all blown away from his face. He had made a new squirrel-stick,
it seemed. Made it all himself; melted the lead and everything!
I examined the instrument critically, and pronounced it
absolutely magnificent. As we passed in at our gate the girls
were distantly visible, gardening with a zeal in cheerful
contrast to their heartsick lassitude of the morning. "There's
bin another letter come to-day," Harold explained, "and the
hamper got joggled about on the journey, and the presents worked
down into the straw and all over the place. One of 'em turned
up inside the cold duck. And that's why they weren't found at
first. And Edward said, Thanks AWFULLY"
I did not see Martha again until we were all re-assembled at tea-
time, when she seemed red-eyed and strangely silent, neither
scolding nor finding fault with anything. Instead, she was very
kind and thoughtful with jams and things, feverishly pressing
unwonted delicacies on us, who wanted little pressing enough.
Then suddenly, when I was busiest, she disappeared; and Charlotte
whispered me presently that she had heard her go to her room and
lock herself in. This struck me as a funny sort of
proceeding.




MUTABILE SEMPER

She stood on the other side of the garden fence, and regarded me
gravely as I came down the road. Then she said, "Hi-o!" and I
responded, "Hullo!" and pulled up somewhat nervously.