ntil her frock was
a mass of creases, her hat was grey with dust, and she had apparently
forgotten to brush her hair before leaving her cabin. The Major was too
easy-going to feel any distress at this reflection. He merely remarked
to himself whimsically that, "the piccaninny would astonish them!"
meaning the companions to whom she was about to be introduced, and
decided then and there to take her straight to her destination. This
had been the only point upon which he and his young daughter had been at
variance; for from the start Pixie had laid down, as her idea of what
was right and proper, that her father should take her for the night to a
grand hotel, introduce her next morning to the Tower, the Zoological
Gardens, and Madame Tussaud's, and deposit her at Surbiton in the
afternoon. The Major's ideas on the subject were, however, that an
exacting little daughter was a drawback to a man's enjoyment of a visit
to London, and that there were other forms of amusement which he would
prefer to a visit to the before-mentioned historic resorts. With
accustomed fluency, he found a dozen reasons for carrying out his own
wishes, and propitiated Pixie by promising that Jack should take her
sight-seeing before many weeks were over.

"I'll tell Miss Phipps that I wish you to go out with your brother on
Saturday afternoons, and you'll have a fine time together seeing all
that is to be seen. Far greater fun than if we tried to hurry about
with not a minute to spare."

"I like to do things _now_," sighed Pixie pensively; but as usual she
resigned herself to the inevitable, and a box of chocolates, bought at
Waterloo, sufficed to bring back the smiles to her face and restore her
equanimity.

The arrival at Surbiton Station was a breathless experience, though it
was a distinct blow to her vanity to find that no deputation from Holly
House was in waiting to receive Patricia O'Shaughnessy with the honours
she deserved. No one took any notice of her at all. When the cabman,
when directed to drive to Holly House, preserved an unmoved stolidity of
feature, and had no remark whatever to offer on the subject. How
different from dear, friendly, outspoken Bally William, where each man
was keenly interested in the affairs of his neighbour, and the poorest
peasant upon the road felt himself competent to offer advice on the most
intimate family matters! Pixie felt a chill of foreboding as she drove
through the trim Surbiton streets an