inquired Floss, with an instinct that the
circumstantial details might possibly recall some forgotten remembrance
to his mind.

"_Quite_ sure," said Carrots, looking straight up in their faces with a
thoughtful, but not uncertain expression in his brown eyes.

"Because nurse has lost something out of her drawer, you see, Carrots
dear, and she is very sorry about it," continued Floss.

"What has she lost? But I'm _sure_," repeated Carrots, "I didn't touch
nurse's drawer, nor nucken in it. What has nurse lost?"

"A half-sovereign--" began Floss, but nurse interrupted her.

"Don't tease him any more about it," she said; "it's plain he doesn't
know, and I wouldn't like the other servants to hear. Just forget about
it, Master Carrots, my dear, perhaps nurse will find it some day."

So Carrots, literally obedient, asked no more questions. He only said to
himself, with a puzzled look on his face, "A half sovereign! I didn't
know nurse had any sovereigns--I thought only Floss had--and I never saw
any broken in halfs!"

But as no more was said in his hearing about the matter, it passed from
his innocent mind.

Nurse thought it right to tell the children's mother of her loss, and
the girls and Maurice heard of it too. They all were very sorry for
nurse, for she took her own carelessness rather sorely to heart. But by
her wish, nothing was said of it to the two other servants, one of whom
had only lately come, though the other had been with them many years.

"I'd rather by far bear the loss," said nurse, "than cause any
ill-feeling about it, ma'am."

And her mistress gave in to her. "Though certainly _you_ must not bear
the loss, nurse," she said, kindly; "for in all these years you have
saved me too many half-sovereigns and whole ones too for me to mind much
about the loss of one. And you've asked Carrots, you say; you're sure he
knows nothing about it?"

"Quite sure, ma'am," said nurse, unhesitatingly.

And several days went on, and nothing more was said or heard about the
half-sovereign. Only all this time the little yellow sixpenny lay safely
hidden away in Carrots' paint-box.

In a sense he had forgotten about it. He knew it was safe there, and he
had almost fixed in his mind not to tell Floss about it till the day
they should be going to the toy-shop to buy their hoops. Once or twice
he had been on the point of showing it to her, but had stopped short,
thinking how much more delightful it would be to "surpris