y until you are all well
started; then you shall have it back again."

No sooner said than done--little Daniel was quickly transferred to the
arms of the fair-haired and very beautiful young lady, and Netty,
_alias_ Susy, marched on in triumph.

"That was well done; I call that young lady a brick," whispered Netty to
Ben, but Ben replied:

"Be quiet, and come along."

They reached the great train and were huddled into their compartments,
and then slowly but surely it got up steam and moved out of the station,
and then, gathering speed, flew past the ugly houses, past the rows of
hot and dingy streets, into the pure, fresh lovely country.

Netty caught her breath in her rapture, her eyes shone with pure
happiness, but in the midst of all her rejoicings a sudden memory of
little Dan came to distress her.

"I have brought his bottle with me," she said, tapping her pocket, "and
he'll be hungry by now. I wish the lady would give him back."

"You stay quiet," said Ben, nudging her; "where's the use of bothering?"

The train flew through the country faster and faster, the air blew more
and more fresh against Netty's cheeks. She began to sniff. Could that
delicious smell be the smell of the sea, the great, rolling blue sea
which she had never seen, but which she had so often dreamed about?

[Illustration]

There was another little white-faced girl who sat near Netty, and Netty
asked her if she thought they were getting near the sea. She had a sharp
face and had been to the sea before, and she rather despised Netty for
her ignorance. Poor Netty was about to sink back into her seat with a
feeling of disappointment when a grave-looking lady who had the charge
of the compartment said, in a quiet voice:

"We cannot reach the sea for a long time yet, little girl, but I see you
are much pleased and very much interested in everything; would you like
to come and sit near me?"

All too willingly Netty changed her seat, and presently she and the kind
lady entered into a vigorous conversation. Netty confessed how anxious
she was about the baby. She tapped the bottle in her pocket and
described how she had made the necessary food with milk and water and a
pinch of sugar.

"Dan will be fretting for his lunch by now," she said; "I do wish I
could get hold of him."

"We shall be stopping at a big station in two or three minutes now,"
said the lady, whose name was Mrs. Holmes, "and I will get out and find
Miss Pryce, who, I th