bronchitis. I'm sorry for the sister, but it's a treat for us,
especially as Hugh has got a half-holiday. Mamma is out, Bridget has
taken Baby for a walk, and Mary is talking to her sweetheart across
the fence, so we'll get the hearthrug without any questions."

As she talked, Prudence led the way into the schoolroom. It was
plainly furnished and not very tidy, but it had a homely look--in
fact it reminded Mollie of the nursery in North Kensington, so that,
for one very brief moment, she almost felt homesick. But Prudence
gave her little time to indulge in this luxurious sensation (because
having a home nice enough to be sick for is a luxury in its way),
and Mollie had merely taken in a general impression of books, toys,
and shabbiness, when Prudence called her to help with the hearthrug.
It certainly was shabby and by no means added to the beauty of the
room. They rolled it up with the blanket inside, and, carrying it
between them, they left the schoolroom, crossed the courtyard again,
scrambled over a low stone wall, and arrived at the foot of a tall
tree.

It was a very large tree. Its trunk, grey, smooth, and absolutely
straight, rose from the ground for fourteen feet without a branch or
foothold of any description. At that height its thick boughs spread
out in a broad and even circumference, and across two of these
boughs was built a hut, perhaps five by seven feet in area, and high
enough for a child of ten to stand upright in. It had a floor, four
walls, and a roof, an opening for a door, and three smaller openings
for windows. At the door sat Hugh, waiting for the girls and their
bundle. When they came to a standstill below him he let down a rope.

"Tie the things on and I'll haul them up," he ordered; "and then you