if we might get some fun out of them.
+
+He was too excited to mind my being grumpy.
+
+'Oh, Gilley!' he exclaimed at my first snort, 'I am so glad you are
+awake at last.'
+
+'I daresay you are,' I said, 'but I'm not. I should have slept another
+half-hour if you hadn't sat there staring me awake.'
+
+'Well, you needn't talk,' he went on, in a 'smoothing-you-down' tone;
+'just listen and grunt sometimes.'
+
+I did grunt there and then. There was one comfortable thing about
+Peterkin even then, and it keeps on with him now that he is getting big
+and sensible. He always understands what you say, however you say it, or
+half say it. He was not the least surprised at my talking of his staring
+me awake, though he had not exactly meant to do so.
+
+'It has come into my mind, Giles,' he began, very importantly, 'how
+queer and lucky it is that the old lady is going away for a fortnight. I
+should not wonder if it had been managed somehow.'
+
+He waited for my grunt, but it turned into--
+
+'What on earth do you mean?'
+
+'I mean, perhaps it's part of the spell, without her knowing, of course,
+that she should have to go to London. For if she was still there, we
+couldn't do anything without her finding out.'
+
+'I don't know what you mean about doing anything,' I said. 'And please
+don't say "we." I haven't promised to join you. Most likely I'll do my
+best to stop whatever it is you've got in that rummy head of yours.'
+
+'Oh no, you won't!' he replied coolly. 'I don't know that you could if
+you tried, without telling the others. And you can't do that, of course,
+as I've trusted you. It's word of honour, you see, though I didn't
+exactly make you say so. And it's nothing naughty or mischievous, else I
+wouldn't plan it.'
+
+'What is it, then? Hurry up and tell me, without such a lot of
+preparation,' I grumbled.
+
+'I can't tell you very much,' he answered, ''cos, you see, I don't know
+myself. It will show as we go on--I'm certain you'll help me, Gilley.
+You remember the prince in the "Sleeping Beauty" did not know exactly
+what he would do--no more did the one in----'
+
+'Never mind all that,' I interrupted.
+
+'Well, then, what we've got to do is to try to talk to her ourselves
+without any one hearing. That's the first thing. We will tell her what
+the parrot says, and then it will be easy to find out if she knows
+herself about the spell.'
+
+'But what do you think the spell is?' I asked, feeling again the strange
+interest and half belief in his fancies that Peterkin managed to put
+into me. 'What do you suppose your bad fairies, or whatever they are,
+have done to her?'
+
+'There are lots of things, it might be,' he replied gravely. 'They may
+have made her not able to walk, or very queer to look at--p'raps turned
+her hair white, so that you couldn't be sure if she was a little girl
+or an old woman; or made her nose so long that it trails on the floor.
+No, I don't think it's that,' he added, after stopping to think a
+minute. 'Her voice sounds as if she was pretty, even if it's rather
+grumbly. P'raps she turns into a mouse at night, and has to run about,
+and that's why she's so tired. It might be that.'
+
+'It would be easy to catch her, then, and bring her home in your pocket,
+if you waited till the magic time came,' I suggested, half joking again,
+of course.
+
+'It might be,' agreed Pete, quite seriously, 'or it might be very, very
+difficult, unless we could make her understand at the mouse time that we
+were friends. We can't settle anything till we see her, and talk to her
+like a little girl, of course.'
+
+'You certainly couldn't talk to her like anything else,' I said; 'but
+I'm sure I don't see how you mean to talk to her at all.'
+
+'I do,' said Peterkin. 'I've been planning it since last night. We can
+go round that way once or twice to look at the parrot, and just stand
+about. Nobody would wonder at us if they saw we were looking at him. And
+very likely we'd see _something_, as she lives in the very next-door
+house. P'raps she comes to the window sometimes, and she might notice
+us if we were looking up at the parrot. It would be easiest if she was
+in the downstairs room.'
+
+'I don't suppose she is there all day,' I said. 'The parrot would not
+have heard her talking so much if she were. I think she must have been
+out on the balcony sometimes when it was warmer.'
+
+'Yes,' Peterkin agreed. 'I thought of that. Very likely she only comes
+downstairs for her dinner and tea. It's the dining-room, like Mrs.
+Wylie's.'
+
+'And if she only comes down there late she wouldn't see us in the dark,
+and, besides, the parrot wouldn't be out by then. And besides that,
+except for going to tea to Mrs. Wylie's, we'd never get leave to be out
+by ourselves so late. At least _you_ wouldn't. Of course, for me, it's
+sometimes nearly dark when I come home from school.'
+
+I really did not see how Pete did mean to manage it. But the
+difficulties I spoke of only seemed to make him more determined. I could
+not help rather admiring him for it: he quite felt, I fancy, as if he
+was one of his favourite fairy-tale princes. And in the queer way I have
+spoken of already, he somehow made me feel with him. I did not go over
+all the difficulties in order to stop him trying, but because I was
+actually interested in seeing how he was going to overcome them.
+
+He was silent for a moment or two after my last speech, staring before
+him with his round blue eyes.
+
+Then he said quietly--
+
+'Yes; I'd thought of most of those things. But you will see. We'll
+manage it somehow. I daresay she comes downstairs in the middle of the
+day, too, for she's sure to have dinner early, and the parrot will be
+out then, if we choose a fine day.'
+
+'But we always have to be in for our own dinner by half-past one,' I
+said.
+
+'Well, p'raps _she_ has hers at one, or even half-past twelve, like we
+used to, till you began going to school,' said he hopefully. 'And a
+_very_ little talking would do at the first beginning. Then we could be
+very polite, and say we'd come again to see the parrot, and p'raps--'
+here Peterkin looked rather shy.
+
+'Perhaps what? Out with it!' I said.
+
+'We might take her a few flowers,' he answered, getting red, 'if--if we
+could--could get any. They're very dear to buy, I'm afraid, and we
+haven't any of our own. The garden is so small; it isn't like if we
+lived in the country,' rather dolefully.
+
+'You wouldn't have known anything about Rock Terrace, or the invisible
+princess, or the parrot, if we lived in the country,' I reminded him.
+
+'No,' said Pete, more cheerfully, 'I hadn't thought of that.'
+
+'And--' I went on, 'I daresay I could help you a bit if it really seemed
+any good,' for I rather liked the idea of giving the little girl some
+flowers. It made it all look less babyish.
+
+Peterkin grinned with delight.
+
+'You _are_ kind, Gilley!' he exclaimed. 'I knew you would be. Oh,
+bother! here's nurse coming, and we haven't begun to settle anything
+properly.'
+
+'There's no hurry,' I said; 'you've forgotten that we certainly can't go
+there again till Mrs. Wylie's out of the way. And she said, "the end of
+the week"; that means Saturday, most likely, and this is--oh dear! I was
+forgetting--it's Sunday, and we'll be late.'
+
+Nurse echoed my words as she came in--
+
+'You'll be late, Master Giles, and Master Peterkin, too,' she said. 'I
+really don't think you should talk so much on Sunday mornings.'
+
+It wasn't that we had to be any earlier on Sundays than any other day,
+but that dressing in your best clothes takes so much longer somehow,
+and we had to have our hair very neat, and all like that, because we
+generally went down to the dining-room, while papa and mamma and Clement
+and Blanche were at breakfast, after we had had our own in the nursery.
+
+There would be no good in trying to remember all our morning talks that
+week about Peterkin's plans. He did not get the least tired of them, and
+I didn't, for a wonder, get tired of listening to him, he was so very
+much in earnest.
+
+He chopped and changed a good bit in little parts of them, but still he
+stuck to the general idea, and I helped him to polish it up. It was
+really more interesting than any of his fairy stories, for he managed to
+make both himself and me feel as if we were going to be _in_ one of them
+ourselves.
+
+So I will skip over that week, and go on to the next. By that time we
+knew that Mrs. Wylie was in London, because mamma said something one day
+about having had a letter from her. Nothing to do with the little girl,
+as far as we knew; I think it was only about somebody who wanted a
+servant, or something stupid like that.
+
+It got on to the Monday of the next week _again_, and by that time Pete
+had got a sort of start of his plans. He had got leave to come to meet
+me at the corner of Lindsay Square, once or twice in the last few days.
+I used to get there about a quarter or twenty minutes to one. We were
+supposed to leave school not later than a quarter past twelve, but you
+know how fellows get fooling about coming out of a day-school, so,
+though it was really quite near, I was often later.
+
+Mamma was pleased for Peterkin to want to come to meet me. She was not
+at all coddling or stupid like that about us boys, though her being in
+such a fuss that evening Pete was lost may have seemed so. And she was
+always awfully glad for us to be fond of each other. She used to say she
+hoped we'd grow up 'friends' as well as brothers, which always reminded
+me of the verse about it in the Bible about 'sticking closer than a
+brother.' And I like to think that dear little mummy's hopes will come
+true for her sons.
+
+It wasn't exactly a fit of affection for me, of course, that made Pete
+want to get into the way of coming to meet me. Still, we _were_ very
+good friends; especially good friends just then, as you know.
+
+So that Monday, which luckily happened to be a very nice bright day, he
+had no difficulty in getting leave for it again. I had promised him to
+hurry over getting off from school, so we counted on having a good bit
+of time to spend in looking at the parrot and talking to him, and in
+'spying the land' generally, including the invisible princess, if we got
+a chance, without risking coming in too late for our dinner. We had
+taken care never to be late, up till now, for fear of Peterkin's coming
+to meet me being put a stop to; but we hadn't pretended that we would
+come straight home, and once or twice we had done a little shopping
+together, and more than once we had spent several minutes in staring in
+at the flower-shop windows, settling what kind of flowers would be best,
+and in asking the prices of hers from a flower-woman who often sat near
+the corner of the square. She was very good-natured about it. We
+shouldn't have liked to go into a regular shop only to ask prices, so it
+was a good thing to know a little about them beforehand.
+
+I remember all about that Monday morning particularly well. I did hurry
+off from school as fast as I could, though of course--I think it nearly
+always happens so--ever so many stupid little things turned up to keep
+me later than I often was.
+
+I skurried along pretty fast, you may be sure, once I did get out, and
+it wasn't long before I caught sight of poor old Pete eagerly watching
+for me at the corner of Lindsay Square. He did not dare to come farther,
+because, you see, he had promised mamma he never would, and that if I
+were ever very late he'd go home again.
+
+I didn't give him time to be doleful about it.
+
+'I've been as quick as I possibly could,' I said, 'and it's not so bad
+after all, Pete. We shall have a quarter of an hour for Rock Terrace at
+least, if we hurry now. Don't speak--it only wastes your breath,' for in
+those days, with being so plump and sturdy and his legs rather short, it
+didn't take much to make him puff or pant. He's in better training now
+by a long way.
+
+He was always very sensible, so he took my advice and we got over the
+ground pretty fast, only pulling up when we got to the end, or
+beginning, of the little row of houses.
+
+'Now,' said I, 'let's first walk right along rather slowly, and if we
+hear the Polly we can stop short, as if we were noticing him for the
+first time, the way people often do, you know.'
+
+Peterkin nodded.
+
+'I believe I see the corner of his cage out on the balcony,' he said,
+half whispering, 'already.'
+
+He was right. The cage was out.
+
+We walked past very slowly, though we took care not to look up as if we
+were expecting to see anything. The parrot was in the front of the cage,
+staring down, and I'm almost certain he saw us, and even remembered us,
+though, out of contradiction, he pretended he didn't.
+
+'Don't speak or turn,' I whispered to Pete. It was so very quiet along
+Rock Terrace, except when some tradesman's cart rattled past--and just
+now there was nothing of the kind in view--that even common talking
+could have been heard. 'Don't speak or seem to see him. They are awfully
+conceited birds, and the way to make them notice you and begin talking
+and screeching is to pretend you don't see them.'
+
+So we walked on silently to the farther end of the terrace, in a very
+matter-of-fact way, turning to come back again just as we had gone. And
+I could be positive that the creature saw us all the time, for the row
+of houses was very short, and he was well to the front of the balcony.
+
+Our 'stratagem'--I have always liked the word, ever since I read _Tales
+of a Grandfather_, which I thought a great take-in, as it's just a
+history book, neither more nor less, and the only exciting part is when
+you come upon stratagems--succeeded. As we got close up to the parrot's
+house, next door to Mother Wylie's, you understand, _and_, of course,
+next door to the invisible princess's, we heard a sound. It was a sort
+of rather angry squeak or croak, but loud enough to be an excuse for our
+stopping short and looking up.
+
+And then, as we still did not speak, Master Poll, his round eyes glaring
+at us, I felt certain, was forced to open the conversation.
+
+'Pretty Poll,' he began, of course. 'Pretty Poll.'
+
+'All right,' I called back. 'Good morning, Pretty Poll. A fine day.'
+
+'Wants his dinner,' he went on. 'I say, wants his dinner.'
+
+'Really, does he?' I said, in a mocking tone, which he understood, and
+beginning to get angry--just what I wanted.
+
+'Naughty boy! naughty boy!' he screeched, very loudly. Pete and I
+grinned with satisfaction!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+MARGARET
+
+
+THERE'S an old proverb that mamma has often quoted to us, for she's
+awfully keen on our all being 'plucky,' and, on the whole, I think we
+are--
+
+'Fortune favours the brave.'
+
+I have sometimes thought it would suit Peterkin to turn it into 'Fortune
+favours the determined.' Not that he's _not_ 'plucky,' but there's
+nothing like him for sticking to a thing, once he has got it into his
+head. And certainly fortune favoured him at the time I am writing about.
+Nothing could have suited us better than the parrot's screeching out to
+us 'naughty boy, naughty boy.'
+
+I suppose he had been taught to say it to errand-boys and boys like that
+who mocked at him. But we did not want to set up a row, so I replied
+gently--
+
+'No, no, Polly, good boys. Polly shall have his dinner soon.'
+
+'Good Polly, good Polly,' he repeated with satisfaction.
+
+And then--what _do_ you think happened? The door-window of the
+drawing-room of the next house, _the_ house, was pushed open a little
+bit, and out peeped a child's head, a small head with smooth short dark
+hair, but a little girl's head. We could tell that at once by the way it
+was combed, or brushed, even if we had not seen, as we did, a white
+muslin pinafore, with lace ruffly things that only a girl would wear. My
+heart really began to beat quite loudly, as if I'd been running fast--we
+had been so excited about her, you see, and afterwards Pete told me his
+did too.
+
+The only pity was, that she was up on the drawing-room floor. We could
+have seen her so much better downstairs. But we had scarcely time to
+feel disappointed.
+
+When she saw us, and saw, I suppose, that we were not errand-boys or
+street-boys, she came out a little farther. I felt sure by her manner
+that she was alone in the room. She looked down at us, looked us well
+over for a moment or two, and then she said--
+
+'Are you talking to the parrot?'
+
+She did not call out or speak loudly at all, but her voice was very
+clear.
+
+'Yes,' Peterkin replied. As he had started the whole business I thought
+it fair to let him speak before me. 'Yes, but he called out to us first.
+He called us "naughty boys."'
+
+'I heard him,' said the little girl, 'and I thought perhaps you _were_
+naughty boys, teasing him, you know, and I was going to call to you to
+run away. But--' and she glanced at us again. I could see that she
+wanted to go on talking, but she did not quite know how to set about it.
+
+So I thought I might help things on a bit.
+
+'Thank you,' I said, taking off my cap. 'My little brother is very
+interested in the parrot. He seems so clever.'
+
+At another time Pete would have been very offended at my calling him
+'little,' but just now he was too eager to mind, or even, I daresay, to
+notice.
+
+'So he is,' said the little girl. 'I could tell you lots about him, but
+it's rather tiresome talking down to you from up here. Wait a minute,'
+she added, 'and I'll come down to the dining-room. I may go downstairs
+now, and nurse is out, and I'm very dull.'
+
+We were so pleased that we scarcely dared look at each other, for fear
+that somehow it should go wrong after all. We did glance along the
+terrace, but nobody was coming. If only her nurse would stay out for ten
+minutes longer, or even less.
+
+We stood there, almost holding our breath. But it was not really--it
+could not have been--more than half a minute, before the dark head and
+white pinafore appeared again, this time, of course, on the ground
+floor; the window there was a little bit open already, to air the room
+perhaps.
