etiquette demanded it. Then they moved along the
screen of trees, up the side of the garden wall toward the wood.

The Twins shortened their strides to suit the pace of the princess,
which was uncommonly slow. She kept looking from one to the other with
curious, rather timid, pleased eyes. She saw the landing-net that
Erebus had fastened to the backbone of the Terror's bicycle; but she
saw no connection between it and the vanishing peaches.

They passed straight from the screen of trees through a gap into the
home wood, a gap of a size to let them carry their bicycles through
without difficulty, took a narrow, little used path into the depths of
the wood, and moved down it in single file.

"I expect you never found this path," said the Terror to the princess
who was following closely on the back wheel of his bicycle.

"No, I haf not found it. I haf never been in this wood till now," said
the princess.

"You haven't been in this wood! But it's the home wood--the jolliest
part of the estate," cried the Terror in the liveliest surprise. "And
there are two paths straight into it from the gardens."

"But I stay always in the gardens," said the princess sedately. "The
Baroness Von Aschersleben does not walk mooch; and she will not that I
go out of sight of her."

"But you must get awfully slack, sticking in the gardens all the time,"
said Erebus.

"Slack? What is slack?" said the princess.

"She means feeble," said the Terror. "But all the same those gardens
are big enough; there's plenty of room to run about in them."

"But I do not run. It is not dignified. The Baroness Von Aschersleben
would be shocked," said the princess with a somewhat prim air.

"No wonder you're delicate," said Erebus, politely trying to keep a
touch of contempt out of her tone, and failing.

"One can not help being delicate," said the princess.

"I don't know," said the Terror doubtfully. "If you're in the open air
a lot and do run about, you don't _keep_ delicate. Wiggins used to be
delicate, but he isn't now."

"Who is Wiggins?" said the princess.

"He's a friend of ours--not so old as we are--quite a little boy," said
Erebus in a patronizing tone which Wiggins, had he been present, would
have resented with extreme bitterness. "Besides, Doctor Arbuthnot told
Mrs. Blenkinsop that if you were always in the open air, playing with
children of your own age, you'd soon get strong."

"That's what I've come to England for,"