after
all; is it, now?"

CHAPTER IX.

As was expected, they found there was much anxiety at home over their long
absence. Mr. Sherwood was on the watch when the sleigh drove up, and was
beside it in time to help the muffled figures alight, and anxious to hear
the particulars of their protracted drive.

"Let me go into Mrs. Gurney's just a minute, papa," said Dexie, "and I will
tell you all about it when I come back."

Then they found themselves pulled through the hall by the eager children,
who had been watching for their appearance for hours, and into the
sitting-room where Mrs. Gurney sat with a white, anxious face, waiting
their arrival.

In a few minutes the story of their detention was told, Lancy telling his
part and Elsie hers, Dexie finishing the story by confessing to the extreme
measures used to keep Elsie awake, not sparing herself in the least when
telling of the quarrel she had provoked, and there was a suspicious
moisture in Mr. Gurney's eyes as he listened to the story.

"You have been in great peril," said he, as he drew the girls to his side.
"Let us all kneel a moment and return thanks for the safety of these dear
ones;" and all knelt, just as they were: Mr. Gurney with one arm around
Elsie, the other around Dexie; Lancy with his fur coat still on, and the
whip in his hand; the little ones, who had pressed into the room, dropped
to their knees, their arms full of toys; Mrs. Gurney with the baby in her
arms--all knelt, while a few earnest words went up from a father's grateful
heart.

Mrs. Gurney insisted that Elsie should go up to bed at once, and be
doctored for the cold she had evidently contracted, and pressing a kiss on
Dexie's cheek, she followed her daughter upstairs.

But for all their care Elsie was confined to her room for several weeks,
and her recovery was slow and tedious. They were all thankful, though, that
nothing more serious resulted from exposure to the storm, which was the
worst that had visited the country for several years.

Dexie had to tell the story over again when she went home; but she made
light of it all, making much more fun out of their grand ride on horseback
than either she or Elsie had experienced while partaking of it. But the
whole story came out when Lancy came in during the evening, and Mr.
Sherwood's look of tender solicitude contrasted strangely with the mother's
apparent unconcern, as the story of their adventure was related at length.

"I am