+
+We would have liked to go close up to the small balcony where she stood,
+but we dared not, for fear of the nurse coming. And the garden was very
+tiny, we were only two or three yards from the little girl, even outside
+on the pavement.
+
+She looked at us first, looked us well over, before she began to speak
+again. Then she said--
+
+'Have you been to see the parrot already?'
+
+'Oh yes,' said Peterkin, in his very politest tone, 'oh yes, thank you.'
+I did not quite see why he said 'thank you.' I suppose he meant it in
+return for her coming downstairs. 'I've been here two, no, three times,
+and Giles,' he gave a sort of nod towards me, 'has been here two.'
+
+'Is your name Giles?' she asked me. She had a funny, little, rather
+condescending manner of speaking to us, but I didn't mind it somehow.
+
+'Yes,' I replied, 'and his,' and I touched Pete, 'is "Peterkin."'
+
+'They are queer names; don't you think so? At least,' she added quickly,
+as if she was afraid she had said something rude, 'they are very
+uncommon. "Giles" and "Perkin."'
+
+'Not "Perkin,"' I said, "Peterkin."'
+
+'Oh, I thought it was like a man in my history,' she said, 'Perkin
+War--something.'
+
+'No,' said Peterkin, 'it isn't in history, but it's in poetry. About a
+battle. I've got it in a book.'
+
+'I should like to see it,' she said. 'There's lots of _my_ name in
+history. My name is Margaret. There are queens and princesses called
+Margaret.'
+
+Pete opened his mouth as if he was going to speak, but shut it up again.
+I know what he had been on the point of saying,--'Are you a princess?'
+'a shut-up princess?' he would have added very likely, but I suppose he
+was sensible enough to see that if she had been 'shut-up,' in the way he
+had been fancying to himself, she would scarcely have been able to come
+downstairs and talk to us as she was doing. And she was not dressed like
+the princesses in his stories, who had always gold crowns on and long
+shiny trains. Still, though she had only a pinafore on, I could see that
+it was rather a grand one, lots of lace about it, like one of Elf's very
+best, and though her hair was short and her face small and pale, there
+was something about her--the way she stood and the way she spoke--which
+was different from many little girls of her age.
+
+Peterkin took advantage very cleverly of what she had said about his
+name.
+
+'I'll bring you my poetry-book, if you like,' he said. 'It's a quite old
+one. I think it belonged to grandmamma, and she's as old as--as old
+as--' he seemed at a loss to find anything to compare poor grandmamma
+to, till suddenly a bright idea struck him--'nearly as old as Mrs.
+Wylie, I should think,' he finished up.
+
+'Oh,' said Margaret, 'do you know Mrs. Wylie? I've never seen her, but I
+think I've heard her talk. Her house is next door to the parrot's.'
+
+'Yes,' said I, 'but I wonder you've never seen her. She often goes out.'
+
+'But--' began the little girl again, 'I've been--oh, I do believe that's
+my dinner clattering in the kitchen, and nurse will be coming in, and
+I've never told you about the parrot. I've lots to tell you. Will you
+come again? Not to-morrow, but on Wednesday nurse is going out to the
+dressmaker's. I heard her settling it. Please come on Wednesday, just
+like this.'
+
+'We could come a little earlier, perhaps,' I said.
+
+Margaret nodded.
+
+'Yes, do,' she replied, 'and I'll be on the look-out for you. I shall
+think of lots of things to say. I want to tell you about the parrot,
+and--about lots of things,' she repeated. 'Good-bye.'
+
+We tugged at our caps, echoing 'good-bye,' and then we walked on towards
+the farther-off end of the terrace, and when we got there we turned and
+walked back again. And then we saw that we had not left the front of
+Margaret's house any too soon, for a short, rather stout little woman
+was coming along, evidently in a hurry. She just glanced at us as she
+passed us, but I don't think she noticed us particularly.
+
+'That's her nurse, I'm sure,' said Peterkin, in a low voice. 'I don't
+think she looks unkind.'
+
+'No, only rather fussy, I should say,' I replied.
+
+We had scarcely spoken to each other before, since bidding Margaret
+good-bye. Pete had been thinking deeply, and I was waiting to hear what
+he had to say.
+
+'I wonder,' he went on, after a moment or two's silence,--'I wonder how
+much she knows?'
+
+'Why?' I exclaimed. 'What do you think there is to know?'
+
+'It's all very misterous, still,' he answered solemnly. 'She--the little
+girl--said she had lots to tell us about the parrot and other things.
+And she didn't want her nurse to see us talking to her. And she said she
+could come downstairs _now_, but, I'm sure, they don't let her go out.
+She wouldn't be so dull if they did.'
+
+'Who's "they"?' I asked.
+
+'I don't quite know,' he replied, shaking his head. 'Some kind of
+fairies. P'raps it's bad ones, or p'raps it's good ones. No, it can't be
+bad ones, for then they wouldn't have planned the parrot telling us
+about her, so that we could help her to get free. The parrot is a sort
+of messenger from the good fairies, I believe.'
+
+He looked up, his eyes very bright and blue, as they always were when he
+thought he had made a discovery, or was on the way to one. And I, half
+in earnest, half in fun, like I'd been about it all the time, let my
+own fancy go on with his.
+
+'Perhaps,' I said. 'We shall find out on Wednesday, I suppose, when we
+talk more to Margaret. We needn't call her the invisible princess any
+more.'
+
+'No, but she is a princess sort of little girl, isn't she?' he said,
+'though her hair isn't as pretty as Blanche's and Elf's, and her face is
+very little.'
+
+'She's all right,' I said.
+
+And then we had to hurry and leave off talking, for we had been walking
+more slowly than we knew, and just then some big clock struck the
+quarter.
+
+I think, perhaps, I had better explain here, that none of us--neither
+Margaret, nor Peterkin, nor I--thought we were doing anything the least
+wrong in keeping our making acquaintance a secret. What Margaret thought
+about it, so far as she did think of that part of it, you will
+understand as I go on; and Pete and I had our minds so filled with his
+fairies that we simply didn't think of anything else.
+
+It was growing more and more interesting, for Margaret had something
+very jolly about her, though she wasn't exactly pretty.
+
+I can't remember if it did come into my mind, a very little, perhaps,
+that we should tell somebody--mamma, perhaps, or Clement--about our
+visits to Rock Terrace even then. But if it did, I think I put it out
+again, by knowing that Margaret meant it to be a secret, and that, till
+we saw her again, and heard what she was going to tell us, it would not
+be fair to mention anything about it.
+
+We were both very glad that Wednesday was only the day after to-morrow.
+It would have been a great nuisance to have had to wait a whole week,
+perhaps. And we were very anxious when Wednesday morning came, to see
+what sort of weather it was, for on Tuesday it rained. Not very badly,
+but enough for nurse to tell Peterkin that it was too showery for him to
+come to meet me, and it would not have been much good if he had, as we
+couldn't have spoken to Margaret.
+
+Nor could we have strolled up and down the terrace or stood looking at
+the parrot, even if he'd been out on the terrace, which he wouldn't have
+been on at all on a bad day--if it was rainy. It would have been sure to
+make some of the people in the houses wonder at us; just what we didn't
+want.
+
+But Wednesday was fine, luckily, and this time I got off from school to
+the minute without any one or anything stopping me.
+
+I ran most of the way to the corner of Lindsay Square, all the same;
+and I was not too early either, for before I got there I saw Master
+Peterkin's sturdy figure steering along towards me, not far off. And
+when he got up to me I saw that he had a small brown-paper parcel under
+his arm, neatly tied up with red string.
+
+He was awfully pleased to see me so early, for his round face was
+grinning all over, and as a rule it was rather solemn.
+
+'What's that you've got there?' I asked.
+
+He looked surprised at my not knowing.
+
+'Why, of course, the poetry-book,' he said. 'I promised it her,
+and I've marked the poetry about "Peterkin." It's the Battle of
+Blen--Blen-hime--mamma said, when I learnt it, that that's the
+right way to say it; but Miss Tucker' ('Miss Tucker' was Blanche's
+and the little ones' governess) 'called it Blen_nem_, and I always
+have to think when I say it. I wish they didn't call him "_little_
+Peterkin," though,' he went on, 'it sounds so babyish.'
+
+'I don't see that it matters, as it isn't about you yourself,' I said.
+'I'd forgotten all about it; I think it's rather sharp of you to have
+remembered.'
+
+'I couldn't never forget anything I'd promised _her_,' said Pete, and
+you might really have thought by his tone that he believed he was the
+prince going to visit the Sleeping Beauty--after she'd come awake, I
+suppose.
+
+We did not need to hurry; we were actually rather too early, so we went
+on talking.
+
+'How about the flowers we meant to get for her?' I said suddenly.
+
+'_I_ didn't forget about them,' he answered, 'but we didn't promise
+them, and I thought it would be better to ask her first. She might like
+chocolates best, you know.'
+
+'All right,' I said, and I thought perhaps it was better to ask her
+first. You see, if she didn't want her nurse to know about our coming to
+see her it would have been tiresome, as, of course, Margaret could not
+have told a story.
+
+There she was, peeping out of the downstairs window already when we got
+there. And when she saw us she came farther out, a little bit on to the
+balcony. It was a sunny day for winter, and besides, she had a red shawl
+on, so she could not very well have caught cold. It was a very pretty
+shawl, with goldy marks or patterns on it. It was like one grandmamma
+had been sent a present of from India, and afterwards Margaret told me
+hers had come from India too. And it suited her, somehow, even though
+she was only a thin, pale little girl.
+
+She smiled when she saw us, though she did not speak till we were near
+enough to hear what she said without her calling out. And when we
+stopped in front of her house, she said--
+
+'I think you might come inside the garden. We could talk better.'
+
+So we did, first glancing up at the next-door balcony, to see if the
+parrot was there.
+
+Yes, he was, but not as far out as usual, and there was a cloth, or
+something, half-down round his cage, to keep him warmer, I suppose.
+
+He was quite silent, but Margaret nodded her head up towards him.
+
+'He told me you were coming,' she cried, 'though it wasn't in a very
+polite way. He croaked out--"Naughty boys! naughty boys!"'
+
+We all three laughed a little.
+
+'And now,' Margaret went on, 'I daresay he won't talk at all, all the
+time you are here.'
+
+'But will he understand what we say?' asked Peterkin, rather anxiously.
+
+Margaret shook her head.
+
+[Illustration: PETE HELD OUT HIS BROWN-PAPER PARCEL. 'THIS IS THE
+POETRY-BOOK,' HE SAID.--p. 97.]
+
+'I really don't know,' she replied. 'We had better talk in rather low
+voices. I don't _think_,' she went on, almost in a whisper, 'that he is
+fairy enough to hear if we speak very softly.'
+
+Peterkin gave a sort of spring of delight.
+
+'Oh!' he exclaimed, 'I am _so_ glad you think he is fairyish, too.'
+
+'Of course I do,' said she; 'that's partly what I wanted to tell you.'
+
+We came closer to the window. Margaret looked at us again in her
+examining way, without speaking, for a minute, and before she said
+anything, Pete held out his brown-paper parcel.
+
+'This is the poetry-book,' he said, 'and I've put a mark in the place
+where it's about my name.'
+
+He pulled off his cap as he handed the packet to her, and stood with his
+curly wig looking almost red in the sunlight, though it was not very
+bright.
+
+'Put it on again,' said Margaret, in her little queer way, meaning his
+cap. 'And thank you very much, Perkin, for remembering to bring it. I
+think I should like to call you "Perkin," if you don't mind. I like to
+have names of my own for some people, and I really thought yours was
+Perkin.'
+
+I wished to myself she would have a name of her own for _me_, but I
+suppose she thought I was too big.
+
+'I think you are very nice boys,' she went on, 'not "naughty" ones at
+all; and if you will promise not to tell any one what I am going to tell
+_you_, I will explain all I can. I mean you mustn't tell any one till I
+give you leave, and as it's only about my own affairs, of course you can
+promise.'
+
+Of course we did promise.
+
+'Listen, then,' said Margaret, glancing up first of all at the parrot,
+and drawing back a little into the inside of the room. 'You can hear
+what I say, even though I don't speak very loudly, can't you?'
+
+'Oh yes! quite well,' we replied.
+
+'Well, then, listen,' she repeated. 'I have no brothers or sisters, and
+Dads and Mummy are in India. I lived there till about three years ago,
+and then they came here and left me with my grandfather. That's how
+people always have to do who live in India.'
+
+'Didn't you mind awfully?' I said. 'Your father and mother leaving you,
+I mean?'
+
+'Of course I minded,' she replied. 'But I had always known it would have
+to be. And they will come home again for good some day; perhaps before
+very long. And I have always been quite happy till lately. Gran is very
+good to me, and I'm used to being a good deal alone, you see, except for
+big people. I've always had lots of story books, and not _very_ many
+lessons. So, after a bit, it didn't seem so very different from India.
+Only _now_ it's quite different. It's like being shut up in a tower, and
+it's very queer altogether, and I _believe_ she's a sort of a witch,'
+and Margaret nodded her head mysteriously.
+
+'_Who?_' we asked eagerly.
+
+'The person I'm living with--Miss Bogle--isn't her name witchy?' and she
+smiled a little. 'No, no, not nurse,' for I had begun to say the word.
+'_She_ is only rather a goose. No, this house belongs to Miss Bogle, and
+she's quite old--oh, as old as old! And she's got rheumatism, so she
+very seldom goes up and down stairs. And nurse does just exactly what
+Miss Bogle tells her. It was this way. Gran had to go away--a good way,
+though not so far as India, and he is always dreadfully afraid of
+anything happening to me, I suppose. So he sent me here with nurse, and
+he told me I would be very happy. He knew Miss Bogle long ago--I think
+she had a school for little boys once; perhaps that was before she got
+to be a witch. But I've been dreadfully unhappy, and I don't know
+what's going to happen to me if I go on like this much longer.'
+
+She stopped, out of breath almost.
+
+'Do you think she's going to enchanter you?' asked Peterkin, in a
+whisper. 'Do you think she wasn't asked to your christening, or anything
+like that?'
+
+Margaret shook her head again.
+
+'_Something_ like that, I suppose,' she replied. 'She looks at me
+through her spectacles so queerly, you can't think. You see, I was ill
+at Gran's before I came here: not very badly, though he fussed a good
+deal about it. And he thought the sea-air would do me good. But I've
+often had colds, and I never was treated like this before--never. For
+ever so long, _she_,' and Margaret nodded towards somewhere unknown,
+'wouldn't let me come downstairs at all. And then I cried--sometimes I
+_roared_, and luckily the parrot heard, and began to talk about it in
+his way. And you see it's through him that _you_ got to know about me,
+so I'm sure he's on the other side, and knows she's a witch, but----'
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+THE GREAT PLAN
+
+
+AT that moment the clock--a clock somewhere near--struck. Margaret
+started, and listened,--'One, two, three.' She looked pleased.
+
+'It's only a quarter to one,' she said. 'Half-an-hour still to my
+dinner. What time do you need to get home by?'
+
+'A quarter-past will do for us,' I said.
+
+'Oh, then it's all right,' she replied. 'But I must be quick. I want to
+know all that the parrot told you.'
+
+'It was more what he had said to Mrs. Wylie,' I explained, 'copying you,
+you know. And, at first, she called you "that poor child," and told us
+she was so sorry for you.'
+
+'But now she won't say anything. She pinched up her lips about you the
+other day,' added Peterkin.
+
+Margaret seemed very interested, but not very surprised.
+
+'Oh, then, Miss Bogle is beginning to bewitch her too,' she said. 'Nurse
+is a goose, as I told you. She just does everything Miss Bogle wants.
+And if it wasn't for the parrot and you,' she went on solemnly, 'I
+daresay when Gran comes home he'd find me turned into a pussy-cat.'
+
+'Or a mouse, or even a frog,' said Peterkin, his eyes gleaming; 'only
+then he wouldn't know it was you, unless your nurse told him.'
+
+'She wouldn't,' said Margaret, 'the witch would take care to stop her,
+or to turn her into a big cat herself, or something. There'd be only the
+parrot, and Gran mightn't understand him. It's better not to risk it.
+And that's what I'm planning about. But it will take a great deal of
+planning, though I've been thinking about it ever since you came, and I
+felt sure the good fairies had sent you to rescue me. When can you come
+again?'
+
+'Any day, almost,' said Pete.
