[Sidenote: Peg Startles Everybody]

And yet here was Peg deliberately raking up the painful topic; and after
the other members of the family had duly reproached and abused, ready to
level another bolt at their heads.

"S--uppose we went a burst--hired a car, drove over early in the
morning, and marched into church before their very eyes!"

Silence! Sparkling eyes; alert, thoughtful gaze. Could they? Should
they? Would it be right? A motor for the day meant an expenditure of
four or five pounds, and though the exchequer was in a fairly prosperous
condition, five-pound notes could not be treated with indifference.
Still, in each mind ran the echo of Peg's words. It was Christmas-time.
Why should they not, just for once, give themselves a treat--themselves,
and their dear friends into the bargain?

The sparkle deepened; a flash passed from eye to eye, a flash of
determination! Without a word of dissent or discussion the proposal was
seconded, and carried through.

"Fifty miles! We can't go above twenty-five an hour through those bad
roads. We shall have to be off by nine, if we want to be in time for
church. What _will_ they think when they see us marching in?"

"No, no, we mustn't do that. Mrs. Revell would be in a fever the whole
time, asking herself, '_Will the pudding go round?_' It really wouldn't
be kind," pleaded Margaret earnestly, and her hearers chuckled
reminiscently. Mrs. Revell was a darling, but she was also an