welve years old,
going to be whipped. Oh, I _beg_ your pardon, child!'

'It's all right,' said Una. 'I'm getting on for thirteen. I've never
been whipped, but I know how you felt. All the same, it must have been
funny!'

'Funny! If you'd heard Sir Arthur jerking out, "Good Ged, Bucksteed!"
every minute as they rode behind me; and poor Dad saying, "'Pon my
honour, Arthur, I can't account for it!" Oh, how my cheeks tingled when
I reached my room! But Cissie had laid out my very best evening dress,
the white satin one, vandyked at the bottom with spots of morone foil,
and the pearl knots, you know, catching up the drapery from the left
shoulder. I had poor mother's lace tucker and her coronet comb.'

'Oh, you lucky!' Una murmured. '_And_ gloves?'

'French kid, my dear'--Philadelphia patted her shoulder--'and morone
satin shoes and a morone and gold crape fan. That restored my calm. Nice
things always do. I wore my hair banded on my forehead with a little
curl over the left ear. And when I descended the stairs, _en grande
tenue_, old Amoore curtsied to me without my having to stop and look at
her, which alas! is too often the case. Sir Arthur highly approved of
the dinner, my dear: the mackerel _did_ come in time. We had all the
Marklake silver out, and he toasted my health, and he asked me where my
little bird's-nesting sister was. I _know_ he did it to quiz me, so I
looked him straight in the face, my dear, and I said, "I always send her
to the nursery, Sir Arthur, when I receive guests at Marklake Hall."'

'Oh, how chee--clever of you. What did he say?' Una cried.

'He said, "Not much change there, Bucksteed. Ged, I deserved it," and he
toasted me again. They talked about the French and what a shame it was
that Sir Arthur only commanded a brigade at Hastings, and he told Dad of
a battle in India at a place called Assaye. Dad said it was a terrible
fight, but Sir Arthur described it as though it had been a
whist-party--I suppose because a lady was present.'

'Of course you were the lady; I wish I'd seen you,' said Una.

'I wish you had, child. I had _such_ a triumph after dinner. Rene and
Dr. Break came in. They had quite made up their quarrel, and they told
me they had the highest esteem for each other, and I laughed and said,
"I heard every word of it up in the tree." You never saw two men so
frightened in your life, and when I said, "What _was_ 'the subject of
your remarks,' Rene?" neither of them knew where to