+
+'Well, then, I'll tell you what. I'll be on the look-out for you passing
+every fine day about this time, and the first day I'm sure of nurse
+going to London again--and I know she has to go once more at least--I'll
+manage to tell you, and _then_ we'll fix for a long talk here.'
+
+'All right,' I said, 'but we'd better go now.'
+
+There was a sound of footsteps approaching, so with only a hurried
+'good-bye' we ran off.
+
+We did not need to stroll up and down the terrace to-day, as we knew
+Margaret's nurse was away; luckily so, for we only just got home in time
+by the skin of our teeth, running all the way, and not talking.
+
+I wish I could quite explain about myself, here, but it is rather
+difficult. I went on thinking about Margaret a lot, all that day; all
+the more that Pete and I didn't talk much about her. We both seemed to
+be waiting till we saw her again and heard her 'plans.'
+
+And I cannot now feel sure if I really was in earnest at all, as she and
+Peterkin certainly were, about the enchantment and the witch. I remember
+I laughed at it to myself sometimes, and called it 'bosh' in my own
+mind. And yet I did not quite think it only that. After all, I was only
+a little boy myself, and Margaret had such a common-sensical way, even
+in talking of fanciful things, that somehow you couldn't laugh at her,
+and Pete, of course, was quite and entirely in earnest.
+
+I think I really had a strong belief that _some_ risk or danger was
+hanging over her, and I think this was natural, considering the queer
+way our getting to know her had been brought about. And any boy would
+have been 'taken' by the idea of 'coming to the rescue,' as she called
+it.
+
+There was a good deal of rather hard work at lessons just then for me.
+Papa and mamma wanted me to get into a higher class after Christmas, and
+I daresay I had been pretty idle, or at least taking things easy, for I
+was not as well up as I should have been, I know. So Peterkin and I had
+not as much time for private talking as usual. I had often lessons to
+look over first thing in the morning, and as mamma would not allow us to
+have candles in bed, and there was no gas or electric light in our room,
+I had to get up a bit earlier, when I had work to look over or finish.
+And nurse was very good about that sort of thing: there was always a
+jolly bright fire for me in the nursery, however early I was.
+
+Our best time for talking was when Peterkin came to meet me. But we had
+two or three wet days about then. And Margaret did not expect us on
+rainy days, even if Pete had been allowed to come, which he wasn't.
+
+It was, as far as I remember, not till the Monday after that Wednesday
+that we were able to pass along Rock Terrace. And almost before we came
+in real sight of her, I felt certain that the little figure was standing
+there on the look-out.
+
+And so she was--red shawl and white pinafore, and small dark head, as
+usual.
+
+We made a sort of pretence of strolling past her house at first, but we
+found we didn't need to. She beckoned to us at once, and just at that
+moment the parrot, who was out in _his_ balcony, most luckily--or
+cleverly, Peterkin always declares he did it on purpose--screeched out
+in quite a good-humoured tone--
+
+'Good morning! good morning! Pretty Poll! Fine day, boys! Good morning!'
+
+'Good morning, Poll,' we called out as we ran across the tiny plot of
+garden to Margaret.
+
+'I'm so glad you've come,' she said, 'but you mustn't stop a minute.
+I've been out in a bath-chair this morning--I've just come in; and now
+I'm to go every day. It's horrid, and it's all nonsense, when I can
+walk and run quite well. It's all that old witch. I'm going again
+to-morrow and Wednesday; but I'm going to manage to make it later on
+Wednesday, so that you can talk to me on the Parade. Nurse is going to
+London all day on Wednesday, but I'm to go out just the same, for the
+bath-chair man is somebody that Miss Bogle knows quite well. So if you
+watch for me on the Parade, between the street close to here,' and she
+nodded towards the nearest side of Lindsay Square, 'and farther on
+_that_ way,' and now she pointed in the direction of our own house,
+'I'll look out for you, and we can have a good talk.'
+
+'All right,' we replied. 'On Wednesday--day after to-morrow, if it's
+fine, of course.'
+
+'Yes,' she said; 'though I'll _try_ to go, even if it's not _very_ fine,
+and you must try to come. I know now why nurse has to go to London. It's
+to see her sister, who's in an hospital, and Wednesday's the only day,
+and she's a dressmaker--that's why I thought nurse had to go to a
+dressmaker's. I'm going on making up my plans. It's getting worse and
+worse. After I've been out in the bath-chair, Miss Bogle says I'm to lie
+down most of the afternoon! Just fancy--it's so _dreadfully_ dull, for
+she won't let me read. She says it's bad for your eyes, when you're
+lying down. Unless I do something quick, I believe she'll turn me into
+a--oh! I don't know what,' and she stopped, quite out of breath.
+
+'A frog,' said Peterkin. He had enchanted frogs on the brain just then,
+I believe.
+
+'No,' said Margaret, 'that wouldn't be so bad, for I'd be able to jump
+about, and there's nothing I love as much as jumping about, especially
+in water,' and her eyes sparkled with a sort of mischief which I had
+seen in them once or twice before. 'No, it would be something much
+horrider--a dormouse, perhaps. I should hate to be a dormouse.
+
+'You shan't be changed into a dormouse or--or _anything_,' said
+Peterkin, with a burst of indignation.
+
+'Thank you, Perkins,' Margaret replied; 'but please go now and
+remember--Wednesday.'
+
+We ran off, and though we thought we had only been a minute or two at
+Rock Terrace, after all we were not home much too early.
+
+'We must be careful on Wednesday,' I said. 'I'm afraid my watch is
+rather slow.'
+
+[Illustration: WE HAD NO DIFFICULTY IN FINDING HER BATH-CHAIR.--p. 108.]
+
+'Dinner isn't always quite so pumptual on Wednesdays,' said Pete, 'with
+its being a half-holiday, you know.'
+
+It turned out right enough on Wednesday.
+
+Considering what a little girl she was then--only eight and a
+bit--Margaret was very clever with her plans and settlings, as we have
+often told her since. I daresay it was with her having lived so much
+alone, and read so many story-books, and made up stories for herself
+too, as she often did, though we didn't know that then.
+
+We had no difficulty in finding her bath-chair, and the man took it
+quite naturally that she should have some friends, and, of course, made
+no objection to our walking beside her and talking to her. He was a very
+nice kind sort of a man, though he scarcely ever spoke. Perhaps he had
+children of his own, and was glad for Margaret to be amused. He took
+great care of the chair, over the crossing the road and the turnings,
+and no doubt he had been told to be extra careful, but as Miss Bogle had
+no idea that Margaret knew a creature in the place I don't suppose 'the
+witch' had ever thought of telling him that he was not to let any one
+speak to her.
+
+It was a very fine day--a sort of November summer, and when you were in
+the full sunshine it really felt quite hot. There were bath-chairs
+standing still, for the people in them to enjoy the warmth and to stare
+out at the sea.
+
+Margaret did not want to stare at it, and no more did we. But it was
+more comfortable to talk with the chair standing still; for though to
+look at one going it seems to crawl along like a snail, I can tell you
+to keep up with it you have to step out pretty fast, faster than
+Peterkin could manage without a bit of running every minute or so, which
+is certainly _not_ comfortable, and faster than I myself could manage as
+well as talking, without getting short of breath.
+
+So we were very glad to pull up for a few minutes, though we had already
+got through a good deal of business, as I will tell you.
+
+Margaret had made up her mind to run away! Fancy that--a little girl of
+eight!
+
+Pete and I were awfully startled when she burst out with it. She could
+stand Miss Bogle and the dreadful dulness and loneliness of Rock Terrace
+no longer, she declared, not to speak of what might happen to her in the
+way of being turned into a kitten or a mouse or _something_, if the
+witch got really too spiteful.
+
+'And where will you go to?' we asked.
+
+'Home,' she said, 'at least to my nursey's, and that is close to home.'
+
+We were so puzzled at this that we could scarcely speak.
+
+'To your _nurse's_!' we said at last.
+
+'Yes, to my own nurse--my old nurse!' said Margaret, quite surprised
+that we didn't understand. And then she explained what she thought she
+had told us.
+
+'That stupid thing who is my nurse now,' she said, 'isn't my _real_
+nurse. I mean she has only been with me since I came here. She belongs
+to Miss Bogle--I mean Miss Bogle got her. My own darling nursey had to
+leave me. She stayed and stayed because of that bad cold I got, you
+know, but as soon as I was better she _had_ to go, because her mother
+was so old and ill, and hasn't _nobody_ but nursey to take care of her.
+And then when Gran had to go away he settled it all with that witchy
+Miss Bogle, and she got this goosey nurse, and my own nursey brought me
+here. And she cried and cried when she went away, and she said she'd
+come some day to see if I was happy, but the witch said no, she mustn't,
+it would upset me; and so she's never dared to; and now you can fancy
+what my life has been,' Margaret finished up, in quite a triumphant
+tone.
+
+Peterkin was nearly crying by this time. But I knew I must be very
+sensible. It all seemed so very serious.
+
+'But what will your grandfather say when he knows you've run away?' I
+asked, while Peterkin stood listening, with his mouth wide open.
+
+'He'd be very glad to know where I was, _I_ should say,' Margaret
+replied. 'My own nursey will write to him, and I will myself. It'll be a
+good deal better than if I stayed to be turned into something he'd never
+know was me. Then, what would Dads and Mummy say to _him_ for having
+lost me?'
+
+'The parrot'd tell, p'raps,' said Pete.
+
+'As if anybody would believe him!' exclaimed Margaret, 'except people
+who understand about fairies and witches and things like that, that you
+two and I know about.'
+
+She was giving _me_ credit for more believing in 'things like that' than
+I was feeling just then, to tell the truth. But what I did feel rather
+disagreeably sure of, was this queer little girl's determination. She
+sometimes spoke as if she was twenty. Putting it all together, I had a
+sort of instinct that it was best not to laugh at her ideas at all, as
+the next thing would be that she and her devoted 'Perkins' would be
+making plans without me, and really getting lost, or into dreadful
+troubles of some kind. So I contented myself with just saying--
+
+'Why should Miss Bogle want to turn you into anything?'
+
+'Because witches are like that,' said Peterkin, answering for his
+princess.
+
+'And because she hates the bother of having me,' added Margaret. 'She
+has written to Gran that I am very troublesome--nurse told me so; nurse
+can't hold her tongue--and I daresay I am,' she added truly. 'And so, if
+I seemed to be lost, she'd say it wasn't her fault. And as I suppose I'd
+never be found, there'd be an end of it.'
+
+'You couldn't but be found _now_,' said Peterkin, 'as, you see, _we'd_
+know.'
+
+'If she didn't turn _you_ into something too,' said Margaret, with the
+sparkle of mischief in her eyes again.
+
+Pete looked rather startled at this new idea.
+
+'The best thing to do is for me to go away to a safe place while I'm
+still myself,' she added.
+
+'But have you got the exact address? Do you know what station to go to,
+and all that sort of thing?' I asked. 'And have you got money enough?'
+
+'Plenty,' she said, nodding her head; 'plenty for all I've planned. Of
+course I know the station--it's the same as for my own home, and nursey
+lives in the village where the railway comes. Much nearer than _our_
+house, which is two miles off. And I know nursey will have me, even if
+she had to sleep on the floor herself. The only bother is that I'll have
+to change out of the train from _here_, and get into another at a place
+that's called a Junction. Nursey and I had to do that when we came here,
+and I heard Gran explain it all to her, and I know it's the same going
+back, for the nurse I have _now_ told me so. When she goes to London she
+stays in the same railway; but if you're _not_ going to London, you have
+to get into another one. And nursey and I had to wait nearly
+half-an-hour, I should think, and that's the part I mind,' and, for the
+first time, her eager little face looked anxious. 'The railway people
+would ask me who I was, and where I was going, as, you see, I look so
+much littler than I am; so I've planned for you two kind boys to come
+with me to that changing station, and wait till I've got into the train
+that goes to Hill Horton; that's _our_ station. I've plenty of money,'
+she went on hurriedly, for, I suppose, she saw that I was looking very
+grave, and Peterkin's face was pink with excitement.
+
+'It isn't that,' I said; 'it's--it's the whole thing. Supposing you got
+lost after all, it would be----'
+
+'No, no! I won't get lost,' she said, speaking again in her very
+grown-up voice. 'And remember, you're on your word of honour as
+_gentlemen_!--_gentlemen_!' she repeated, 'not to tell any one without
+my leave. If you do, I'll just run away by myself, and very likely get
+lost or stolen, or something. And how would you feel then?'
+
+'We are not going to break our promise,' I said. 'You needn't be
+afraid.'
+
+'I'm not,' she said, and her face grew rather red. 'I always keep _my_
+word, and I expect any one I trust to keep theirs.'
+
+And though she was such a little girl, not much older than Elvira, whom
+we often called a 'baby,' I felt sure she _would_ 'keep hers.' It
+certainly wouldn't mend matters to risk her starting off by herself, as
+I believe she would have done if we had failed her.
+
+It has taken longer to write down all our talking than the talking
+itself did, even though it was a little interrupted by the bath-chair
+man every now and then taking a turn up and down, 'just to keep Missy
+moving a bit,' he said.
+
+Margaret's plans were already so very clear in her head that she had no
+difficulty in getting us to understand them thoroughly, and I don't
+think I need go on about what she said, and what we said. I will tell
+what we fixed to do, and what we did do.
+
+Next Wednesday--a full week on--was the day she had settled for her
+escape from Rock Terrace. It was a long time to wait, but it was the day
+her nurse was pretty sure--really quite sure, Margaret thought--to go to
+London again, for she had said so. She went by a morning train, and did
+not come back till after dark in the evening, so there was no fear of
+our running up against her at the railway station. There was a train
+that would do for Hill Horton, after waiting a little at the Junction,
+at about three o'clock in the afternoon; and as it was my half-holiday,
+Peterkin and I could easily get leave to go out together if it was fine,
+and if it wasn't, we would have to come without! We trusted it would be
+fine; and I settled in my own mind that if we _had_ to come without
+asking, I'd leave a message with James the footman, that they weren't to
+be frightened about us at home, for I didn't want mamma and all the
+others to be in a fuss again, like the evening Peterkin was lost.
+
+Margaret said we needn't be away more than about an hour and a half. I
+don't quite remember how she'd got all she knew about the times of the
+trains. I think it was from the cook or housemaid at Miss Bogle's, for I
+know she said one of them came from near Hill Horton, and that she was
+very good-natured, and liked talking about Margaret's home and her own.
+
+So it was settled.
+
+Just to make it even more fixed, we promised to go round by Rock Terrace
+on Monday at the usual time, and Margaret was either to speak to us from
+the dining-room window, or, if she couldn't, she would hang out a white
+handkerchief somewhere that we should be sure to see, which would mean
+that it was all right.
+
+We were to meet her at the corner of her row of houses nearest Lindsay
+Square, at half-past two on Wednesday. How she meant to do about her
+bath-chair drive, and all the rest of it, she didn't tell us, and,
+really, there wasn't time.
+
+But I felt sure she would manage it, and Peterkin was even surer than I.
+
+The last thing she said was--
+
+'Of course, I shall have very little luggage; not more than you two boys
+can easily carry between you.'
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+A TERRIBLE IDEA
+
+
+THAT was on a Wednesday, and the same day the next week was to be _the_
+day. On the Monday, as we had planned, we strolled along Rock Terrace.
+Luckily, it was a fine day, and we could look well about us without
+appearing to have any particular reason for doing so. It would have
+seemed rather funny if we had been holding up umbrellas, or, I should
+say, if _I_ had been, for when it rained Peterkin wasn't allowed to come
+to meet me.
+
+We stood still in front of the parrot's house. He was out on the
+balcony. I wondered if he would notice us, or if he did, if he would
+condescend to speak to us.
+
+Yes, I felt that his ugly round eyes--don't you think all parrots' eyes
+are ugly, however pretty their feathers are?--were fixed on us, and in
+a moment or two came his squeaky, croaky voice--
+
+'Good morning, boys! Good morning! Pretty Poll!'
+
+'He didn't say "naughty boys,"' I remarked.
+
+'No, of course not,' replied Peterkin; 'because he knows all about it
+now, you see.'
+
+'We mustn't stand here long, however,' I said. 'I wond----'
+
+'I wonder why Margaret hasn't hung out a handkerchief if she couldn't
+get to speak to us,' I was going to have said, but just at that moment
+we heard a voice on the upstairs balcony--
+
+'Good Polly,' it said, 'good, good Polly.'
