ar him talk of the City,
but it is like another town to them, so vague and far away it seems.
These children probably have lessons with their governess at home, and
when twelve o'clock comes they go for a walk. When they open the
front-door they see a long street, stretching both ways, filled with
dark, dull-looking houses just the same as their own. The street
pavement is made of wood, which is quieter than stones, and when the
cabs run past they make very little sound. If the children are lucky
they live in a square, and there is a garden in the middle, with iron
railings round it, and everyone who lives in the square has a key to
open the gate; but it must not be left open, or other people would get
in and use the garden too. It has green grass in it and flower-beds,
and it is all very prim and proper, and not at all interesting; and,
worst of all, the dear dogs, Scamp and Jim, cannot go there, even when
they are led by a string. The gardener would turn them out, for he
imagines they would kick about in his flower-beds and rake out the
seeds. This is not the sort of garden that a country child would care
for. But Jack and Ethel are not country children; they are quite used to
their garden, and like it very much.

We can see them start on their morning walk with Miss Primity, their
governess. Both the children wear gloves--they never go out without
them--and in the street they walk quietly; but when they have passed
down the street and got into Hyde Park or Kensington Gardens, they can
run about as much as they like. In the Gardens there is a big round
pond, where Jack can sail his boat; and on Saturdays the water is
covered with white sails, and even men come down and join in the sport,
making their toy boats race against one another. The boats are often
quite large, and the scene is very gay and pretty. There are a great
many ducks, which clamour to be fed; and there are other children there
too. These may be friends of Jack's and Ethel's, and they can play
together, and Ethel can show her new doll, and Jack can boast of all the
things he means to do when he grows up. The Gardens are very nice, but
it is rather dull always having the same walk in the same place every
day, and sometimes the children get a little tired of it, and are glad
when a half-holiday comes and an aunt or uncle carries them off to see
some of the wonderful things of which London is full.

There is another part of London of which we have not ye