roper curve of the neck. It sounded pretty frivolous, to be sure,
but then, Rita looked so earnest and so lovely, and it was so new and
delightful to be addressed by her as an equal,--and a beloved equal at
that; Peggy's little head was in evident danger of being turned by the
new position of affairs.

Margaret, feeling that there were limits, even to the subject of
hairdressing, presently proposed a visit to Aunt Faith, and for once
neither cousin made any objection. Peggy was mortally afraid of the
white old lady, and Rita said frankly that she did not like old people,
and saw no reason why she should put herself out, simply because her
uncle, whom she had never seen, had chosen to saddle himself with the
burden of a centenarian. But to-day, Rita was shaken and softened out
of all her waywardness, and she readily admitted the propriety of
telling Mrs. Cheriton what had happened.

Aunt Faith listened with deep interest, and was as shocked and
distressed as heart could desire. The peat-bog, she told them, did not
belong to their uncle; he had in vain tried to buy the land, in order
that he might drain or fence it, but the proprietor refused to sell it.
There was a terrible story, she said, of a man's being lost there, many
years ago; it was a dreadful place.

Then, seeing Rita shudder again, she changed the subject, and spoke of
the charming contrast of the pale blue and rose-colour, in the two
girls' dresses. "The pink suits you well, little Peggy," she said. "I
have not seen you in a delicate colour before."

"This isn't mine," said honest Peggy; "it is Rita's--" but Rita laid her
hand over her mouth.

"It _is_ hers!" she said; "a nothing! a tea-gown of last year! One is
ashamed to offer such a thing, not fit to scour floors in--"

"Certainly not!" said Mrs. Cheriton, laughing. "Ah, Rita! you have the
Spanish ways, I see. I have heard nothing of that sort since I was in
Spain sixty years ago."

"What, you have been in Spain!" cried Rita, with animation. "Ah, I did
not know! Please tell us about it."

"Another time. You would like to hear, I think, about the winter I spent
in Granada, close by the Alhambra. But now I have something else to say.
Your pretty dresses remind me that there is a chest of old gowns here
that it might interest you to look over. Some of them are quite old, two
hundred years or more."

Then, while the girls uttered cries of delight, she called Janet and
bade her open the cedar chest i