+
+And the parrot repeated with great pride--
+
+'Good, good Polly.'
+
+But when we looked up there was no one to be seen, only I thought one of
+the glass doors of Margaret's dining-room clicked a little. And I was
+right. In another moment there she was herself, on the dining-room
+balcony--half on it, that's to say, and half just inside.
+
+'Isn't he good?' she said, when we came as near as we dared to hear her.
+'I told him to let me know as soon as he saw you, for I couldn't manage
+the handkerchief, and I was afraid you might have gone before I could
+catch you. Nurse has been after me so this morning, for the witch was
+angry with me yesterday for standing at the window without my shawl. But
+you mustn't stay,' and she nodded in her queenly little way. 'It's
+keeping all right--Wednesday at half-past two, at the corner next the
+Square--wet or fine. Good-bye.'
+
+'Good-bye, all right,' we whispered, but she heard us.
+
+So did the parrot.
+
+'Good-bye, boys; good Polly! good, good Polly!' and something else which
+Peterkin declared meant, 'Wednesday at half-past two.'
+
+I felt pretty nervous, I can tell you, that day and the next. At least I
+suppose it's what people call feeling very nervous. I seemed half in a
+dream, and, as if I couldn't settle to anything, all queer and fidgety.
+A little, just a very little perhaps, like what you feel when you know
+you are going to the dentist's, especially if you _haven't_ got
+toothache; for when you have it badly, you don't mind the thought of
+having a tooth out, even a thumping double one.
+
+Yet I should have felt disappointed if the whole thing had been given
+up, and, worse than that, horribly frightened if it had ended in
+Margaret's saying she'd run away by herself without us helping her, as I
+know--I have said so two or three times already, I'm afraid: it's
+difficult to keep from repeating if you're not accustomed to writing and
+feel very anxious to explain things clearly--as I know she really would
+have done.
+
+And then there was the smaller worry of wondering what sort of weather
+there was going to be on Wednesday, which did matter a good deal.
+
+I shall never forget how thankful I felt in the morning when it came,
+and I awoke, and opened my eyes, without any snorting for once, to hear
+Peterkin's first words--
+
+'It's a very fine day, Gilley--couldn't be better.'
+
+'Thank goodness,' I said.
+
+He was sitting up, as usual; but I don't think he had stared me awake
+this morning, for he was gazing out in the direction of the window,
+where up above the short blind a nice show of pale-blue sky was to be
+seen; a wintry sort of blue, with the early mist over it a little, but
+still quite cheering and 'lasting' looking.
+
+'All the same,' I went on, speaking more to myself, perhaps, than to
+him, 'I wish we were well through it, and your princess safe with her
+old nurse.'
+
+For I could not have felt comfortable about her, as I have several times
+said, even if _we_ had not promised to help her. More than that--I do
+believe she was so determined, that supposing mamma or Mrs. Wylie or any
+grown-up person had somehow come to know about it, Margaret would have
+kept to her plan, and perhaps even hurried it on and got into worse
+trouble.
+
+She needed a lesson; though I still do think, and always shall think,
+that old Miss Bogle and her new nurse and everybody were not a bit right
+in the way they tried to manage her.
+
+I hurried home from school double-quick that morning, you may be sure.
+And Peterkin and I were ready for dinner--hands washed, hair brushed,
+and all the rest of it--long before the gong sounded.
+
+Mamma looked at us approvingly, I remember, when she came into the
+dining-room, where we were waiting before the girls and Clement had made
+their appearance.
+
+'Good boys,' she said, smiling, 'that's how I like to see you. How neat
+you both look, and down first, too!'
+
+I felt rather a humbug, but I don't believe Peterkin did; he was so
+completely taken up with the thought of Margaret's escape, and so
+down-to-the-ground sure that he was doing a most necessary piece of
+business if she was to be saved from the witch's 'enchantering,' as he
+would call it.
+
+But as I was older, of course, the mixture of feelings in my mind _was_
+a mixture, and I couldn't stand being altogether a humbug.
+
+So I said to mamma--
+
+'It's mostly that we want to go out as soon as ever we've had our
+dinner; you know you gave us leave to go?'
+
+'Oh yes,' said she. 'Well, it's a very nice day, and you will take good
+care of Peterkin, won't you, Giles? Don't tire him. Are any of your
+schoolfel----'
+
+But at that moment a note was brought to her, which she had to send an
+answer to, and when she sat down at the table again, she was evidently
+still thinking of it, and forgot she had not finished her question,
+which I was very glad of.
+
+So we got off all right, though I had a feeling that Clement looked at
+us _rather_ curiously, as we left the dining-room.
+
+At the _very_ last moment, I did give the message I had thought about
+in my own mind, with James. Just for him to say that mamma and nobody
+was to be frightened if we _were_ rather late of coming back--_even_ if
+it should be after dark; that we should be all right.
+
+And then we ran off without giving James time to say anything, though he
+did open his mouth and begin to stutter out some objection. He was
+rather a donkey, but I knew that he was to be trusted, so I just laughed
+in his face.
+
+We were a little before the time at the corner of the square, but that
+was a good thing. It would never have done to keep _her_ waiting,
+Peterkin said. He always spoke of her as if she was a kind of queen. And
+he was right enough. All the same, my heart did beat in rather a funny
+way, thinking to myself what could or should we do if she didn't come?
+
+But we were not kept waiting long. In another minute or so, a little
+figure appeared round the corner, hastening towards us as fast as it
+could, but evidently a good deal bothered by a large parcel, which at
+the first glance looked nearly as big as itself.
+
+Of course it was Margaret.
+
+'Oh,' she exclaimed, 'I am so glad you are here already. It's this
+package. I had no idea it would seem so heavy.'
+
+'It's nothing,' said Peterkin, valiantly, taking it from her as he
+spoke.
+
+And it really wasn't very much--what had made it seem so conspicuous was
+that the contents were all wrapped up in her red shawl, and naturally it
+looked a queer bundle for a little girl like her to be carrying. She was
+not at all strong either, even for a little girl, and afterwards I was
+not surprised at this, for the illness she had spoken of as a bad cold
+had really been much worse than that.
+
+'Let's hurry on,' she said, 'I shan't feel safe till we've got to the
+station,' for which I certainly thought she had good reason.
+
+I had meant to go by the front way, which was actually the shortest, but
+the scarlet bundle staggered me. Luckily I knew my way about the streets
+pretty well, so I chose rather less public ones. And before long, even
+though the package was not very heavy, Peterkin began to flag, so I had
+to help him a bit with it.
+
+But for that, there would have been nothing about us at all noticeable.
+Margaret was quite nicely and quietly dressed in dark-blue serge,
+something like Blanche and Elvira, and we just looked as if we were a
+little sister and two schoolboy brothers.
+
+'Couldn't you have got something less stary to tie up your things in?' I
+asked her when we had got to some little distance from Rock Terrace, and
+were in a quiet street.
+
+She shook her head.
+
+'No,' she said, 'it was the only thing. I have a nice black bag, as well
+as my trunks, of course, but the witch or nurse has hidden it away. I
+_couldn't_ find it. It's just as if they had thought I might be planning
+to run away. I _nearly_ took nurse's waterproof cape; she didn't take it
+to London to-day, because it is so fine and bright. But I didn't like
+to, after all. It won't matter once we are in the train, and at Hill
+Horton it will be a good thing, as my own nursey will see it some way
+off.'
+
+We were almost at the station by now, and I told Margaret so.
+
+'All right,' she said. 'I have the money all ready. One for me to Hill
+Horton, and two for you to the Junction station,' and she began to pull
+out her purse.
+
+'You needn't get it out just yet,' I said. 'We shall have quite a
+quarter of an hour to wait. If you give me your purse once we're
+inside, I will tell you exactly what I take out. How much is there in
+it?'
+
+'A gold half-sovereign,' she replied, 'and a half-crown, and five
+sixpences, and seven pennies.'
+
+'There won't be very much over,' I said, 'though we are all three under
+twelve; so halves will do, and returns for Pete and me. Second-class, I
+suppose?'
+
+'Second-class!' repeated Margaret, with great scorn; 'of course not.
+I've never travelled anything but first in my life. I don't know what
+Gran would say, or nursey even, if she saw me getting out of a
+_second_-class carriage.'
+
+She made me feel a little cross, though she didn't mean it. _We_ often
+travelled second, and even third, if there were a lot of us and we could
+get a carriage to ourselves. But, after all, it was Margaret's own
+affair, and as she was to be alone from the Junction to Hill Horton,
+perhaps it was best.
+
+'_I_ don't want you to travel second, I'm sure,' I said, 'if only
+there's enough. I'd have brought some of my own, but unluckily I'm very
+short just now.'
+
+'I've--'began Peterkin, but Margaret interrupted him.
+
+'As if I'd let you pay anything!' she said indignantly. 'I'd rather
+travel third than _that_. You are only coming out of kindness to me.'
+
+After all, there was enough, even for first-class, leaving a shilling or
+so over. Hill Horton was not very far away.
+
+A train was standing ready to start, for the station was a terminus. I
+asked a guard standing about if it was the one for Hill Horton, and he
+answered yes, but we must change at the Junction, which I knew already.
+
+So we all got into a first-class carriage, and settled ourselves
+comfortably, feeling safe at last.
+
+'I wish we were going all the way with you,' said Peterkin, with a sigh
+made up of satisfaction, as he wriggled his substantial little person
+into the arm-chair first-class seat, and of regret.
+
+'I'll be all right,' said Margaret, 'once I am in the Hill Horton
+railway.'
+
+For some things I wished too that we were going all the way with her,
+but for others I couldn't help feeling that I should be very glad to be
+safe home again and the adventure well over.
+
+'By the day after to-morrow,' I thought, 'there will be no more reason
+for worrying, if Margaret keeps her promise of writing to us.'
+
+I had made her promise this, and given her an envelope with our address
+on. For otherwise, you see, we should not have heard how she had got on,
+as no one but the parrot knew that she had ever seen us or spoken to us.
+
+Then the train moved slowly out of the station, and Margaret's eyes
+sparkled with triumph. And we felt the infection of her high spirits.
+After all, we were only children, and we laughed and joked about the
+witch, and the fright her new nurse would be in, and how the parrot
+would enjoy it all, of which we felt quite sure.
+
+We were very merry all the way to the Junction. It was only about a
+quarter-of-an-hour off, and just before we got there the guard looked at
+our tickets.
+
+'Change at the Junction,' he said, when he caught sight of the 'Hill
+Horton,' on Margaret's.
+
+'Of course, we know that, thank you,' she said, rather pertly perhaps,
+but it sounded so funny that Pete and I burst out laughing again. I
+suppose we were all really very excited, but the guard laughed too.
+
+'How long will there be to wait for the Hill Horton train?' I had the
+sense to ask.
+
+'Ten minutes, at least,' he replied, glancing at his watch, the way
+guards nearly always do.
+
+I was glad he did not say longer, for the sooner Peterkin and I caught a
+train home again, after seeing Margaret off, the better. And I knew
+there were sure to be several in the course of the afternoon.
+
+As soon as we stopped we got out--red bundle and all. I did not see our
+guard again, he was somewhere at the other end; but I got hold of
+another, not so good-natured, however, and rather in a hurry.
+
+'Which is the train for Hill Horton? Is it in yet?' I asked.
+
+He must have thought, so I explained it to myself afterwards, that we
+had just come in to the station, and were at the beginning of our
+journey.
+
+'Hill Horton,' I _thought_ he said, but, as you will see, my ears must
+have deceived me, 'all right. Any carriage to the front--further back
+are for----.' I did not clearly hear--I think it must have been 'Charing
+Cross,' but I did not care. All that concerned _us_ was 'Hill Horton.'
+
+'Come along,' I called to the two others, who had got a little behind
+me, lugging the bundle between them, and I led the way, as the man had
+pointed out.
+
+It seemed a very long train, and as he had said 'to the front,' I
+thought it best to go pretty close up to the engine. There were two or
+three first-class carriages next to the guard's van, but they were all
+empty, and I had meant to look out for one with nice-looking people in
+it for Margaret to travel with. Farther back there were some ladies and
+children in some first-class, but I was afraid of putting her into a
+wrong carriage.
+
+'I expect you will be alone all the way,' I said to her. 'I suppose
+there are not very many people going to Hill Horton.'
+
+'Not first-class,' said Margaret. 'There are often lots of farmers and
+village people, I daresay. Nursey said it was very crowded on market
+days, but I don't know when it is market days. But it is rather funny,
+Giles, to be getting into the same train again!'
+
+'No,' I replied, 'these carriages will be going to split off from the
+others that go on to London. The man said it would be all right for Hill
+Horton at the front. They often separate trains like that. I daresay we
+shall go a little way out of the station and come back again. You'll
+see. And he said--the _first_ man, I mean--that we should have at least
+ten minutes to wait, and we've scarcely been two, so we may as well get
+in with you for a few minutes.'
+
+'Yes, do,' said Margaret, 'but don't put my package up in the netted
+place, for fear I couldn't get it down again myself. The trains never
+stop long at our station.'
+
+So we contented ourselves with leaving the red bundle on the seat beside
+her. It was lucky, I told her, that the carriage _wasn't_ full,
+otherwise it would have had to go up in the rack, where it wouldn't have
+been very firm.
+
+'It is so fat,' said Peterkin, solemnly.
+
+'Something like you,' I said, at which we all laughed again, as if it
+was something very witty. We were still feeling rather excited, I think,
+and rather proud--at least I was--of having, so far, got on so well.
+
+But before we had finished laughing, there came a startling surprise.
+The train suddenly began to move! We stared at each other. Then I
+remembered my own words a minute or two ago.
+
+'It's all right,' I said, 'we'll back into the station again in a
+moment.'
+
+Margaret and Peterkin laughed again, but rather nervously. At least,
+Margaret's laugh was not quite hearty; though, as for Peterkin, I think
+he was secretly delighted.
+
+On we went--faster and faster, instead of slower. There was certainly no
+sign of 'backing.' I put my head out of the window. We were quite clear
+of the Junction by now, getting every instant more and more into the
+open country. At last I had to give in.
+
+'We're off, I do believe,' I said. 'There's been some mistake about our
+waiting ten minutes. We're clear on the way to Hill Horton.'
+
+'_I'm_ very glad,' said Pete. 'I always wanted to come all the way.'
+
+'But perhaps it needn't be all the way,' I said. 'Do you remember,
+Margaret, how many stations there are between the Junction and yours?'
+
+'Three or four, I think,' she replied.
+
+'Oh well, then,' I said, 'it won't matter. We can get out the first time
+we stop, and I daresay we shall soon get a train back again, and not be
+late home after all.'
+
+Margaret's face cleared. She was thoughtful enough not to want us to get
+into trouble through helping her.
+
+'We shall be stopping soon, I think,' she said, 'for this seems a fast
+train.'
+
+But to me her words brought no satisfaction. For it did indeed seem a
+fast train, and a much more horrible idea than the one of our going all
+the way to Hill Horton suddenly sprang into my mind--
+
+Were we in the Hill Horton train at all?
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+IN A FOG
+
+
+I WAITED a minute or two before I said anything to the others. They went
+on laughing and joking, and I kept looking out of the window. At last I
+turned round, and then Margaret started a little.
+
+'What's the matter, Giles?' she said. 'You're quite white and funny
+looking.'
+
+And Peterkin stared at me too.
+
+'It's--'I began, and then I felt as if I really couldn't go on; but I
+had to. 'It's that I am dreadfully afraid,' I said, 'almost quite sure
+now, that we are in the wrong train. I've seen the names of two stations
+that we've passed without stopping already. Do you remember the names of
+any between the Junction and Hill Horton, Margaret?'
+
+She shook her head.
+
+'No,' she said, 'but I know we never pass any without stopping; at
+least I think so. They are quite little stations, and I've never known
+the train go as fast as this till after the Junction, when we were in
+the London train. I've been to London several times with Gran, you see.'
+
+Then it suddenly struck her what I meant.
+
+'Oh!' she exclaimed, with a little scream, 'is it _that_ you are afraid
+of, Giles? Do you think we are in the _London_ train? I did think it was
+funny that we were getting back into the same one, but you said that the
+man said that the carriages at the front were for Hill Horton?'
