mes we children
have had to be sent away alone with our governess and Eliza the
schoolroom maid, and we don't like that at all.

It was getting very near the holidays, already the middle of July, and
though we had several times asked mamma where we were going, she had
never been able to tell us, and at last she got tired of our asking, and
said in her rather vexed voice--she has a vexed voice, and a _very_
vexed voice as well, but when it isn't as bad as either of these we
call it her "_rather_ vexed" voice.

"Persis and Archie, I wish you would not ask the same thing so often.
When I have anything to tell you I promise you I will do so at once."

Then _we_ promised we would not tease her about it any more, though we
could not help talking about it a good deal to ourselves.

"I'm afraid we're going to be sent with Miss Ellis and Eliza like last
year," I said.

"It'll be too bad--two years running," Persis replied. "But it wouldn't
be nearly so bad if we had a dog, would it, Archie? Miss Ellis couldn't
be so frightened then of going on nice long walks. But it's no use
thinking about it. Mamma will never let us have one, I'm afraid."

For though mamma is very kind to animals--she wouldn't hurt any creature
for the world, and she doesn't even like killing a wasp--she does not
care much about pets, particularly not in town. She always says they are
not happy except in the country. At least she used to say so. I think
she has rather changed her opinion now.

"No," I said, sighing; "I'm afraid it's best to try to leave off
thinking about it. We have thought about it such a long time, Persis."

But I don't think our fixing not to think any more about it really did
make us leave off doing so. The only sensible way of putting a thing out
of your head is by putting something else there instead, and this
happened to us just then, though it didn't make us really forget about
our dog for _good_, of course.

One morning, about a week after the day she had told us we weren't to
tease any more, mamma called us into the drawing-room.

"Persis and Archie," she said, "I promised I would tell you as soon as I
knew myself about going to the country. And you have been good children
in not teasing again about it. So I am pleased to have good news for
you. We are going next week to a lovely place where you have never been
before. It is on the borders of Wildmoor--that beautiful great moor
where I used sometimes to go when I was litt