t _you_, Audrey," he whispered, and in that there was
some comfort. Still, altogether, I felt what he said was true; it was
very sad for us.

[Illustration]

[Illustration]

CHAPTER IV.

THE AIR-GARDEN.

"But children, good though they may be,
Must cry sometimes when they are sad."

It was not quite so bad the next morning. That is one good thing of
being a child, I suppose--at least mother says so--things never are
quite so bad the next morning!

We all slept very soundly; we had three nice little beds in one rather
big room, which we thought a very good plan; and the first thing that
woke me was feeling something bump down on the top of me all of a
sudden. It was Racey. He looked quite bright and rosy, all his tiredness
gone away; and then you know he was really such a _very_ little
boy--only five--that he could not be expected to remember very long
about poor mother going away and all our trouble.

"Audrey," he said, in what he meant to be a whisper, but it was a very
loud one, "Audrey, I don't want to wake Tom. Poor Tom's so tired.
Audrey, let me get in 'aside you."

He had clambered out of his bed and into mine somehow; and though it was
against rules to get into each other's beds--mother had had to make the
rule because Tom and I got in the way of waking each other so dreadfully
early to tell stories--I could not this first morning refuse to let the
poor little thing get in under the nice warm clothes to be cuddled.

"Oh dear, Racey, what cold little toes you've got," I said. "You haven't
been running about without your slippers on, surely?"

"Just for a minute; don't tell Pierson," said Racey. "I wanted to look
out of the window. Audrey, this is such a funny place--there's no trees
and no garden--and lots and lots of windows. Is all the windows Uncle
Geoff's?"

"Oh, no--there are lots of other people's houses here," I said. Poor
little Racey had never been in a town before. "In London all the houses
are put close together. You see, Racey, there are such a lot of people
in London there wouldn't be room for all the houses they need if each
had a garden."

"But some peoples has little gardens--_air_ gardens," said Racey
eagerly. "There's one I sawed out of the window."

"_Air_ gardens! What do you mean, Racey?" I said.

"High up--up in the air," he explained. "Sticking up all of theirselves
in the air."

"Oh, I know what you mean--you mean a little glass place for flowers," I
s