+
+'Well, I _thought_ he did,' I replied, 'but--' one's mind works quickly
+when you are frightened sometimes--'he _might_ have said "Victoria," for
+the "tor" in "Victoria" and "Horton" sound rather alike.'
+
+'But wouldn't he have said "London"?' asked Peterkin.
+
+'No, I think they generally say the name of the station in London,' I
+explained. 'There are so many, you see.'
+
+Then we all, for a minute or two, gazed at each other without speaking.
+Margaret had got still paler than usual, and I fancied, or feared, I
+heard her choke down something in her throat. Peterkin, on the
+contrary, was as red as a turkey-cock, and his eyes were gleaming. I
+think it was all a part of the fairy-tale to him.
+
+'What shall we do?' said Margaret, at last, and I was forced to answer,
+'I don't know.'
+
+Bit by bit things began to take shape in my mind, and it was no good
+keeping them to myself.
+
+'There'll be the extra money to pay for our tickets to London,' I said
+at last.
+
+'How much will it be? Isn't there enough over?' asked Margaret quietly,
+and I could not help admiring her for it, as she took out her purse and
+gave it to me to count over what was left.
+
+There were only four or five shillings. I shook my head.
+
+'I don't know how much it will be, but I'm quite sure there's not
+enough. You see, though we're only halves, it's first-class.'
+
+'And what will they do to us if we can't pay,' she went on, growing
+still whiter. 'Could we--could we possibly be sent to prison?'
+
+'Oh no, no. I don't think so,' I answered, though I was really not at
+all sure about it; I had so often seen notices stuck up on boards at
+railway stations about the punishments of passengers not paying
+properly, or trying to travel without tickets. 'But--I'm afraid they
+would be very horrid to us somehow--perhaps telegraph to papa or mamma.'
+
+'Oh!' cried Margaret, growing now as red as she had been white, 'and
+that would mean my being shut up again at Rock Terrace--worse than
+before. I don't know _what_ the witch wouldn't do to me,' and she
+clasped her poor little hands in a sort of despair.
+
+Then Peterkin burst out--
+
+'I've got my gold half-pound with me,' he said, in rather a queer voice,
+as if he was proud of being able to help and yet half inclined to cry.
+
+'Goodness!' I exclaimed, 'why on earth didn't you say so before?'
+
+'I--I--wanted it for something else,' said he. 'I don't quite know why I
+brought it.'
+
+He dived into his pocket, and dug out a very grimy little purse, out of
+which, sure enough, he produced a half-sovereign.
+
+The relief of knowing that we should not get into trouble as far as our
+journey _to_ London was concerned, was such a blessing, that just for
+the moment I forgot all the rest of it.
+
+'Anyway we can't be put in prison now,' said Margaret, and a little
+colour came into her face. 'Oh, Perkins, you _are_ a nice boy!'
+
+I did think her praising him was rather rough on _me_, for I had had
+bother enough, goodness knows, about the whole affair, even though I had
+made a stupid mistake.
+
+We whizzed on, for it was an express train, and for a little while we
+didn't speak. Peterkin was still looking rather upset about his money.
+He told me afterwards that he had been keeping it for his Christmas
+presents, especially one for Margaret, as we had never had a chance of
+getting her any flowers. But all that was put right in the end.
+
+After a bit Margaret said to me, in a half-frightened voice--
+
+'What shall we do when we get to London, Giles? Do you think perhaps the
+guard would help us to go back again to the Junction, when he sees it
+was a mistake? As we've got money to pay to London, he'd see we hadn't
+meant to cheat.'
+
+'No,' I said, 'he wouldn't have time, and besides I don't think it'll be
+the same one. And if we said anything, he'd most likely make us give our
+names, or take us to some station-master or somebody, and then there'd
+be no chance of our keeping out of a lot of bother.'
+
+'You mean,' said she, in a shaky voice, 'we should have to go all the
+way back, and I'd be sent to the witch again?'
+
+'Something like it, I'm afraid,' I said. 'If I just explain that we got
+into the wrong train and pay up, they'll have no business to meddle with
+us.'
+
+'But what are we to do, then?' she asked again.
+
+'I don't know,' I replied. I'm afraid I was rather cross. I was so sick
+of it all, you see, and so fearfully bothered.
+
+Margaret at last began to cry. She tried to choke it down, but it was no
+use.
+
+I felt awfully sorry for her, but somehow the very feeling so bad made
+me crosser, and I did not try to comfort her up.
+
+Pete, on the contrary, tugged out his pocket-handkerchief, which was
+quite a decently clean one, and began wiping her eyes. This made her try
+again to stop crying. She pulled out her own handkerchief and said--
+
+'Dear little Perkins, you are so kind.'
+
+I glanced at them, not very amiably, I daresay. And I was on the point
+of saying that, instead of crying and petting each other, they'd better
+try to think what we should do, for I knew we must be getting near
+London by this time, when I saw something white on the floor of the
+carriage.
+
+I stooped to pick it up. It had dropped out of Margaret's pocket when
+she pulled out her handkerchief. It was an envelope, or what had been
+one, and for a moment I thought it was the one I had given her with our
+address on, to use when she wrote to us from Hill Horton, but _that_ one
+couldn't have got so dirty and torn-looking in the time. And when I
+looked at it more closely, I saw that it was jagged and nibbled in a
+queer way, and _then_ I saw that it had the name 'Wylie' on it, and an
+address in London. And when I looked still more closely, I saw that it
+had never been through the post or had a stamp on, and that it had a
+large blot in one corner. Evidently the person who had written on it had
+not liked to use it because of the blot, and the name on it was _Miss_,
+not _Mrs._ Wylie, '19 Enderby Street
+                                 LONDON, S.W.'
+
+I turned it round and round without speaking for a moment or two. I
+couldn't make it out. Then I said--
+
+'What's this, Margaret? It must have dropped out of your pocket.'
+
+She stopped crying--well, really, I think she had stopped already, for
+whatever her faults were she wasn't a babyish child--to look at it. She
+seemed puzzled, and felt in her pocket again.
+
+'No, of course it's not the envelope you gave me,' she said. 'I've got
+it safe, and--oh, I believe I know how this old one got into my pocket.
+I remember a day or two ago when I was trying if it would do to tie my
+handkerchief on to Polly's cage, he was nibbling some paper. He's very
+fond of nibbling paper, and it doesn't hurt him, for he doesn't eat it.
+But he would keep pecking at me when I was tying the handkerchief, and I
+was vexed with him, and so when he dropped this I picked it up and shook
+it at him, and told him he shouldn't have it again, and then I put it
+into my pocket. He was very tiresome that day, not a bit a fairy; he is
+like that sometimes.'
+
+'But how did he come to have an envelope with "Miss Wylie" on?' I said.
+'He doesn't live in Mrs. Wylie's house, but in the one between yours and
+hers, and this must have come from _her_.'
+
+'I daresay she gave it him to play with, or her servant may have given
+it him,' said Margaret, 'You see he's sometimes at the end of the
+balcony nearest her, and sometimes at our end. I think his servants have
+put him more at our end since she's been away; perhaps they've heard me
+talking to him. Anyway, I'm sure this old envelope must have come out of
+his cage.'
+
+I did not speak for a moment. I was gazing at the address.
+
+'Margaret,' I exclaimed, 'look at it.'
+
+She did so, and then stared up at me, with a puzzled expression in her
+eyes, still red with crying.
+
+'I believe,' I went on, 'I believe this is going to help us.'
+
+Peterkin, who had been listening with all his ears, could contain
+himself no longer.
+
+'And the parrot _must_ be a fairy after all,' he said, 'and he must have
+done it on purpose.'
+
+But Margaret did not seem to hear what he said, she was still gazing at
+me and wondering what I was going to say.
+
+'Don't you see,' I went on, touching the envelope, 'this must be the
+house of some of Mrs. Wylie's relations? Very likely she's staying with
+them there, and anyway they'd tell us where she is, as we know she's
+still in London. She told us she was going to be there for a fortnight.
+And she's very kind. We would ask her to lend us money enough to go back
+to the Junction, and then we'd be all right. You have got your ticket
+for Hill Horton, and we have our returns for home.'
+
+'Oh,' cried Margaret, 'how clever you are to have thought of it, Giles!
+But,' and the bright look went out of her face, 'you don't think she'd
+make me go back to the witch, do you? Are you sure she wouldn't?'
+
+'I really don't think she would,' I said. 'I know she has often been
+sorry for you, for she knew you weren't at all happy. And we'd tell her
+more about it. She is awfully kind.'
+
+I meant what I said. Perhaps I saw it rather too favourably; the idea of
+finding a friend in London was such a comfort just then, that I felt as
+if everything else might be left for the time. I never thought about
+catching trains at the Junction or about its getting late and dark for
+Margaret to be travelling alone from there to Hill Horton, or anything,
+except just the hope--the tremendous hope--that we might find our kind
+old lady.
+
+[Illustration: HE LOOKED AT THE TICKETS . . . 'HOW'S THIS?' HE
+SAID.--p. 145.]
+
+The train slackened, and very soon we pulled up. It wasn't the station
+yet, however, but the place where they stop to take tickets, just
+outside. I know it so well now, for we pass it ever so often on our way
+from and to school several times a year. But whenever we pass it, or
+stop at it, I think of that miserable day and all my fears.
+
+The man put his head in at the window. He was a stranger.
+
+'Tickets, please,' he said.
+
+I was ready for him--tickets, Peterkin's half-sovereign, and all. I held
+out the tickets.
+
+'There's been a mistake,' I began. 'I shall have to pay up,' and when he
+heard that, he opened the door and came in.
+
+He looked at the tickets.
+
+'Returns--half-returns to the Junction,' he said, 'and a half to Hill
+Horton. How's this?'
+
+'We got into the wrong train at the Junction,' I replied. 'In fact, we
+got back into the same one we had just got out of. I expect the guard
+thought I said "Victoria" when I said "Hill Horton," for he told us to
+go to the front.'
+
+'And didn't he tell you, you were wrong when he looked at the tickets
+before you started?' the man asked, still holding our tickets in his
+hand and examining us rather queerly.
+
+I began to feel angry, but I didn't want to have any fuss, so instead of
+telling him to mind his own business, as I was ready to pay the
+difference, I answered again quite coolly--
+
+'No one looked at the tickets at the Junction. There were two or three
+empty carriages at the front: perhaps no one noticed us getting in.'
+
+I thought I heard the man murmur to himself something about 'rum go.
+Three kids by themselves, and first-class.'
+
+So, though I was getting angrier every moment, I just said--
+
+'I don't see that it matters. Here we are, anyway, and I'll pay if
+you'll tell me how much.'
+
+He counted up.
+
+'Eight-and-six--no, eight-and-tenpence.'
+
+I held out the half-sovereign. He felt in his pocket and gave me back
+the change--a shilling and twopence, and walked off with the halves of
+Pete's and my return tickets and the half-sovereign.
+
+We all began to breathe more freely; but, as the train slowly moved
+again at last--we had been standing quite a quarter-of-an-hour--a new
+trouble started.
+
+'It's very dark,' said Margaret, 'and it can't be late yet.'
+
+I looked out of the window. Yes, it was very dark. I put my head out. It
+felt awfully chilly too--a horrid sort of chilly feeling. But that
+wasn't the worst of it.
+
+'It's a fog,' I said. 'The horridest kind--I can't see the lights almost
+close to us. It's getting worse every minute. I believe it'll be as dark
+as midnight when we get into the station. What luck, to be sure!'
+
+The other two seemed more excited than frightened.
+
+'I've never seen a really bad fog,' said Margaret, as if she was rather
+pleased to have the chance.
+
+Pete said nothing. I expect he'd have had a fairy-tale all ready about a
+prince lost in a mist, if I'd given him an opening. But I was again
+rather taken aback. How were we to find our way to Enderby Street?
+
+I had meant to walk, you see, in spite of the red bundle! For I was
+afraid of being cheated by the cabman; and I was afraid too of running
+quite short of money, in case we _didn't_ find Mrs. Wylie, or that she
+had left, and that, if the worst came to the worst, I might have to go
+to a hotel with the two children, and telegraph to mamma to say where we
+were. Papa, unluckily, was not in London just then. He had gone away on
+business somewhere--I forget where--for a day or two, and besides, I was
+not at all sure of the exact address of his chambers, otherwise I might
+have telegraphed _there_. I only knew it was a long way from Victoria.
+
+Indeed, I don't think I thought about that at all at the time, though
+afterwards mamma said to me I might have done so, _had_ the worst come
+to the worst.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+BERYL
+
+
+YES, the fog _was_ a fog, and no mistake. I don't think I have ever seen
+so bad a one since we came to live in London, or else it seemed to me
+terribly bad that day because I was not used to it, and because I was so
+anxious.
+
+I felt half provoked and yet in a way glad that Margaret and Peterkin
+were not at all frightened, but rather pleased. They followed me along
+the platform after we got out of the carriage, lugging the bundle
+between them. It was not really heavy, and I had to go first, as the
+station was pretty full in that part, in spite of the fog. The lamps
+were all lighted, but till you got within a few yards of one you
+scarcely saw it.
+
+I went on, staring about me for some one to ask advice from. At last,
+close to a book-stall, where several lights together made it a little
+clearer, I saw a railway man of some kind, standing, as if he was not in
+a hurry.
+
+'Can you tell me where Enderby Street is, if you please?' I asked as
+civilly as I knew how.
+
+'Enderby Street,' he repeated, in surprise. 'Of course; it's no distance
+off.'
+
+Wasn't I thankful?
+
+'How far?' I said.
+
+'Well--it depends upon which part of it you want. It's a long street.
+But if you're a stranger you'll never find your way in this fog. Better
+take a hansom.'
+
+'Thank you,' I said. 'It's only a shilling, I suppose?'
+
+He glanced at me again; he had been turning away. By this time the two
+children were close beside me. He saw that we belonged to each other.
+
+'A shilling for two--one-and-six for three,' he replied. 'Hansom or
+four-wheeler,' and then he moved off.
+
+Just then Margaret began to cough, and a new fear struck me. She looked
+very delicate, and she had had a bad cold. Supposing the fog made her
+very ill? I was glad the man had spoken of a four-wheeler.
+
+'Stuff your handkerchief or something into your mouth,' I said, 'so as
+not to get the fog down your throat. I'm going to call a four-wheeler.'
+
+In some ways that dreadful day was not as bad as it might have been.
+There were scarcely any cabs about, but just then one stopped close to
+the end of the platform.
+
+'Jump in,' I said, and before the driver had time to make any objection,
+for I know they do sometimes make a great favour of taking you anywhere
+in a fog, we were all inside.
+
+I heard him growling a little, but when I put my head out of the window
+again, and said '19 Enderby Street,' he smoothed down.
+
+We drove off, slowly enough, but that was to be expected. I pulled up
+both windows, for Margaret kept on coughing, in spite of having her
+handkerchief, and Peterkin's too, for all I knew, stuffed over her mouth
+and throat. They were both very quiet, but I _think_ they were rather
+enjoying themselves. I suppose my taking the lead, as I had had to,
+since our troubles began, and managing things, made them feel 'safe,' as
+children like to do, at the bottom of their hearts, however they start
+by talking big.
+
+It _was_ a horrid fog, but the lights made it not quite so bad outside,
+for the shops had got all their lamps on, and we could see them now and
+then. There was a lot of shouting going on, and yet every sound was
+muffled. There were not many carts or omnibuses or anything on wheels
+passing, and what there were, were moving slowly like ourselves.
+
+After a few minutes it got darker again; it must have been when we got
+into Enderby Street, I suppose, for there are no shops, or scarcely any,
+there. I've often and often passed along it since, but I never do
+without thinking of that evening, or afternoon, for it was really not
+yet four o'clock.
+
+And then we stopped.
+
+'Nineteen, didn't you say?' asked the driver as I jumped out.
+
+'Yes, nineteen,' I said. 'Stop here for a moment or two, till I see if
+we go in.'
+
+For it suddenly struck me that _if_ we had the awful bad luck not to
+find Mrs. Wylie, we had better keep the cab, to take us to some hotel,
+otherwise it might be almost impossible to get another. And then we
+should be out in the street, with Margaret and her bundle, and worse
+still, her cough.
+
+I made my way, more by feeling than seeing, up the steps, and fumbled
+till I found the bell. I had not actually told the others to stay in
+the cab, though I had taken care to keep the window shut when I got out,
+and I never dreamt but what they'd stay where they were till I had found
+out if Mrs. Wylie was there.
