ter all lie down. We could
get up again when we heard the bell."

"The bell, indeed! Miles shall not have to ring the bell when he
arrives home after six years' absence, if his mother is alive to open
the door for him!" cried Mrs Trevor indignantly, and then suddenly she
gave a cry, and rushed across the room. A cab laden with luggage had
drawn up before the door. Miles had arrived!

Well, after all Jack was right! They _did_ all hang round him at once.
Mrs Trevor was folded in his arms, but Betty and Jill each hung on to a
side, while Pam stroked the back of his head, and if they did not
exactly "howl," they were certainly by no means dry-eyed.

"My boy! My boy!" cried the mother. "Miles, oh, Miles!" sobbed the
girls; and Miles mumbled incoherent answers in his big man's voice, and
quietly but surely pushed his way into the drawing-room. _His_ eyes
were shining too, but he had no intention that the passers-by should
witness his emotion. He looked enormously big and broad, and tanned and
important. Handsome Miles would never be, but his was a good strong
face, with the firmly-set lips and clear, level gaze which speak so
eloquently of a man's character, and his mother thanked God with a full
heart as she welcomed him back.

As for Miles himself, the sight of his mother brought with it a pang of
sadness, for though outsiders might exclaim at her youthful appearance,
six years on the wrong side of forty can never fail to leave behind them
heavy traces, and to the unaccustomed eyes she looked greatly changed.
He kept his arm round her as they moved forward, and his eyes grew very
tender. The little mother was growing old! Her hair was quite grey,
her pretty cheeks had lost their roundness--he must take more care of
her than ever. She enjoyed being cared for, as all nice women did. And
then Miles sat down and drank tea, and they all settled themselves to
the difficult task of making conversation after a long absence. It
seems sad that it should be difficult, but it is invariably the case,
for when there is so much to tell, and to ask, it is difficult to know
where to begin, and a certain strangeness follows hard on the first
excitement. Were these smart young ladies truly and actually Betty and
Jill; this young man with the Oxford drawl the once unkempt and noisy
Jack? And who was this shy and awkward maypole, who had taken the place
of dear, cuddlesome, wee Pam?

If it had not been for Dr Trevor, conv