rs amongst the bed-rooms by Mary and
Molly, accompanied by the three little girls, who marched behind their
elders in silent awe, Jupp and Joe remaining down in the hall and
listening breathlessly for some announcement to come presently from
above.

The nursery disclosed nothing, neither did the children's sleeping room,
nor the vicar's chamber, although the beds were turned up and turned
down and looked under, and every cupboard and closet inspected as
cautiously as if burglars were about the premises; and Mary was about to
give up the pursuit as hopeless, when all at once, she thought she heard
the sound of a stifled sob proceeding from a large oak wardrobe in the
corner of the spare bed-room opposite the nursery, which had been left
to the last, and where the searchers were all now assembled.

"Listen!" she exclaimed in a whisper, holding up her finger to enjoin
attention; whereupon Cissy and Liz stopped shuffling their feet about,
and a silence ensued in which a pin might have been heard to drop.

Then, the noise of the stifled sobs that had at first attracted Mary's
notice grew louder, and all could hear Teddy's voice between the sobs,
muttering or repeating something at intervals to himself.

"I do believe he's saying his prayers!" said Mary, approaching the
wardrobe more closely with stealthy steps, so as not to alarm the little
stowaway, a smile of satisfaction at having at last found him crossing
her face, mingled with an expression of amazement--"Just hear what he is
repeating. Hush!"

They all listened; and this was what they heard proceeding from within
the wardrobe, a sob coming in as a sort of hyphen between each word of
the little fellow's prayer.

"Dod--bess pa--an' Conny an' Liz--an' 'ittle Ciss--an' Jupp, de porter
man, an' Mary--an'--an'--all de oders--an' make me dood boy--an' I'll
neber do it again, amen!"

"The little darling!" cried Mary, opening the door of the wardrobe when
Teddy had got so far, and was just beginning all over again; but the
moment she saw within, she started back with a scream which at once
brought Jupp upstairs. Joe the gardener still stopped, however, on the
mat below in the passage, as nothing short of a peremptory command from
the vicar would have constrained him to put his heavy clod-hopping boots
on the soft stair-carpet. Indeed, it had needed all Mary's persuasion
to make him come into the hall, which he did as gingerly as a cat
treading on a hot griddle!

A