FATHER’S DEPARTURE. 81

you fishing by and by when Father's gone,
and I'll go out with you all for your morn-
ine’s walk with Miss M. if you like; then if
you stick to me we can talk things over a
bit.” This last is a great condescension on
Jack’s part, forif any one is ever rash enough
to suggest his going out with us, his reply is,
“No, thanks, you don’t catch me going out
with such a troop of girls; why, if any one
met us, they would think I had joined an
‘Establishment for Young Ladies.’ No, no,
you needn’t ask me.”

‘I thank him gratefully, therefore, for his
munificent offer, and just as I am telling him
how good Mother, Aunt, and Miss M. were
about keeping silence on the subject, we hear
wheels coming from the direction of the
stable, and peeping over the low hedge, we
see to our delight that it is the dog-cart evi-
dently going round for Father. At the same
moment we see Miss M. rushing wildly about
the garden, apparently in search of somebody
or Something. Sure enough she flies towards

us directly we emerge from the sheltered
(220) F