shrubs, and
everyone who pays a shilling can go and search for a treasure."

"Ha!" His face lit up with the hunting instinct, which seems dormant in
us all. "Treasures--I see! A good idea. Worth more, I presume, than
the entrance shilling?"

"Oh, much, much more." The pride of the donor sounded in my voice; then
I looked at the poor, old, tired, wistful face, and had a brilliant
idea. "General, shall _we_ go hunting--you and I? I'll push and you'll
steer, and we'll both look, and if it's a man's present, it's yours, and
if it's a woman's, it's mine, and if it's neutral, we'll toss! They've
only just started, so we're in time."

He gripped the handle involuntarily, then loosened it to say:--

"My dear, I'm too heavy. Wait till my man--"

"Nonsense! I'm as strong as a horse. Who waits is lost. To the right,
please, General. Straight down this path, and into the herbaceous
garden. _Quite_ slowly, and keep a sharp eye between the branches."

He quite chuckled with delight. Viewed from the vantage ground of a
bath-chair, a Treasure Hunt was delirious excitement, but he _was_
heavy! I remembered a sharp upward curve some way further on, and had a
vision of myself pushing, with arms extended to full length, and feet at
a considerable distance between the arms, as I have seen small
nursemaids push pram-loads of fat twins. How undignified it would be if
I slipped half-way, and the chair backed over my prone body! Then, of
course, the thing happened which I might have been sure and certain
_would_ happen under the circumstances. We came face to face with Mr
Maplestone, and the General called out:--

"Hi, Ralph! There you are. Just the man we want. Miss Wastneys and I
are hunting. Come and give a hand."

"Oh, if you have the Squire, you won't need me. I'll go off on my own,"
I cried quickly; but it was no use, the old man wanted both, and both he
would have. The Squire was to push behind; I was to take the handle and
pull in front; he himself must be free to hunt, since he was
handicapped by old eyes. He issued orders with the assurance of a
Commander-in-Chief, and we listened and obeyed.

I started by feeling annoyed and impatient, but honestly, after the
first few minutes, it was great fun. The Squire was an abominable
pusher; first he pushed too little and left all the work to me; and
then, being upbraided, he pushed too hard and tilted me into a run; then
we changed places, and he took the