iss 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 l