the afternoon of his last day he made his appearance on the verandah
of The Grand Stand for tea, with his faithful attendant at his heels, to
find his sister reclining there for the first time on a _charpoy_ well
lined with cushions, while Mrs. Ralston presided at the tea-table beside
her.

She looked the ghost of her former self, and for a moment though he had
visited her in bed only that morning, Tommy was rudely startled.

"Great Jupiter!" he ejaculated. "How ill you look!"

She smiled at his exclamation, while his small, sharp-faced companion
pricked up attentive ears. "Do people look like that when they're going
to die?" she asked.

"Not in the least, dear," said Mrs. Ralston tranquilly. "Come and speak
to Mrs. Dacre and tell us what you have been doing!"

But Tessa would only stand on one leg and stare, till Stella put forth a
friendly hand and beckoned her to a corner of her _charpoy_.

She went then, still staring with wide round eyes of intensest blue that
gazed out of a somewhat pinched little face of monkey-like intelligence.

"What have you and Tommy been doing?" Stella asked.

"Oh, just hobnobbing," said Tessa. "Same as Mother and the Rajah."

"Have some cake!" said Tommy. "And tell us all about the mongoose!"

"Oh, Scooter! He's such a darling! Shall I bring him to see you?" asked
Tessa, lifting those wonderful unchildlike eyes of hers to Stella's.
"You'd love him! I know you would. He talks--almost. Captain Monck gave
him to me. I never liked him before, but I do now. I wish he'd come
back, and so does Tommy. Don't you think he's a nice man?"

"I don't know him very well," said Stella.

"Oh, don't you? That's because he's so quiet. I used to think he was
surly. But he isn't really. He's only shy. Is he, Aunt Mary?" The blue
eyes whisked round to Mrs. Ralston and were met by a slightly reproving
shake of the head. "No, but really," Tessa protested, "he is a nice man.
Tommy says so. Mother doesn't like him, but that's nothing to go by. The
people she likes are hardly ever nice. Daddy says so."

"Tessa," said Mrs. Ralston gently, "we don't want to hear about that.
Tell us some more about Captain Monck's mongoose instead!"

Tessa frowned momentarily. Such nursery discipline was something of an
insult to her eight years' dignity, but in a second she sent a dazzling
smile to her hostess, accepting the rebuff. "All right, Aunt Mary, I'll
bring him to see you to-morrow, shall I?" she said brightly.