r, Ambrose?" he asked. "N-no," answered Ambrose.
"There's nothing the matter exactly, only to-day's mother's birthday."

"Well, there's nothing to look mournful about in that, is there?" asked
the doctor kindly. "Your mother will be home again soon, won't she?"

Ambrose looked down at his Latin grammar and got rather red.

"I was thinking," he said, "that we meant to open the museum to-day, and
now it can't ever be opened."

"How's that?" asked the doctor.

This question was hard to answer all at once, but it led to others until
the whole unlucky history of the crock and Miss Barnicroft's money, and
the failure of the museum, was unfolded. It took a very long time, but
as he went on Ambrose found it easier to talk about than he could have
supposed. The doctor was an admirable listener. He said almost
nothing, but you could see by his face, and the way in which he nodded
at the right places, that he was taking it all in. He did not seem
surprised either at anything in the affair, and treated it all with
great gravity, though from time to time his eyes twinkled very kindly.

"And so," he said when Ambrose had finished, "the museum's never been
opened?"

"Never really opened," said Ambrose, "and we wanted mother to do it on
her birthday. The worst of it is," he added more shyly, "that father
said he couldn't trust me any more. I mind that more than anything. It
doesn't so much matter for David, because he's such a little boy, but
I'm the eldest next to Pennie."

"But all this was some time ago," said the doctor. "Have you been
careful to be quite obedient ever since it happened?"

Ambrose thought a moment.

"I think so," he said. "You see there hasn't been much to be obedient
about, only just little everyday things which don't make any
difference."

"You want something hard to do, eh?" asked the doctor.

Ambrose nodded.

"There's nothing much harder to learn than obedience, my boy," said the
doctor, looking kindly at him. "It takes most of us all our lives to
learn it. Latin's much easier."

"But," said Ambrose with an uneasy wriggle, "being obedient doesn't
show. I want something to show father."

Dr Budge looked absently out of the window a moment, and Ambrose began
to be afraid that he had forgotten all about the subject. But he
suddenly looked round and said:

"_Better is he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city_."

Seeing Ambrose's puzzled stare he continued:

"You see