peared at the windows, and she heard
shrill, childish voices sounding over the water.

"Mansy! Mansy! is that you? Oh! we are glad you have come! Where
does all the water come from?"

"Are you all safe?" she screamed.

"Yes, yes; but we have scarcely anything to eat."

"I have something in these parcels!" she shouted. "Oh, thank God the
children are all safe!"

"How are you to get here, Mansy?"

That was the difficulty; and Mansy, as she looked at the dull, sullen
water, felt she could not answer the question. First she thought of
boldly plunging in and wading up to the house door. But, strong-nerved
as she was, she shrank from this, and after carefully plumbing the
depth a little way with the bulging umbrella, she shrank from it still
more. It might be too dangerous.

In the dim twilight of that cloudy summer evening she stood on the
water's brink and watched the flood go swaying past. She felt
stupefied and bewildered. Whence came the flood, and how? A more
unexpected thing had never happened to her. And now she knew that the
children were safe, the unexpectedness of it, the amazement of the
whole thing, seemed almost to benumb her senses.

But she soon roused herself, when across the water sounded a shrill
boyish voice, which shouted--"I'll bring you over, Mansy. I'm coming
for you. Look out!"

"Bless the boy! that's my Master Alfy. Whatever is he up to now?"

And the good woman strained her eyes in the direction of the house to
see what her favourite boy was doing.

She heard numerous childish exclamations, shouts, and laughter, and
noises as of something knocking against the walls of the house. Then a
splash!

"Whatever is that boy doing?" cried Mansy. "Don't you get drownded!"
she screamed. "Do take care, Master Alfy! I'd rather stay here all
night than you should come to harm!"

"All right, Mansy dear," shouted the shrill voice of the boy. "I'm
coming, safe and sound, Mansy."

"Now, what is he a-comin' in?" cried the good woman, gazing into the
dusk. She saw the dim outline of something which soon she recognised.

"Why, bless the boy! he's in the big washing tub! My! and how clever
he do manage it!"

Mansy was quite right. The plucky little lad had hit on this expedient
of ferrying the old nurse and housekeeper over the flood to the house!
He had obtained two large kitchen ladles, and with these he was
propelling and guiding the unwieldy round tub, which bobbed about
pr