ed as she went through the little
side gate beyond the hedge, but righted herself immediately, and Wilson
withdrew the hand he had put out to help her. Then they walked
cautiously among the bricks in the long grass, calling out: "Are you
there? Are you there?" But all was dead silence. At last Caroline
caught her foot on something soft--dreadful. She had yet no idea why
it was dreadful. Then she bent closer. "Miss Ethel! It's Miss
Ethel!" She went down on her knees in the long grass. "Miss Ethel!
Are you hurt?"

There was no answer, and Caroline said over her shoulder in a quick,
low voice: "You'd better go and fetch a doctor. We must not move her
until we know if she has broken anything. Send Mrs. Bradford with some
rugs."

And though she was so terribly sorry, she was also pleased with her
self-control. Aunt Ellen and Aunt Creddle would not have been able to
take it like this when they were nineteen. This was what darted
through Caroline's mind, even while she spoke.

But the next moment Miss Ethel moaned a little and began to sit up,
looking round her affrightedly at the half-built walls in the mist.
"What's the matter? What's the matter? I'm on the wrong side of the
hedge." Then she remembered and began to shiver violently from head to
foot. "I know. I came to see if the men were working. But they were
not. The field was all empty. It--I was so sure I heard them--it
startled me not to find them here. I think I must have fainted."

"Hush! Don't bother to talk now, Miss Ethel," said Caroline. "You are
all right now."

"You are sure you have not broken any bones?" said Wilson.

"Bones? No." Miss Ethel was recovering herself quickly. "It's
nothing. I shall be all right in a minute or two. Here, give me your
hand, Caroline."

"I daresay you tripped over a brick, Miss Ethel; I very nearly did,"
said Caroline, helping her to rise.

"Yes, that was it, that was it!" said Miss Ethel, speaking with a sort
of exhausted eagerness.

At first as they went up the field she held Wilson's arm, but soon
released it and went forward alone. "I'm all right now," she insisted.
"Quite all right."

Mrs. Bradford came out into the hall as they entered, and billows of
salt mist followed them in. "Shut the door, please," she said. "Then
you were not lost, Ethel. What on earth were you doing out there? I
began to get quite uneasy about you."

Miss Ethel, turning quickly, gave a look at the two w