. He had not gone through
great experiences untouched; some things in life leave an indelible
impression.

"Yes," he said thoughtfully, "I'm glad he said that."

Nesta was so astonished at getting no response to her assertion
that she exclaimed,--

"Said what?"

"Why, that he will hold on to us," Eustace said.

"Well," Nesta remarked, again with a touch of superiority, "of
course we all knew that without his telling us."

Eustace eyed her with a quietness that somehow irritated the girl.
She could not understand him at all, and nothing annoyed Nesta so
much as to discover she was not understanding something that was
perfectly clear to somebody else.

"Didn't you know it?" she asked sharply.

"Of course," said Eustace dreamily.

"Then what do you mean?" Nesta demanded.

"I was thinking about going to England," was the seemingly
irrelevant reply.

"What has that got to do with it?" said Nesta.

"Everything," Eustace said. "If we had been going to stay here for
ever and ever I shouldn't have thought so much about it. As it is,
it means a lot that good old Bob won't forget us."

"Why, how stupid you are to-day," Nesta exclaimed. "Did you think
he might in 'a year and a day,' as mother calls it?"

"How do you know it will be only 'a year and a day'?" Eustace said
almost roughly. "How do you know we shall ever come back?"

"Eustace!" cried Nesta, staring at him as if she thought he must
have suddenly gone mad.

"Well?" he said briefly.

"But this is home--and father is staying here," the girl argued.
"We couldn't stay in England for ever."

"I don't know," said Eustace. "I've got an awfully queer feeling
about going ever since it was settled. And it seems to me Bob has
it too."

"Oh, stuff!" said Nesta bracingly. "Bob only says it to tease Aunt
Dorothy."

"He said just the same things before Aunt Dorothy came," was the
response. "That is nothing to go by."

"Well, neither are your queer feelings," said Nesta. "I haven't
any. I don't see why we should stay in England. What is to make
us?"

"Suppose we were left there to go to school?" suggested Eustace,
watching her narrowly.

Nesta stared at him blankly. It was evidently a new idea to her.

"Do you think we might be?" she said; then her expression broke,
and she smiled. "It would be just splendid, wouldn't it?" she
added.

Eustace was silent a moment.

"You wouldn't mind leaving Trixy?" he said.

"Well, I should come back again," Nesta