Ah, there is Roger's smock,' she exclaimed with delight. 'Oh, _do_ tear
it up for me; mamma will be sure to give me another for him.' So the
vicar tore the strong linen into strips, and Florence wrung them out in
the boiling water, as he had told her.

'Now, Cap, be a good dog; you know I only want to help you,' she cried,
and Cap seemed as if he _did_ know; for though a little tremble ran
through his body as the hot cloth touched him, he never tried to bite,
nor even groaned with the pain, as many children would have done. By and
by the lump was certainly smaller, and the look of pain in Cap's eyes
began to disappear.

Suddenly she glanced up at the vicar, who had been all this time
watching her.

'I can't leave Cap till he is _quite_ better,' she said. 'Can you get
that boy to go to Embley and tell them where I am? Then they won't be
frightened.' So the boy was sent, and Florence sat on till the setting
sun shot long golden darts into the hut.

Then she heard the shepherd fumbling with the latch, as if he could not
see to open it; and perhaps he couldn't, for in his hand he held the
rope which was to put an end to all Cap's sorrows. But Cap did not know
the meaning of the rope and only saw his old master. He gave a little
bark of greeting and struggled on to his three sound legs, wagging his
tail in welcome.

Roger could hardly believe his eyes, and Florence laughed with delight.

'Just look how much better he is,' she said. 'The swelling is very
nearly gone now. But he wants some more compresses. Come and help me
make them.'

'I think we can leave Roger to nurse Cap,' said the vicar, who had just
returned from some of the neighbouring cottages. 'Your patient must have
some bread and milk to-night, and to-morrow you can come to see how he
is.'

'Yes, of course I shall,' answered Florence, and she knelt down to kiss
Cap's nose before the vicar put her up on her pony.

[Illustration: Roger could hardly believe his eyes.]

Now, though Florence was so fond of flowers and animals and everything
out of doors, she was never dull in the house on a wet day. In the first
place, nothing was ever allowed to interfere with her lessons, and
though the little girls had a good governess, their father chose the
books they were to read and the subjects they were to study. Greek,
Latin, and mathematics he taught them himself, and besides he took care
that they could read and speak French, German, and Italian. They were
fond