in.

"I'm afraid you'll be dull this afternoon without Elaine," said Aunt
Ellinor; "and I'm obliged to attend a committee meeting at the Food
Control Bureau. I've arranged for Hodson to take you out. Where would
you like to go? To Whitecliffe, and have tea at the cafe? You must
choose exactly what you think would be nicest."

As the girls wished to do a little shopping, they decided to visit
Whitecliffe first, have an early tea at the cafe, and then take a walk
on the moor, ending at Brackenfield, where Hodson would leave them.

"That's all right, then," said Mrs. Trafford. "I'm sorry I can't be with
you myself to-day. Get some sweets at the cafe and have some ices if
you like. I must hurry away now to my committee. Hodson won't keep you
waiting long; I've told her to get ready."

Left alone, the girls grumbled a little at the necessity of taking an
escort with them.

"At fourteen and sixteen we surely don't need a nursemaid," sniffed
Marjorie. "It's a perfectly ridiculous rule that we mayn't walk ten
yards by ourselves, even when we're out for the afternoon. We might be
interned Germans or conscientious objectors if somebody always has to
mount guard over us. What does the Empress think we're going to do, I
wonder?"

"Ask airmen for autographs, or snowball soldiers!" twinkled Dona.

"Oh, surely she's forgotten those old crimes now!"

"I wouldn't be sure. The Empress has a long memory. Besides, the rule's
for everybody, not only for us."

"I know. Patricia was horribly savage last week. An officer cousin was
over in Whitecliffe, and she wasn't allowed to go and meet him, because
no one could be spared to act chaperon."

"Some friends asked Mona to tea to-day, and the Empress wouldn't let her
accept. We only go to Auntie's every fortnight because Mother specially
stipulated that we should."

"I'm jolly glad she did. It makes such a change."

"I wish Hodson would hurry up!"

Hodson, the housemaid, took a considerable time to don her outdoor
garments, but she proclaimed herself ready at last. She was a tall,
middle-aged woman in spectacles, with large teeth, and showed her gums
when she talked. She spoke in a slow, melancholy voice, and, to judge
from her depressed expression, evidently considered herself a martyr for
the afternoon. She was hardly the companion the girls would have
selected, but they had to make the best of her. It would be amusing, at
any rate, to go in to Whitecliffe. Marjorie had her cam