e all arrived safely," she said. "I think we
may congratulate ourselves that not even an umbrella is missing. It is
only half a mile from here to the house, quite an easy walk, so we will
start at once, and leave our luggage to follow."

In a few minutes more they had passed the ticket collector, and found
themselves on the leafy high road. It seemed as different from London as
a fairy tale from a Latin grammar. There had been a slight shower of
rain, which had brought out the scent of growing grass and budding
leaves; the ground was white with the fallen blossom of blackthorn
hedges; and a thrush, seated on the summit of an apple tree, was pouring
forth a volume of song that sounded almost like a welcome to the
country.

With so many new sights to gaze at, it was difficult to walk primly two
and two, and the line proved a straggling one, in spite of Miss Frazer's
efforts in the rear. At a pair of great iron gates Miss Russell stopped
and turned to her girls.

"This is our first glimpse of the Manor," she said, with a touch of
pride in her voice. "I want you to take a good look at your new school."

It was nicer even than they had expected--a glorious old place, built
partly in Tudor fashion of grey stone, and partly of black and white
timbers. There were latticed windows, and a porch ornamented with stone
balls, and curious twisted chimneys, and picturesque gables at odd
angles.

"It's like a house out of one of Sir Walter Scott's novels," said
Marjorie Butler.

"It looks as if one might have all kinds of adventures there," added
Lindsay Hepburn gleefully.

The inside proved just as satisfactory as the outside. It was delightful
to sit down to tea in a great dining-hall, with a carved roof, and walls
hung with spears, shields, and stags' antlers.

"I feel we oughtn't to be drinking tea," said Cicely Chalmers. "I'm sure
they didn't have it in Queen Elizabeth's times. It was tankards of ale
or mead in those days."

"Don't finish your cup, then, if you wish to imagine yourself entirely
in the past," said Mildred Roper. "I'm afraid you'll have to leave the
marmalade too. That's quite a modern invention, and so are the Bath
buns."

"Don't be horrid!" said Cicely. "It really is an old-fashioned place.
Lindsay and I have got the quaintest panelled bedroom you could possibly
imagine. There's a great four-post bed, with yellow brocaded curtains;
it's big enough to hold six, instead of only two."

"And there's a l