+
+But just as the door opened--the servant came in double-quick time
+luckily, the reason for which was explained--I heard a rustling behind
+me, and lo and behold, there they both were, and the terrible red bundle
+too, looking huger and queerer than ever, as the light from inside fell
+on it.
+
+We must have looked a funny lot, as the servant opened the door. She--it
+was a parlour-maid--did start a little, but I didn't give her time to
+speak, though I daresay she thought we were beggars, thanks to those
+silly children.
+
+'Mrs. Wylie is staying here,' I said. I thought it best to speak
+decidedly. 'Is she at home?'
+
+I suppose my way of speaking made her see we were not beggars, and
+perhaps she caught sight of the four-wheeler, looming faintly through
+the fog, for she answered quite civilly.
+
+'She is not exactly staying here. She is in rooms a little way from
+here, but she comes round most afternoons. I thought it was her when you
+rang, but I don't think she'll be coming now--not in this fog.'
+
+My heart had gone down like lead at the first words--'she is not,' but
+as the servant went on I got more hopeful again.
+
+'Can you--' I began--I was going to have asked for Mrs. Wylie's address,
+but just then Margaret coughed; the worst cough I had heard yet from
+her. 'Why couldn't you have stayed in the cab?' I said sharply, and
+perhaps it was a good thing, to show that we _had_ a cab waiting for us.
+'Please,' I went on, 'let this little girl come inside for a minute. The
+fog makes her cough so.'
+
+The parlour-maid stepped back, opening the door a little wider, but
+there was something doubtful in her manner, as if she was not quite sure
+if she was not running a risk in letting us in. I pushed Margaret
+forward, and not Margaret only! She was holding fast to her precious
+bundle, and Peterkin was holding fast to _his_ side of it, so they
+tumbled in together in a way that was enough to make the servant stare,
+and I stayed half on the steps, half inside, but from where I was I
+could see into the hall quite well. It looked so nice and comfortable,
+compared with the horribleness outside. It was a square sort of hall.
+The house was not a big one, not nearly as big as ours at home, but lots
+bigger than the Rock Terrace ones, of course.
+
+'Can you give me Mrs. Wylie's address?' I said. 'I think the best thing
+we can do is to--' but I was interrupted again.
+
+A girl--a grown-up girl, a lady, I mean--came forward from the inner
+part of the hall.
+
+'Browner,' she said, 'do shut the door. You are letting the fog get all
+over the house, and it is bitterly cold.'
+
+She was blinking her eyes a little as she spoke: either the light or the
+fog, or both, hurt them. Perhaps she had been sitting over the fire in a
+darkish room. 'Blinking her eyes' doesn't sound very pretty, but it was,
+I found afterwards, a sort of trick of hers, and somehow it suited her.
+_She_ was very pretty. I didn't often notice girls' looks, but I
+couldn't help noticing hers. Everything about her was pretty; her voice
+too, though she spoke a little crossly. She was rather tall, and her
+hair was wavy, almost as wavy as Elf's, and the colour of her dress,
+which was pinky-red, and everything about her, seemed to suit, and I
+just stood--we all did--staring at her.
+
+And as soon as she caught sight of us--I daresay we seemed quite a
+little crowd at the door--she stared too!
+
+Then she came forward quickly, her voice growing anxious, and almost
+frightened.
+
+'What is the matter?' she exclaimed. 'Has there been an accident? Who
+are these--children?'
+
+Browner moved towards her.
+
+'Indeed, Miss,' she began, but the girl stopped her.
+
+'Shut the door first,' she said decidedly. 'No, no, come in, please,'
+this was to me; I suppose I seemed to hesitate, 'and tell me what you
+want, and who you are?'
+
+Her voice grew more hesitating as she went on, and it must have been
+very difficult to make out what sort of beings we were. Margaret's
+colourless face and dark eyes and hair, and the bright red of the
+bundle, at the first hasty glance, might almost have made you think of a
+little Italian wandering musician; but the moment I spoke I think the
+girl saw we were not that class.
+
+'We are friends of Mrs. Wylie's--Mrs. Wylie who lives at Rock Terrace,'
+I said, 'and--and we've come to her because--oh! because we've got into
+a lot of trouble, and the fog's made it worse, and we don't know
+anybody else in London.'
+
+Then, all of a sudden--I'm almost ashamed to tell it, even though it's a
+good while ago now, and I really was scarcely more than a little boy
+myself--something seemed to get into my throat, and I felt as if in
+another moment it would turn into a sob.
+
+Margaret is awfully quick in some ways. She heard the choke in my voice
+and darted to me, leaving the bundle to Pete's tender mercies; so half
+of it dropped on to the floor and half stuck to him, as he stood there
+staring with his round blue eyes.
+
+Margaret stretched up and flung her arms round my neck.
+
+'Giles, Giles,' she cried, 'don't, oh don't!' Then she burst out--
+
+'It's all my fault; at least it's all for me, and Giles and Perkins have
+been so good to me. Oh dear, oh dear, what shall I do?' and she began
+coughing again in a miserable way. I think it was partly that she was
+trying not to cry.
+
+Seeing her so unhappy, made me pull myself together. I was just going to
+explain things a little to the girl, when she spoke first. She looked
+very kind and sorry.
+
+'I'll tell you what's the first thing to do,' she said, 'and that's to
+get this child out of the cold,' and she opened a door a little farther
+back in the hall, and got us all in, the maid following.
+
+It was a very nice, rather small dining-room; a bright fire was burning,
+and the girl turned on an electric lamp over the table. There were
+pretty ferns and things on it, ready for dinner, just like mamma has
+them at home.
+
+'Now,' she began again, but there seemed nothing but interruptions, for
+just at that moment another door was heard to open, and as the one of
+the room where we were was not shut, we could hear some one calling--
+
+'Beryl, Beryl, is there anything the matter? Has your aunt come?'
+
+It was a man's voice--quite a kind one, but rather fussy.
+
+'Wait a moment or two, I'll be back directly,' said the girl, and as she
+ran out of the room we heard her calling, 'I'm coming, daddy.'
+
+The parlour-maid drew back nearer the door, not seeming sure if she
+should leave us alone or not, and _we_ drew a little nearer the fire. So
+that we could talk without her hearing us.
+
+[Illustration: 'NOW,' SHE BEGAN . . . DRAWING MARGARET TO HER, 'TELL ME
+ALL ABOUT IT.'--p. 159.]
+
+'Isn't she a kind lady?' said Margaret, glancing up at me. 'I think she
+looks very kind. You don't think she'll send me back to the witch, do
+you, Giles?'
+
+'Bother the witch,' I was on the point of saying, for I would have given
+anything by this time to be back in our homes again, witch or no witch.
+But I thought better of it. It wouldn't have been kind, with Margaret
+looking up at me, with tears in her big dark eyes, so white and anxious.
+
+'I shouldn't think so,' I replied. 'She must be Mrs. Wylie's niece, and
+we'll go on to Mrs. Wylie, and she will tell us what to do.'
+
+The girl--perhaps I'd better call her 'Beryl' now. We always do, though
+she is no longer Beryl Wylie. Beryl was back almost at once.
+
+'Now,' she began again, sitting down in an arm-chair by the fire, and
+drawing Margaret to her, 'tell me all about it. In the first place, who
+are you? What are your names?'
+
+'Lesley,' I said. 'At least _ours_ is,' and I touched Peterkin. 'I'm
+Giles and he's Peterkin. We know Mrs. Wylie, and we live on the Marine
+Parade.'
+
+Beryl nodded.
+
+'Yes,' she said, 'I've heard of you. And,' she touched Margaret gently,
+'this small maiden? What is her name--she is not your sister?'
+
+'No,' I replied. 'She is Margaret----' I stopped short. For the first
+time it struck me that I had never heard her last name!
+
+'Margaret Fothergill,' she said quickly. 'I live next door but one to
+Mrs. Wylie, and next door to the parrot. Do you know the parrot in Rock
+Terrace?'
+
+Beryl nodded again.
+
+'I have heard of him too,' she said.
+
+But suddenly a new idea--I should rather say the old one--struck
+Margaret again. Her voice changed, and she clasped her hands piteously.
+
+'You won't, oh, you won't send me back to the witch? Say you won't.'
+
+'What does she mean?' asked Beryl, turning to me, as if she thought
+Margaret was half out of her mind, though, all the same, she drew her
+still closer.
+
+'She--we--' I began, and Peterkin opened his mouth too. But I suppose I
+must have glanced at the servant, for Beryl turned towards her, as if to
+tell her not to wait. Then she changed and said instead--
+
+'Bring tea in here, Browner, as quickly as you can. You can put it on
+the side table.'
+
+Browner went off at once; she seemed a very good-natured girl. And then,
+as quickly as I could, helped here and there by Margaret and by Peterkin
+(though to any one less 'understanding' than Beryl, his funny way of
+muddling up real and fancy would certainly not have 'helped'), I told
+our story. It was really wonderful how Beryl took it all in. When I
+stopped at last, almost out of breath, she nodded her head quietly.
+
+'We won't talk it over just yet,' she said. 'The first thing to do is to
+see my auntie. You three stay here while I run round to her, and try to
+enjoy your tea. I shall not be long. It is very near.'
+
+The idea of tea did seem awfully tempting, but a new thought struck me.
+
+'The cab!' I exclaimed, 'the four-wheeler! It's waiting all this time,
+and if we send it away, most likely we shan't be able to get another in
+the fog. There'll be such a lot to pay, too. Don't you think we'd better
+go with you in it to Mrs. Wylie, and perhaps she'd lend us money to go
+to the Junction by the first train? I don't think we should stay to
+have tea, thank you,' though, as I said it, a glance at Margaret's poor
+little white face made me wish I needn't say it. She was clinging to
+Beryl so by this time as if she felt safe.
+
+And Peterkin looked almost as piteous as she did.
+
+Beryl gently loosened Margaret's hold of her, and got up from the big
+leather arm-chair where she had been sitting.
+
+'Never mind about the cab,' she said. 'I will go round in it to my aunt,
+and perhaps bring her back in it. I will settle with the man. I may be a
+quarter-of-an-hour or twenty minutes away. So all you three have got to
+do in the meantime is to have a good tea, and trust me. And don't think
+about witches, or bad fairies, or anything disagreeable till you see me
+again,' she added, nodding to the two children. 'Browner, you will see
+that they have everything they want.'
+
+Browner smiled, and Beryl ran off, and in a minute or two we heard her
+come downstairs again, with her cloak and hat on, no doubt, and the
+front door shut, and I heard the cab drive away.
+
+Talking of fairies, I can't imagine anything more like the best of good
+ones than Beryl Wylie seemed to us that afternoon.
+
+Browner was very kind and sensible. For after she had poured out our
+tea, and handed us a plateful of bread-and-butter and another of little
+cakes, she left the room, showing us the bell, in case we wanted more
+milk or anything.
+
+And then--perhaps it may seem very thoughtless of us, but, as I have
+said before, even I, the eldest, wasn't very old--we really enjoyed
+ourselves! It was so jolly to feel warm and to have a good tea, and,
+above all, to know that we had found kind friends, who would tell us
+what to do.
+
+Margaret seemed perfectly happy, and to have got rid of all her fears of
+being sent back to the witch. And Peterkin, in those days, was never
+very surprised at anything, for nothing that could happen was as
+wonderful as the wonders of the fairy-land he lived in. So he was quite
+able to enjoy himself without any trying to do so.
+
+I do feel, however, rather ashamed of one bit of it all. You'd scarcely
+believe that it never came into my head to think that mamma might be
+frightened about us, even though the afternoon was getting on into
+evening, and the darkness outside made it seem later than it really was!
+
+I can't understand it of myself, considering that I had seen with my
+own eyes how frightened she had been the evening Peterkin got lost. I
+suppose my head had got tired and confused with all the fears and things
+it had been full of, but it is rather horrid to remember, all the same.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+DEAR MAMMA
+
+
+BERYL must have been away longer than she had expected, for when we
+heard the front bell ring and a minute later she hurried in, her first
+words were--
+
+'Did you think I was never coming back? I will explain to you what I
+have been doing.'
+
+When her eyes fell on us, however, her expression changed. She looked
+pleased, but a little surprised, as she took in that we had not been, by
+any means, sitting worrying ourselves, but quite the contrary. Margaret
+was actually in the middle of a laugh, which did not seem as if she was
+feeling very bad, even though it turned into a cough. Peterkin was
+placidly content, and I was--well, feeling considerably the better for
+the jolly good tea we had had.
+
+'We've been awfully comfortable, thank you,' I said, getting up,
+'and--will you please tell us what you think we'd better do?
+And--please--how much was the cab?'
+
+'Never mind about that,' she said. 'Here is my aunt,' and then I heard a
+little rustle at the door, and in came Mrs. Wylie, who had been taking
+off her wraps in the hall, looking as neat and white-lacy and like
+herself as if she had never come within a hundred miles of a fog in her
+life.
+
+'She _would_ come,' Beryl went on, smiling at the old lady as if she
+loved her very much. 'Auntie is always so kind.'
+
+I began to feel very ashamed of all the trouble we were giving, and I'm
+sure my face got very red.
+
+'I'm so sorry,' I said, as Mrs. Wylie shook hands with us, 'I never
+thought of you coming out in the fog.'
+
+'It will not hurt me,' she replied; 'but I feel rather anxious about
+this little person,' and she laid her hand on Margaret's shoulder, for
+just then Margaret coughed again.
+
+'Oh,' I exclaimed, 'you don't think it will make her cough worse, do
+you?' and I felt horribly frightened. 'We'll wrap her up much more, and
+once we are clear of London, there won't be any fog. I daresay it's
+quite light still, in the country. It can't be late. But hadn't we
+better go at once? Will you be so very good as to lend us money to go
+back to the Junction? I know mamma will send it you at once.'
+
+All my fears seemed to awaken again as I hurried on, and the children's
+faces grew grave and anxious.
+
+Mrs. Wylie sat down quietly.
+
+'My dear boy,' she said, 'there can be no question of any of you,
+Margaret especially, going back to-night. The fog is very bad, and it is
+very cold besides. My niece has told me the whole story, and----'
+
+'I suppose you think we've all been dreadfully naughty,' I interrupted.
+'I did not mean to be, and _they_ didn't,' glancing at the others. 'But
+of course I'm older, only----'
+
+Mrs. Wylie laid her hand on my arm.
+
+'There will be a good deal to talk over,' she said, speaking still very
+quietly, but rather gravely. 'And I feel that your dear mamma is the
+right person to--to explain things--your mistakes, and all about it. I
+believe certainly you did not _mean_ to do wrong.'
+
+Her mention of mamma startled me into remembering at last how
+frightened she and all of them would be at home.
+
+'Oh!' I exclaimed, 'if we stay away all night, what _will_ mamma do?'
+
+'I was just going to tell you what we have done,' said Mrs. Wylie. 'That
+was what kept us--Beryl and me. We have telegraphed to your mamma. She
+will not be frightened now. Indeed, I hope she may have got the telegram
+in time to prevent her beginning to be anxious. And we also--' but here
+she stopped, for a glance at Margaret, as she told me afterwards,
+reminded her of Margaret's fears lest she should be sent back to Rock
+Terrace and Miss Bogle. And what she had been on the point of saying
+was, that they had also telegraphed to 'the witch.'
+
+'It was awfully good of you,' I said, feeling more and more ashamed of
+the trouble we were causing.
+
+I would have given anything to go home that night, even if it had been
+to find papa and mamma more displeased with me than they had ever been
+in their life, and, as I was beginning to see, as they had a right to
+be. But in the face of all Mrs. Wylie and Beryl were doing, I could not
+possibly have gone against what they thought best.
+
+'I shall also write to your mamma to-night,' Mrs. Wylie went on. 'There
+is plenty of time. It is not really as late as the fog makes it seem.
+And the first thing we now have to do,' for just then Margaret had
+another bad fit of coughing, 'is to put this child to bed. If you are
+not better in the morning, or rather if you are any worse, we must send
+for the doctor.'
+
+'Oh, _please_ don't!' said Margaret, as soon as she could speak. 'It's
+only the fog got into my throat. It doesn't hurt me at all, as it did
+when I had that very bad cold at home. I don't like strange doctors,
+_please_, Mrs. Wylie. And to-morrow nursey can send for our own doctor
+at home at Hill Horton, if I'm not quite well. I may go home to my
+nursey quite early, mayn't I? And you will tell their mamma not to be
+vexed with them, won't you? They only wanted to help me.'
