obered at the thought of mother without either her daddy
or Hepsie's on Christmas Day again, and no letter from Africa by the
usual mail.

[Sidenote: An Afternoon Call]

It was a glorious afternoon, and when Mrs. Erldon settled down for a
rest, Hepsie asked if she might go out for a run, to which her mother at
once agreed. In this quiet little peaceful spot in Somersetshire there
was no reason why a girl of Hepsie's age should not run about freely,
and so, warmly wrapped up, the child trotted off--but any one watching
her small determined face would have seen that this was not an ordinary
walk upon her part.

She left the old lane and turned towards a different part of
Sunnycoombe. She approached the big Manor House through its wide gates,
and along broad paths of well-trimmed trees. As she did so Hepsie
breathed a little more quickly than usual, while a brilliant colour
stole into her fair young cheeks.

"When one does wrong," she murmured determinedly, "there is only one
thing to follow--and that is to put the wrong right, if one can. I spoke
rudely to my darling little mother's own father, and though he's a
terrible old man, he's got to have an apology, which is a wretched thing
to have to give; and he's got to hear that his daughter never would and
never did teach her little girl to be rude, no, not even to a
cantankerous old grandfather, who won't speak to a lovely sweet woman
like my mother."

She reached the porch, and pulled fiercely at the old-fashioned bell,
then fairly jumped at the loud clanging noise that woke the silence of
the quiet afternoon.

The door opened so suddenly that Hepsie was quite confused, and for the
moment took the stately old butler for her grandfather himself, offered
her hand, and then turned crimson.

"Good gracious me!" she said in her brisk voice. "Do you stand behind
the door all day? You made me jump so that I don't know what I am
saying, but--well--I must see my grandfather at once, please."

Every one in the village knew all about the child and who she was, and
the man was more than surprised at seeing her dare to come there, and he
also felt very nervous.

"You run away, miss," he said in a confidential whisper, "an' more's the
shame I should have to say so, but, bless your heart, the master
wouldn't see you, and it's more than I dare to tell him you're wanting."

"You need not trouble," Hepsie said; "if I had not made a big resolution
to look after my tongue, I sho