d you."

"I'm so hot!" panted poor Alison, dutifully submitting to the extra
wraps.

"You'll be cold enough driving. Have you tucked the rug thoroughly round
your knees? Then say good-bye."

"Good-bye! Good-bye! I hadn't half enough time," cried Alison, trying to
wave a hand, in spite of the encumbrance of the golf cape. "I'd like to
come again and----" But here her mother whipped up the pony so smartly
that the rest of the sentence was lost in the grating of wheels.

"So that is Mrs. Clarke," said Aunt Barbara, as she entered the cottage
again. "She looks nice, though I wish she had allowed Alison to stay for
a few minutes longer. It's a funny thing, but somehow her face seems so
familiar to me. I wonder if I can possibly have met her before?"

"Have you seen her in Coleminster?" suggested Dorothy.

"No; the remembrance seems to be much farther back than that. I should
say it was a long time ago."

"So it was--nearly fourteen years," volunteered Martha, who was laying
the tea table. "I remembered her fast enough. I knew her the moment I
set my eyes on her."

Martha had the privilege of long service, and was accustomed to speak
her mind and offer advice to her mistress on many occasions. If she was
blunt and abrupt in her manners, she was a very faithful soul, and her
north-country brains were shrewd and keen. She was an authority in the
little household on many points, and her remarks were never ignored.

"Why, Martha, I always say you've a better memory than I have," returned
Miss Sherbourne. "Where did we know her, then?"

"We didn't know her," said Martha, pausing and looking at Dorothy. "The
bairn's been told about it now, so I suppose I can speak before her?
Well, that lady in the trap to-day is the same one that came to the inn
at Greenfield Junction, and was so upset at sight of the child."

"Are you sure, Martha?" exclaimed Miss Barbara.

"Certain; I never forget a face. I'd take my oath before a judge and
jury."

"She did not remember us."

"Didn't she? I wouldn't swear to that. You've not changed so much but
that anyone would recognize you. It's my opinion she knew us both, and
that was the reason she was in such a precious hurry to get away."

CHAPTER XI

Alison's Uncle

Not very long after the events narrated in the last chapter, Alison
entered the train one morning in quite a state of excitement, and could
scarcely wait to greet Dorothy before she began to pour out her news.