behaviour.




CHAPTER IV.

Excursions In A Nursery.


The loud bang of a door was the gong that called Mary back from those
pleasant fields. They whirled from her, leaving her in sudden
realisation of the material.

She glanced at the clock.

"Goodness!" cried she, and fell to scattering her outdoor finery at a
speed dangerous under any but the deftest fingers. Into a skirt of
black and a simple blouse she slipped, and down, skimming the stairs,
to where her charges bided their bedtime.

Opening the nursery door she paused upon the threshold with a little
"Oh!" of surprise. There was a reek of cigar smoke; its origin between
the lips of a burly young man who stood drumming a tune upon the
window-pane.

Mr. Bob Chater turned at her entry. "I've been waiting for you a long
time," he said.

She asked, "Whatever for?" and in her tone there was a chill.