to stop; and flinging the servant a letter, which he took from
his waistcoat pocket, again he flourished his whip, and again the
coach passed on.

'A letter for your papa, Miss,' said the gardener, picking it up and
offering it to the young ladies: 'Shall I take it to James to carry
in?'

'No; I will--I will,' exclaimed both the little girls at once.
Elizabeth, though the youngest, generally contrived to be forwardest;
and seizing upon the letter, as the gardener held it between his
finger and thumb, she scampered away, followed by Harriet, and they
both arrived almost breathless in the drawing-room.

'The coaches are both past, papa,' said Harriet, 'without John and
Frederick'; and as soon as the information had been given, she burst
into tears.

'But here is a letter, which will tell about it, I dare say, papa,'
added Elizabeth. 'To John Mortimer, Esq. Beech Grove,' she continued,
reading the direction, as she presented the letter. 'It is John's
writing, papa.'

Mrs. Mortimer looked uneasy; and Mr. Mortimer broke the seal of the
letter with some little alarm.

'It is all well,' said the kind father, almost directly; 'nothing to
apprehend, my love,' added he, as he handed the letter across to his
wife.

The letter was as follows:--

MY DEAR PAPA,

No room for us in either of the coaches--inside or out. Mr.
Brown is going to send us in a post chaise, with two other
boys.

Your affectionate and dutiful Son,

JOHN MORTIMER.

'Our pleasure is only delayed for a few hours,' said Mr. Mortimer, as
he put an arm round the neck of each of his little girls. 'They will
be here in the course of a short time, no doubt, and have you got
every thing ready to receive them?'

'Oh yes, papa, quite ready,' replied Elizabeth, who was slipping her
neck from under her father's arm, with the intention of again
returning to the bottom of the shrubbery. Harriet directly followed
her towards the door.

'And where now my little girls,' said Mrs. Mortimer; 'not to the
shrubbery again this evening?'

'We _were_ going, mamma,' replied Elizabeth: 'had you rather we should
not?'

'I had,' answered Mrs. Mortimer; you have been out nearly two hours,
and the air is now very sharp and cold; the sun is set, and in a short
time it will be quite dusk. You can watch the road from the play-room
window; and I think it very likely your brothers will