d English subjects, while Marjorie and Georgie, and Miss
Leigh herself, received instruction in French, Italian, music and
drawing from Mademoiselle Vadevant.

When, therefore, Marjorie had proposed to spend the remainder of the
rainy day with Estelle, Miss Leigh hailed the suggestion with pleasure.
She would have Mademoiselle's companionship, while the children amused
themselves in their own way. She splashed through the mud and wet,
laughing and happy, with Georgie dancing along by her side, and hardly
noticed that Marjorie did not join in her mirth. Marjorie was uneasy;
she thought Miss Leigh was unkind not to allow her to wait for Alan.
What was the sense of hurrying her off when Alan wanted her?

It was some time before Alan overcame his pride enough to follow, and
then he plodded rather sulkily through the slush. Passing by the ruined
summer-house he paused to look at it, the vague mystery making it always
an object of interest. He wished Peet had been a more genial man: it
might then have been possible to get him to show the inside of that
gloomy place. But he was very surly, and the secret must be found out in
some other way.

As he stood gazing, a slight stir among the bushes attracted his
attention. Slipping behind a corner of the buttress, he waited, somewhat
sheltered from the dripping rain by the overhanging ivy. He had not long
to stand shivering there. A hurried whisper caught his ear.

'What's that? Did you hear a sound?'

'I thought I did, but it seems quiet now. Come along this way. It's
more---- '

The voices died away, and after some slight rustling all grew still
again. Alan, now beginning to feel that the mystery, whatever it was,
appeared to be deepening, and that he must decide what he meant to do
quickly, was on the point of quitting his shelter, when another sound
arrested his movement. A rough grating, the swing of the heavy door of
the summer-house, and Peet stepped into sight. He stopped to close the
door carefully, and lock it before he walked away.

'Wonders will never cease,' thought Alan, amazed. 'Is that old
curmudgeon in the business, too? He's the last man I should have
imagined would mix himself up with a man like Thomas.'

Having no reason to expect further developments Alan set off at a run,
so as to get out of the rain as speedily as possible. He was pretty wet,
and what he had just seen and heard had made him forget the annoyances
of the morning. His good temper was quit