first moment her mother did not notice it.

'Well, dears, here I am!' she began brightly. 'I got my letters finished
more quickly than I expected. What a quantity of things there are to
order when one first comes to a new house! And I do so miss M'Creagh!
Did you see me coming, Alie darling?'

'Yes, mamma--not very far off though. We were up on the sand-hills when
papa rang for Rough, and----'

But Mrs. Vane interrupted her.

'Oh, Bridget,' she exclaimed in a tone of vexation, 'what have you been
doing to yourself? Do you see, Alie? Her skirt is torn from top to
bottom--the stuff torn, not the seam. And so dirty. Your new frock
too--really, child, you are too provoking.'

Biddy's round rosy face grew longer and redder, and her eyes filled with
tears. She opened her mouth to speak, but Rosalys came before her.

'It isn't so very bad, dear mamma,' she said eagerly. 'I've been
looking at it. It looks worse because of the sand, but it isn't really
dirty; it will brush off. She rolled down one of the sand-hills. I'm
afraid it was my fault. It was my idea to play about there.'

Mrs. Vane glanced at Alie's own garments.

'Your frock is none the worse,' she said. 'I do not see that Bride need
have hurt hers if she had been the least careful. But you are so
incorrigibly heedless, Bridget, and _so_ thoughtless. Why, you were