turned to her. They were almost of a size, but to Natalie he towered an
inch above her. She held up her lips, and he kissed them. Then they
stood and stared at each other. Natalie's short forefinger found its way
to her mouth.

"My dwess is wumpled," she said.

"I got a dog at home," declared Lewis--"a _big_ dog."




CHAPTER III


To Natalie, Shenton, and Lewis the scant twenty acres that surrounded
Consolation Cottage was a vast demesne. Even on a full holiday one could
choose one's excursions within its limits. From the high-plumed wall of
bamboos that lined Consolation Street, through the orange-grove, across
the hollow where were stable and horses, cows and calves, then up again
to the wood on the other hillside--ah, that was a journey indeed, never
attempted in a single day. They chose their playground. To-day the
bamboos held them, to-morrow the distant grove, where were pungent
fruits, birds'-nests, fantastic insects, and elusive butterflies and
moths.

Then there was the brier-patch, with its secret chamber. By dint of long
hours of toil and a purloined kitchen-knife they had tunneled into a
clearing in the center of the thicket. Of all their retreats, this one
alone had foiled their watchful overseers. Here was held, undetected,