+
+She looked such a shrimp of a creature, with her tiny face, so pale too,
+that nobody could have found it in their heart to scold her. Mrs. Wylie
+just patted her hand and said something about putting it all right, but
+that she must go to bed now and have a good long sleep.
+
+And just then Beryl, who had left us with Mrs. Wylie, came back to say
+that everything was ready for Margaret upstairs, and then she walked
+her and the red bundle off--to put her to bed.
+
+I really think that by this time Margaret was so tired that she scarcely
+knew where she was: she did not make the least objection, but was as
+meek as a mouse. You would never have thought her the same child as the
+determined little 'ordering-about' sort of child I knew she could be,
+and I, rather suspected, generally _had_ been till she came under
+stricter management.
+
+When she was alone with us--with Peterkin and me--Mrs. Wylie spoke a
+little more about the whole affair. But not very much. She had evidently
+made up her mind to leave things in mamma's hands. And she did not at
+all explain any of the sort of mystery there seemed about Margaret.
+
+She rang the bell and told Browner to take us upstairs to the little
+room that had been got ready for us, and where we were to sleep, saying,
+that she herself was now going to write to mamma.
+
+'_And_ to Miss Bogle,' she added, 'though I thought it better not to say
+so to Margaret.'
+
+She looked at us rather curiously as she spoke; I think she most likely
+wanted to find out what we really believed about 'the witch.' Peterkin
+started, and grew very red.
+
+'You won't let her go back there?' he exclaimed. 'I'm sure she'll run
+away again if you do.'
+
+It sounded rather rude, but Mrs. Wylie knew that he did not mean it for
+rudeness. She only looked at him gravely.
+
+'I am very anxious to see how your little friend is to-morrow morning,'
+she replied. 'I earnestly hope she has not caught any serious cold.'
+
+The way she said it frightened me a little somehow, though we children
+often caught cold and didn't think much about it. But then we were all
+strong. None of us ever coughed the way Margaret used to about that
+time, except when we had hooping-cough, and it wasn't that that she had
+got, I knew.
+
+'You don't think she is going to be badly ill?' I said, feeling as if it
+would be all my fault if she was.
+
+Mrs. Wylie only repeated that she hoped not.
+
+We couldn't do much in the way of dressing or tidying ourselves up, as
+we had nothing with us, not even a red bundle. We could only wash our
+faces and hands, which were _black_ with the fog, so having them clean
+was an improvement. And there was a very pretty brush and comb put out
+for us--Beryl's own. I think it was awfully good of her to lend us her
+nice things like that. I don't believe Blanchie would have done it,
+though I daresay mamma would. So we made ourselves as decent-looking as
+we could, and our collars didn't look as bad that evening as in the
+daylight the next morning.
+
+And then Beryl put her head in at the door and told us to come down to
+the drawing-room, where her father was.
+
+'He is not able to go up and down stairs just now,' she said. 'His
+rheumatism is very bad. So he stays in the drawing-room, and we dine
+earlier than usual for his sake--at seven.'
+
+She went on talking, partly to make us more comfortable, for I knew we
+were both looking very shy. And just outside the drawing-room door she
+smiled and said, 'Don't be frightened of him, he is the kindest person
+in the world.'
+
+[Illustration: THE FRILLS HAD WORKED UP ALL ROUND HIS FACE.--p. 173.]
+
+So he was, I am sure. He had white hair and a thin white face, and he
+was sitting in a big arm-chair, and he shook hands kindly, and didn't
+seem to mind our being there a bit. Of course, Beryl had explained it
+all to him, and it was easy to see that he was most awfully fond of
+her, and pleased with everything she did. All the same, I was very glad,
+though it sounds horrid, that he couldn't come downstairs. It didn't
+seem half so frightening with only Mrs. Wylie and Beryl.
+
+Peterkin got very sleepy before dinner was really over. I think he
+nodded once or twice at dessert, though he was very offended when I said
+so afterwards. I began to feel jolly tired too, and we were both very
+glad to go to bed. There was a fire in our room. 'Miss Wylie had ordered
+it because of the fog,' the servant said. Wasn't it kind of her?
+
+We couldn't help laughing at the things they had tried to find for us
+instead of proper night things--jackety sort of affairs, with lots of
+frills and fuss. I don't know if they belonged to mother Wylie or to
+Beryl. But we were too sleepy to mind, though next morning Pete was
+awfully offended when I said he looked like Red-Riding Hood's
+grandmother, as the frills had worked up all round his face, and he
+looked still queerer when he got out of bed, as his robe trailed on the
+floor, with his being so short.
+
+He did not wake as early as usual, but I did. And for a minute or two I
+_couldn't_ think where I was. And I didn't feel very happy when I did
+remember.
+
+The fog had gone, but it still looked gloomy, compared with home. Still
+I was glad it was clear, both because I wanted so to go home, and also
+because of Margaret's cold. I think that was what I first thought of. If
+only she didn't get ill, I thought I wouldn't mind how angry they were
+with me. As to Peterkin, I would stand up for him, if he needed it,
+though I didn't think he would. They'd be sure to remind me how much
+older I was, and pleasant things like that. And yet when I went over and
+over it in my own mind, I couldn't get it clear what else I could have
+done. There _are_ puzzles like that sometimes, and anyway it was better
+than if Margaret had run away alone, and perhaps got really lost.
+
+And, after all, as you will hear, I hadn't much blame to bear. The name
+of this chapter will show thanks to whom _that_ was.
+
+When we were dressed--and oh, how we longed for clean collars!--we made
+our way down to the dining-room. Beryl was there already, and I saw that
+she looked even prettier by daylight, such as it was than the evening
+before. She smiled kindly, and said she hoped we had managed to sleep
+well.
+
+'Oh yes, thank you,' we said, 'but--' and we both looked round the room.
+'How is Margaret?'
+
+'None the worse, I am glad to say,' Beryl answered, and then I thought
+to myself I might have guessed it, by Beryl's bright face. 'I really
+think it was only the fog that made her cough so last night. She looks a
+very delicate little girl, however, and she speaks of having had a very
+bad cold not long ago, which may have been something worse than a cold.
+So I made her stay in bed for breakfast, till----'
+
+At that moment the parlour-maid brought in a telegram. Beryl opened it,
+and then handed it to me. It was from mamma.
+
+'A thousand thanks for telegram and letter. Coming myself by earliest
+train possible.'
+
+'It's very good of mamma,' I said, and in my heart I was glad she was
+coming before we--or I--saw papa. For though he is very kind too, he is
+not quite so 'understanding,' and a good deal sharper, especially with
+us boys. I suppose fathers need to be, and I suppose boys need it more
+than girls.
+
+'Yes,' said Beryl, and though she had been so awfully jolly about the
+whole affair, I could tell by her tone that she was glad that some one
+belonging to us was coming to look after us all. 'It is very
+satisfactory. My aunt said she would come round early too. I think it
+will be quite safe for Margaret to get up now, so I will go and tell her
+she may. You will find some magazines and picture-papers in my little
+sitting-room, behind this room, if you can amuse yourselves there till
+auntie comes.'
+
+I stopped her a moment as she was leaving the room, to ask what I knew
+Peterkin was longing to hear.
+
+'Mamma will take us home, of course,' I said, 'but what do you think
+will be done about Margaret?'
+
+'They--' whom he meant by 'they' I don't know, and I don't think he knew
+himself--'they won't send her back to the witch, you don't think, do
+you?' he burst out, growing very red.
+
+Beryl hesitated. Then she said quietly--
+
+'No, I _don't_ think so,' and Peterkin gave a great sigh of relief. If
+she had answered that she _did_ think so, I believe he would have broken
+into a howl. I really do.
+
+It seemed rather a long time that we had to wait in Beryl's room before
+anything else happened. Peterkin said it felt a good deal like waiting
+at the dentist's, and I agreed with him. It was the looking at the
+picture-papers that put it into his head, I think.
+
+We heard the front-door bell ring several times, and once I was sure I
+caught Beryl's voice calling, 'Auntie, is it you?' but it must have been
+nearly twelve o'clock--breakfast had been a good deal later than at
+home--before the door of the room where we were, opened, and some one
+came in. I was standing staring out of the window, which looked into a
+very small sort of fernery or conservatory, and wishing Beryl had told
+me to water the plants, when I heard a voice behind me.
+
+'Boys!' it said; 'Giles?' and turning round, I saw that it was mamma. I
+forgot all about being found fault with and everything else, and just
+flew to her, and so did poor old Pete, and then--I am almost ashamed to
+tell it, though perhaps I should not be--I broke out crying!
+
+Mamma put her arms round me. I don't know what she had been meaning to
+say to us, or to me, perhaps, in the way of blame, but it ended in her
+hugging me, and saying 'poor old Gilley.' She hugged Peterkin too,
+though he wasn't crying, and had no intention of it, _unless_ his
+beloved Margaret was to be sent back to Miss Bogle, and then, I have no
+doubt, he would have howled loudly enough. His whole mind was fixed on
+this point, and he had hardly patience even to be hugged, before he
+burst out with it.
+
+'Mummy, mummy,' he said,'they're not going to send her back to the
+witch, are they?'
+
+Mamma understood. She knew Peterkin's little ways so well,--how he got
+his head full of a thing, and could take in nothing else,--and she saw
+that it was best to satisfy him at once if we were to have any peace.
+
+'No,' she said. 'The little girl is not to go back to Miss Bogle.'
+
+Peterkin gave a great sigh of comfort. After all, he _had_ rescued his
+princess, I suppose he said to himself. _I_ thought it very
+extraordinary that mamma should be able to speak so decidedly about it,
+and I daresay she saw this, for she went on almost at once--
+
+'I have a good deal to explain. Some unexpected things happened
+yesterday and this morning. But for this, I should have come by an
+earlier train.'
+
+Here, I think, before I go on to say what these unexpected things were,
+is a good place for telling what mamma said to me afterwards, when we
+were by ourselves, about the whole affair, and my part in it. She quite
+allowed that I had not meant to do wrong or to be deceitful, or anything
+like that, and that I had been rather in a hole. But she made me see
+that, to start with, I should not have promised Margaret to keep it a
+secret, and she said she was sure that Margaret would have given in to
+our telling _her_--mamma, I mean--of her troubles, if I had spoken to
+her sensibly and seriously about it. And now that I know Margaret so
+well, I think so too. For she is particularly sensible for her age,
+especially since she has got her head clearer of fairy-tales and witches
+and enchantments and ogres and all the rest of it; and even then, there
+was a good deal of sense and reasonableness below her self-will and
+impatience.
+
+Now, I can go on with what mamma told us. The first she heard of it all
+was the telegram from Mrs. Wylie, for she had been out till rather late
+and found it lying on the hall-table when she came in, before she had
+even heard that Pete and I had not turned up at the nursery tea. That
+was what Beryl had hoped--that the news of our being all right would
+come before mamma had had a chance of being anxious. At first she was
+completely puzzled, but James, who was faithful to his promise, though
+rather stupid, helped to throw a little light on it by giving her my
+message.
+
+And then, as she was still standing in the hall, talking to him and
+trying to think what in the world had made us dream of going to London
+to Mrs. Wylie's, all by ourselves, there came a great ring at the bell,
+and when James opened, a startled-looking maid-servant's voice was heard
+asking for Mrs. Lesley.
+
+'I am Mrs. Wylie's parlour-maid,' she said, 'and I offered to run round,
+for the old lady next door to us, Miss Bogle, to ask if Mrs. Lesley
+would have the charity--I was to say--to come to see her. The little
+young lady, Miss Fothergill, who lives with her, has been missing all
+the afternoon. Miss Bogle did not know it till an hour or two ago, as
+she always rests in her own room till four o'clock. But I was to say she
+would explain it all to Mrs. Lesley, if she could possibly come to see
+Miss Bogle at once.'
+
+Mamma had gone forward and heard this all herself, though the maid had
+begun by giving the message to James. And she said immediately that she
+would come. She still had her going-out things on, you see, so no time
+was lost.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+NO MYSTERY AFTER ALL
+
+
+WE listened with all our ears, you may be sure, to what mamma told us;
+she did so, very quickly. It takes me much longer to write it.
+
+'And did you see Miss Bogle?' I asked. 'And what _is_ she like?'
+
+'The witch herself,' said Peterkin, his eyes nearly starting out of his
+head.
+
+'No, Peterkin,' said mamma, 'you are not to call her that any more. You
+must help me to explain to little Margaret, that Miss Bogle is a good
+old lady, who has meant nothing but kindness, though she made a great
+mistake in undertaking the charge of the child, for she is old and
+infirm and suffers sadly. Yes, of course, I saw her. She was terribly
+upset, the tears streaming down her poor face, though she had scarcely
+had time to be actually terrified about Margaret, thanks to Mrs.
+Wylie's telegram. She was afraid of the child having got cold, and she
+was altogether puzzled and miserable. And I was not able to explain very
+much myself, till I got Mrs. Wylie's _letter_ this morning, fully
+telling all. Still, I comforted her by saying I knew Mrs. Wylie was
+goodness itself, and would take every care of all the three of you for
+the night. Miss Bogle had not missed Margaret, as she always rests in
+the afternoon, till about four. And, strange to say, the servants had
+not missed her either. The nurse was away for the day, and I suppose
+that the others, not being used to think about the child, had not given
+a thought to her, though it seems strangely careless, till it got near
+her tea-time, and then they ran to Miss Bogle and startled her terribly.
+The first thing she did was to send in to the next-door house'--('The
+parrot's house?' interrupted Pete)--'and to Mrs. Wylie's,' mamma went
+on, 'where the parlour-maid knew that you boys and Margaret had made
+friends, and she offered to speak to Miss Bogle, thinking that perhaps
+you had all gone a walk together, and would soon be coming in. And
+_while_ she was telling Miss Bogle this, came the telegram, showing that
+indeed you had gone a walk, and more than a walk,'--here mamma turned
+away for a moment, and I _think_ it was to hide a smile that she could
+not help. I suppose to grown-up people there was a comical side to the
+story,--'together. And then the poor old lady sent for me.'
+
+'And was that all that happened?' I asked.
+
+Mamma shook her head.
+
+'No,' she said. 'While I was still talking to Miss Bogle, came another
+telegram, from the little girl's nurse, her present nurse, to say that
+her sister was so ill that she could not leave her, and that she was
+writing to explain. Poor Miss Bogle! Her cup of troubles did seem full;
+I felt very sorry for her, and I promised to go back to see her, first
+thing this morning, which I did, before starting to fetch you boys. The
+nurse's letter had come, saying she did not know _when_ she could
+return. And so--' mamma stopped for a moment--'it all ended--papa came
+back last night, so he was with me, and it was his idea first of all--in
+a way which I don't think you will be very sorry for,'--and again mamma
+smiled,--'in our settling that Margaret is to come home with _us_, and
+stay with us till there is time to hear from her grandfather, General
+Fothergill, what he wishes. How do you like the idea?'
+
+'I'm awfully glad of it,' I said. And so I was. Not so much for the sake
+of having Margaret as a companion, as because it quite took away all
+responsibility and fears about her. For I felt sure she would never have
+settled down happily or contentedly in Miss Bogle's house.
+
+But as for Peterkin! You never saw anything like his delight. He took
+all the credit of it to himself, and was more certain than ever that the
+parrot was a fairy, Miss Bogle a witch, and himself a hero who had
+rescued a lovely princess. His eyes sparkled like--I don't know what to
+compare them to; and his cheeks got so red and fat that I thought they'd
+burst.
+
+And when I said quietly--I thought it a good thing to sober him down a
+bit, but I really meant it too--that I hoped Blanchie and Elf would like
+Margaret, he really looked as if he wanted to knock me down--ungrateful
+little donkey, after all I'd done and gone through for him and his
+princess! But mamma glanced at me, and I understood that she meant that
+it was better to say nothing much to him. He would grow out of his
+fancies by degrees. And she just said, quietly too, that she was sure
+the little girls would get on all right together, and that Blanche and
+Elvira would do all they could to make Margaret happy.
+
+'And I am so thankful,' mamma went on, 'that the poor child is none the
+worse for her adventures, and able to travel back with us to-day. And I
+can never, never be grateful enough to Mrs. Wylie and her niece for
+their goodness to you. Miss Wylie is perfectly sweet.'
