uddenly slipped away by myself and got outside the
station, and ran, and ran, and ran--oh, so fast!--until at last I got
quite beyond the town, and then I found myself in the country; and all
the time I kept saying, and saying, 'I will tell. She sha'n't die;
nothing else matters; Betty shall not die.'"

"Then what do you want me to help you for, missie?"

"Because," said Sibyl, holding out her little hand, "I am very weak and
you are very strong, and you will keep me up to it. Please do come with
me straight back to the school!"

"Well, there's a time for all things," said the farmer; "and I'm willing
to give up my arternoon's work, but I'm by no means willing to give up
my midday meal, for we farmers don't work for nothing--as doubtless you
know, missie. So, if you'll come along o' me and eat a morsel, we'll set
off afterwards, sure and direct, to Haddo Court; and I'll keep you up to
the mark if you're likely to fail."

CHAPTER XXII

FARMER MILES TO THE RESCUE

Sylvia and Hetty had awakened when the farmer brought Sibyl Ray into the
pleasant farmhouse kitchen. The twin-boys were absent at school, and
only the little twins came down to dinner. The beef, potatoes,
dumplings, apple-tart and cream were all A1, and Sibyl was just as glad
of the meal as were the two Vivian girls.

The Vivians did not know Sibyl very well, and had not the least idea
that she guessed their secret. She rather avoided glancing at them, and
was very shy and retiring, and stole up close to the farmer when the
dogs were admitted. But Dan and Beersheba knew what was expected of
them. Any one in the Stoke Farm kitchen had a right to be there; and
were they going to waste their precious time and affection on the sort
of girl they would love to bite, when Sylvia and Hetty were present? So
they fawned on the twin-girls, taking up a good deal of their attention;
and by and by the dinner came to an end.

When it was quite over the farmer got up, wiped his mouth with a big,
red-silk handkerchief, and, going up to the Vivian twins, said quietly,
"You can go home, whenever you like; and I think the job you have put
upon me will be managed. Meanwhile, me and this young party will make
off to Haddo Court as fast as we can."

As this "young party" happened to be Sibyl Ray, the girls looked up in
astonishment; but the farmer gave no information of any kind, not even
bestowing a wink on his wife, who told the little twins when he had left
the k