see its face; in fact the glimpse was of the hastiest. Yet
_something_ about the wee figure, a certain round-about bunchiness, and
a sort of pulling back from the maid, as she went into the room,
recalled vaguely to my heart, rather than to my mind, two little
toddling creatures, that far away across the sea I had learnt to love
and look for. When I went into our room, there were tears in my eyes,
and when mamma asked me the reason, I told her that I had seen a child
that somehow had reminded me of my two little trots.

'"Poor little trots," said mamma. "I wonder if the one that was left
still misses the other?"

'But that was all we said about them.

'The next morning I was in a fever to go out and see all that was to be
seen. I dragged poor mamma into all the churches, and half the shops,
and would have had her all through the castle too, but that she declared
she could do no more. So we came to a halt at the great "Place," and
sat down on a nice shady seat to watch the people. I, consoling myself
with the reflection, that as we were to be four months at Pau, there was
still a _little_ time left for sight-seeing.

'It was very amusing. There were people of all nations--_children_ of
all nations, little French boys and girls, prettily but simply dressed,
some chatting merrily, some walking primly beside their white capped
bonnes; little Russians, looking rather grand, but not so grand as their
nurses in their rich costumes of bright scarlet and blue, embroidered in
gold; some very pert, shrill-voiced Americans, and a few unmistakable
English. We amused ourselves by guessing the nationality of all these
little people.

'"_Those_ are Italians or Spaniards, mamma, look what dark eyes they
have, and _those_ are----" I suddenly stopped. "Oh, mamma!" I exclaimed,
and when she looked at me, she saw I had grown quite pale, and in
another moment, seeing to what I was pointing, she understood the
reason. There, right before us, coming slowly up the middle of the
Place, Bessie in the middle, each child with a hand of hers tugging back
manfully in the old way, each, yes, _really_, each under the other arm
hugging a woolly lamb, came the two funny little trots!

'I felt at first as if I were dreaming. _Could_ it be the trots? I sat
still in a half stupid way, staring, but Gip--I was forgetting to tell
you that _of course_ Gip had come with us to Pau--Gip had far more
presence of mind than I. He did not stop to wonder _how_ it