," said Bobbie, "to marry someone very poor,
and then you'd do all the work and he'd love you most frightfully, and
see the blue wood smoke curling up among the trees from the domestic
hearth as he came home from work every night. I say--we've got to answer
that letter and say that the time and place WILL be convenient to us.
There's the soap, Peter. WE'RE both as clean as clean. That pink box of
writing paper you had on your birthday, Phil."

It took some time to arrange what should be said. Mother had gone back
to her writing, and several sheets of pink paper with scalloped gilt
edges and green four-leaved shamrocks in the corner were spoiled before
the three had decided what to say. Then each made a copy and signed it
with its own name.

The threefold letter ran:--

"Dear Mr. Jabez Inglewood,--Thank you very much. We did not want to be
rewarded but only to save the train, but we are glad you think so and
thank you very much. The time and place you say will be quite convenient
to us. Thank you very much.

"Your affecate little friend,"

Then came the name, and after it:--

"P.S. Thank you very much."

"Washing is much easier than ironing," said Bobbie, taking the clean dry
dresses off the line. "I do love to see things come clean. Oh--I don't
know how we shall wait till it's time to know what presentation they're
going to present!"

When at last--it seemed a very long time after--it was THE day,
the three children went down to the station at the proper time. And
everything that happened was so odd that it seemed like a dream. The
Station Master came out to meet them--in his best clothes, as Peter
noticed at once--and led them into the waiting room where once they had
played the advertisement game. It looked quite different now. A carpet
had been put down--and there were pots of roses on the mantelpiece and
on the window ledges--green branches stuck up, like holly and laurel
are at Christmas, over the framed advertisement of Cook's Tours and the
Beauties of Devon and the Paris Lyons Railway. There were quite a
number of people there besides the Porter--two or three ladies in
smart dresses, and quite a crowd of gentlemen in high hats and frock
coats--besides everybody who belonged to the station. They recognized
several people who had been in the train on the red-flannel-petticoat
day. Best of all their own old gentleman was there, and his coat and hat
and collar seemed more than ever different from