+
+Just as she said this the door opened and Beryl came in, leading
+Margaret with her. Mamma, of course, had already seen them upstairs,
+before she saw us.
+
+Margaret looked pale, naturally, paler than usual, I thought, and she
+never was rosy in those days, though she is now. But she seemed very
+happy and smiling, and she was not coughing at all. And another thing
+that pleased me, was that she came round and stood by mamma's chair, as
+if she already felt quite at home with her.
+
+Beryl drew a chair close to them and sat down.
+
+'I was just saying,' said mamma, 'that we shall never be able to thank
+you enough, dear Miss Wylie, for your goodness to these three.'
+
+'I am so glad, so _very_ glad,' said Beryl, in her nice hearty sort of
+way, 'to have been of use. It was really quite a pleasant excitement
+last night--when it all turned out well, and Margaret was clever enough
+not to get ill. But please don't call me Miss Wylie. You have known dear
+old auntie so long--and she counts me almost like her own child. Do call
+me "Beryl."'
+
+And from that time she has always been 'Beryl' to us all.
+
+They, the Wylies, made us stay to luncheon. It was just about time for
+it by this. We did not see Mr. Wylie again, though he sent polite
+messages to mamma, and was very kind about it all.
+
+And Mrs. Wylie came in to luncheon, and petted us all round, and said
+that we must _all_--Blanche and Elvira, and Clement too, if he wasn't
+too big, come to have tea with her, as soon as she got back to Rock
+Terrace.
+
+We thanked her, of course. At least Peterkin and I did, but I noticed
+that Margaret got rather red and did not say anything except 'thank you'
+very faintly. She was still half afraid of finding herself again where
+she had been so unhappy, and indeed it took a good while, and a good
+deal of quiet talking too, to get it _quite_ out of her head about Miss
+Bogle being a witch who was trying to 'enchanter' her, as her dear
+'Perkins' (she calls him 'Perkins' to this day) would persist in saying.
+
+Mrs. Wylie noticed her manner too, I fancy. For she went on to say, with
+a funny sort of twinkle in her eyes--
+
+'There will be a great deal to tell the parrot. And I don't expect that
+he will feel quite happy in his mind about you, little Margaret, till he
+has seen you again. He will miss you sadly, I am afraid.'
+
+And at this, Margaret brightened up.
+
+'Yes,' she said, 'I _must_ come to see dear Poll. But I may talk to him
+from your side of the balcony, mayn't I, Mrs. Wylie?'
+
+'Certainly,' said the kind old lady, 'and you must introduce your new
+friends to him. Mrs. Lesley's little girls, I mean.'
+
+Margaret liked the idea of this, I could see. She is not at all shy, and
+she still is very fond of planning, or managing things, and people too,
+for that matter, though of course she is much more sensible now, and not
+so impatient and self-willed as she used to be. Still, on the whole, she
+gets on better with Peterkin than with any of us, though she is fond of
+us, I know, and so are we of her. But Peterkin is just a sort of slave
+to her, and does everything she asks, and I expect it will always be
+like that.
+
+What a different journey it was that day to the miserable one the day
+before! To _me_, at least; for though I wasn't feeling particularly
+happy, as I will explain, in some ways, the horrible responsibility
+about the others had gone. _They_ were as jolly as could be, but then I
+knew they hadn't felt half as bad as I had done. They sat in a corner,
+whispering, and I overheard that they were making plans for all sorts of
+things they would do while Margaret stayed with us. And Pete was telling
+her all about Blanche and Elf, especially about Elf, and about the lots
+of fairy story-books he had got, and how they three would act some of
+them together, till Margaret got quite pink with pleasure.
+
+I saw mamma looking at me now and then, as if she was wondering what I
+was thinking about. I _was_ thinking a good deal. There were some things
+I couldn't yet quite understand about it all--why there should have been
+a sort of mystery, and why Mrs. Wylie had pinched up her lips when we
+had asked her about Margaret the day we went to tea with her. And
+besides this, I was feeling, in a kind of a way, rather ashamed of being
+taken home like a baby, even though mamma--and all of them, I must
+say--had been so very good, not to make a regular row and fuss, after
+the fright we had given them, or had _nearly_ given them.
+
+But I didn't say anything more to mamma just then. For one thing, I saw
+that she was looking very tired, and no wonder, poor dear little mamma,
+when you think what a day of it she had had, and all the bother with the
+witch the night before, too.
+
+I never saw Miss Bogle, and I've never wanted to. I shall always
+consider that she was nearly as bad as if she _had_ been a witch, and it
+was no thanks to her that poor little Margaret didn't get really lost,
+or badly ill, or something of that kind.
+
+They were expecting us when we got home. Blanche and Elf were in the
+hall, looking rather excited and very shy. But there was not much fear
+of shyness with Margaret and Peterkin, as neither of them was ever
+troubled with such a thing.
+
+I left Pete to do the honours, so to say, helped by mamma, of course.
+They all went off together upstairs to show Margaret her room and the
+nursery, and to introduce her to nurse and all the rest of it, and I
+went into the schoolroom--a small sort of study behind the dining-room,
+and sat down by myself, feeling rather 'out of it' and 'flat,' and
+almost a little ashamed of myself and the whole affair somehow.
+
+And the fire was low and the room looked dull and chilly, and I began
+thinking how horrid it would be to go to school the next morning without
+having done my lessons properly, and not knowing what to say about
+having missed a day, without the excuse, or good reason, of having been
+ill.
+
+I had sat there some time, a quarter-of-an-hour or so, I daresay, when I
+heard the front-door bell ring. Then I heard James opening and the door
+shutting, and, a moment after, the door of the room where I was opened,
+and some one came in, and banged something down on to the table. By that
+I knew who it was. It was Clement, with his school-books.
+
+It was nearly dark by this time, and the room was not lighted up at all.
+So he did not see me at first, till I moved a little, which made him
+start.
+
+'Good gracious!' he exclaimed, 'is that you, Gilley? What are you doing
+all alone in the dark? James told me you had all come--the kid from Rock
+Terrace too. By jove--' and he began to laugh a little to himself.
+
+It seemed a sort of last straw. I was tired and ashamed, and all wrong
+somehow. I did not speak till I was at the door, for I got up to leave
+the room at once. Then I said--
+
+'You needn't go at me like that. You might let me sit here if I want to.
+You don't suppose I've been enjoying myself these two days, do you?'
+
+He seemed to understand all about it at once. He caught hold of my arm
+and pulled me back again.
+
+'Poor old Gilley!' he said.
+
+Then he took up the poker and gave a good banging to the coals. There
+was plenty on the fire, but it had got black for want of stirring up. In
+a moment or two there was a cheery blaze. Clement pushed me into a seat
+and sat down near me on the table, his legs dangling.
+
+I have not said very much about Clem in this story--if it's worth
+calling a story--except just at the beginning, for it has really been
+meant to be about Peterkin and his princess. But I can't finish it
+without a little more about him--Clem, I mean. Some day, possibly, I may
+write about him especially, about our real school-life and all he has
+been to me, and how tremendously lucky I always think it has been for me
+to have such a brother. He is just as good as gold, without any pretence
+about it, and jolly too. And I can never forget how kind he was that
+afternoon.
+
+'Poor old Gilley!' he repeated. 'It must have been rather horrid for
+you--much worse than for those two young imps. Mamma told me all about
+it, as soon as she got the letter--she told me a good deal last night
+about what Miss Bogie, or whatever the old thing's name is, had told
+her.'
+
+I looked up at this.
+
+'Yes?' I said. 'I don't understand it at all, yet. But, Clem, what shall
+I do about school to-morrow? I've no lessons ready or anything.'
+
+'Is it that that you are worrying about?' he said.
+
+'Partly, and----'
+
+'Well, you can put _that_ out of your head. It's all right. Mamma told
+me what to say--that there'd been a mistake about the trains, and you'd
+had to stay the night in London. It wasn't necessary to say more, and
+you'll find it all right, I promise you.'
+
+I was very glad of this, and I said so, and thanked Clem.
+
+He sat still for a minute or two as if he was expecting me to speak.
+
+'Well?' he said at last.
+
+'Mamma's been very good, _very_ good about it altogether,' I said at
+last, 'and so has papa, by what she says. But still--' and then I
+hesitated.
+
+'Well?' said Clement again. 'What? I don't see that there's much to be
+down in the mouth about.'
+
+'It's just that--I feel rather a fool,' I said. 'Anybody would laugh so
+at the whole affair if they heard it. I daresay Blanche will think I've
+no more sense than Pete. She has a horrid superior way sometimes, you
+know.'
+
+'You needn't bother about that, either,' said he. 'She and Elf have got
+their heads perfectly full of Margaret. I don't suppose Blanche will
+ever speak of your part of it, or think of it even. As long as papa and
+mamma are all right--and I'm sure they are--you may count it a case of
+all's well that ends well.'
+
+I did begin to feel rather cheered up.
+
+'You're sure I'm not going to get a talking to, after all?' I said,
+still doubtfully. 'I saw mamma looking at me rather funnily in the
+train.'
+
+'Did you, my boy?' said another voice, and glancing round, I saw mamma,
+who had come into the room so quietly that neither of us had heard her.
+
+She sat down beside us. And then it was that she explained to me what I
+had done wrong, and been foolish about. I have already told what she
+said, and I felt that it was all true and sensible. And she was so
+kind--not laughing at me a bit, even for having a little believed about
+the witch and all that--that I lost the horrid, mortified, ashamed
+feelings I had been having.
+
+Just then the nursery tea-bell rang. I got up--slowly--I still felt a
+little funny and uncomfortable about Blanche, and even nurse. You see
+nurse made such a pet of Peterkin that she never scarcely could see that
+he should be found fault with, and of course he was a very good little
+chap, though not exactly an angel without wings--and certainly rather a
+queer child, with all his fairy-tale fancies.
+
+But mamma put her hand on my arm.
+
+'No,' she said. 'Clem and you are going to have tea in the drawing-room
+with me. The nursery party will be better left to itself to-day, and
+little Margaret is not accustomed to so many.'
+
+'I don't believe anything would make her feel shy, though,' I said. 'She
+is just as funny in her way as Peterkin in his. And, mamma, there are
+some things I don't understand still. Is there any sort of mystery? Why
+did Mrs. Wylie leave off talking about Margaret, and you too, I think,
+all of a sudden? I'm sure it was Mrs. Wylie's way of pinching up her
+lips about her, that made Pete surer than ever about the enchantment and
+the parrot and the witch and everything.'
+
+Mamma smiled.
+
+'No,' she said, 'there is no mystery at all. I will explain about it
+while we are having tea. It must be ready for us.'
+
+And she went into the drawing-room, Clement and I following her. It
+looked so nice and comfortable--I was jolly glad, I know, to be at home
+again!
+
+Then mamma told us--or me; I think Clem had heard it already--about
+Margaret.
+
+Her father and mother were in India, as I have said, have I not? And her
+grandfather was taking care of her. He was not a very old man, though he
+was a General. He had vineyards or something--yes, I am sure it was
+vineyards, in the south of France, and he had had to go, suddenly, to
+look after some business to do with them. And just when he was starting,
+Margaret got ill. It was the illness she had spoken of several times,
+which she called a very bad cold. But it was much worse than that,
+though she didn't know.
+
+Her grandfather put off going till she was getting better, and the
+doctors said she must have change of air. He couldn't take her with him,
+and he had to go, so the only thing he could think of was to ask old
+Miss Bogle, who had been Margaret's father's governess once--or General
+Fothergill's own governess when he was a little boy; I am not sure
+which--to take charge of her. He had forgotten how old, Miss Bogle was,
+and I think she must have forgotten it herself! She wasn't fit to look
+after a child, especially as Margaret's nurse had to leave just then.
+
+So you can pretty well understand how dull and lonely Margaret was. And
+General Fothergill was in such a fuss about her, and so terrified of her
+getting any other illness, that he forbade her making friends with any
+one out of Miss Bogle's house, unless he was asked about it, and wrote
+to give leave.
+
+And when Mrs. Wylie found out about her, she--or Miss Bogle--_did_ write
+to ask leave for her to know _us_, explaining how good and sensible
+mamma was about children every way. But till the leave came Mrs. Wylie
+and mamma settled that it was better to say nothing about it to us. And
+in this, _I_ think, they made a mistake.
+
+That was all. The leave _did_ come, while Margaret was with us. Of
+course, all that had happened was written to her grandfather, but she
+wasn't a bit scolded!
+
+Neither was her 'Perkins'; the big people only said that they must not
+be given so many fairy-stories to read.
+
+_I_ wasn't scolded either, though, so I should not complain. And several
+nice things came of it: the knowing Beryl Wylie, and the going to stay
+at General Fothergill's country house, and the having Margaret with us
+sometimes.
+
+I don't know what the parrot thought of it all. I believe he is still
+there, as clever and 'uncanny' as ever; at least so Mrs. Wylie said, the
+last time she came to see us.
+
+THE END
+
+          _Printed by_ R. & R. CLARK, LIMITED, _Edinburgh_
+
+
+
+
+BOOKS FOR YOUNG READERS.
+
+=By Mrs. MOLESWORTH.=
+
+
+=THE WOODPIGEONS AND MARY.= Illustrated by H. R. MILLAR. Crown 8vo. 4s.
+6d.
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+
+
+=THE HOUSE THAT GREW.=
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+
+          =A CHRISTMAS POSY.=
+          ="CARROTS," JUST A LITTLE BOY.=
+          =A CHRISTMAS CHILD.=
+          =CHRISTMAS-TREE LAND.=
+          =THE CUCKOO CLOCK.=
+          =FOUR WINDS FARM.=
+          =GRANDMOTHER DEAR.=
+          =ADVENTURES OF HERR BABY.=
+          =LITTLE MISS PEGGY.=
+          =THE RECTORY CHILDREN.=
+          =ROSY.=
+          =THE TAPESTRY ROOM.=
+          =TELL ME A STORY.=
+          =TWO LITTLE WAIFS.=
+          ="US"; an Old-Fashioned Story.=
+          =CHILDREN OF THE CASTLE.=
+
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+          =THE GIRLS AND I.=
+          =THE ORIEL WINDOW.=
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+
+_Illustrated by_ ROSIE M. M. PITMAN. _Globe 8vo. 2s. 6d._
+
+
+=THE MAGIC NUTS.=
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+_Also in Ornamental Binding._ _Crown 8vo._ _2s. 6d. each._
+
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+
+          ="CARROTS."=
+          =A CHRISTMAS CHILD.=
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+          ="US."=
+          =ADVENTURES OF HERR BABY.=
+
+
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+BOOKS FOR YOUNG READERS.
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+
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+          =ALICE'S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND.= With 42
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+
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+          6s. net.
+
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+          facsimile of the original MS. book afterwards
+          developed into "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland."
+          With 37 Illustrations by the Author. Fourth
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+
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+          92 Illustrations by JOHN TENNIEL. _People's
+          Edition._ Crown 8vo. 4s. 6d. net.
+
+          =THE HUNTING OF THE SNARK: An Agony in Eight
+          Fits.= With 9 Illustrations by HENRY HOLIDAY.
+          Twenty-third Thousand. Crown 8vo. 4s. 6d. net.
+
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+          FURNISS. Seventeenth Thousand. Crown 8vo. 7s. 6d.
+          net. _People's Edition._ Crown 8vo. 2s. 6d.
+
+          =SYLVIE AND BRUNO=, Concluded. With Illustrations
+          by HARRY FURNISS. Fifth Thousand. Crown 8vo. 7s.
+          6d. net. _People's Edition._ Crown 8vo. 2s. 6d.
+
+          =SYMBOLIC LOGIC.= Part I. ELEMENTARY. Crown 8vo,
+          limp cloth. 2s. net. Second Thousand.
+
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+
+MACMILLAN AND CO., LTD., LONDON.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Transcriber's Notes:
+
+Obvious punctuation errors repaired.
+
+Page 62, "little's girl" changed to "little girl's" (little girl's
+house)
+
+Page 81, "eagly" changed to "eagerly" (old Pete eagerly)
+
+Page 83, "get" changed to "got" (we got close)
+
+Page 121, italics removed from the word "the" (thankful I felt in the)
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Peterkin, by Mary Louisa Molesworth
+
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