, and
patted it with an air of blissful satisfaction--"and stiff,
uncomfortable clothing! It's all over and done with now, thank
goodness--a dream of the past!"

"And I am just beginning it! And I expect to like it very much," I
thought to myself, but I didn't say so to him; and he went on muttering
and grumbling all the time he was rolling his cigarette and preparing to
smoke.

"You don't understand--a child like you. It's a pity you ever should,
but in a few years' time you will be so bound round with conventions
that you will not dare to follow your own wishes, unless you make a bold
stroke for liberty, as I have done, and free yourself once for all; but
not many people have the courage to do that--"

"I don't think it takes much courage to give up what one dislikes, and
to do what one likes best," I said calmly; and he gave a little jump of
surprise, and stared at me over the smoke of the match with amused eyes,
just as you look at a child who has said a funny thing--rather
precocious for its age.

"Pray, does that wise remark apply to me or to you?" he asked; and I put
my chin in the air and said--

"It was a general statement. Of course, I can't judge of your actions,
and, for myself, I can't tell as yet what I _do_ like. I must try both
lives before I can decide."

"Yes, yes. You must run the gauntlet. Poor little Babs!" he sighed;
and after that we sat for quite an age without speaking a word. He was
remembering his secret, no doubt, and I was thinking of myself and
wondering if it was really true that I was going to have such a bad
time. That reminded me of Miss Martin and her advice, and it came to me
with a shock that I'd been home a whole month, and had been so taken up
with my own affairs that I had had no time to think of my "sister." I
was in a desperate hurry to find her at once. I always am in a hurry
when I remember things, and the sight of the cottages put an idea into
my head.

"Do you know the people who live in these cottages, Mr Dudley? I knew
the old tenants, of course, but these are new people, and I have not
seen them. Are they old or young, and have they any children?"

He puffed out words and smoke in turns.

"John Williams--_puff_--wife--_puff_--one baby, guaranteed to make as
much noise as five--it's a marvel it's quiet now--_puff_. You can
generally hear it a mile off--"

"Is it ill, then, the poor little thing?"

"Healthiest child in the world to judge from it