X. THE HOUSE IN THE WOOD 201

XI. "UP IN THE MORNING EARLY" 222

XII. BENNY 241

XIII. A SURPRISE 254

XIV. TELEMACHUS GOES A-FISHING 278

XV. THE GREAT SCHEME 300

XVI. THE WIDOW BRETT 314

XVII. OLD MR. COLT 337

XVIII. JOYOUS GARD 354

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

PAGE
"'DO TELL US ABOUT HER, PLEASE!'" (p. 128) _Frontispiece_
"'AND EVERYTHING IS RIGHT FOR SUPPER, MARTHA?'" 23
"'DO SAY IT'S ALL RIGHT, JEREMIAH!'" 77
"THEN THEY HUGGED EACH OTHER A LITTLE" 111
"'DON'T YOU THINK WE HAVE ENOUGH FLOWERS, ROSY?'" 174
"SO DOWN PLUMPED HILDEGARDE" 194
"'OH, SUCH A DEE OLE KITTY!'" 247
"'NOT A THING IN THE HOUSE!'" 333

HILDEGARDE'S HOLIDAY.

CHAPTER I.

INTRODUCTORY.

In a small waiting-room at Blank Hospital a girl was walking up and
down, with quick, impatient steps. Every few minutes she stopped to
listen; then, hearing no sound, she resumed her walk, with hands clasped
and lips set firmly together. She was evidently in a state of high
nervous excitement, for the pupils of her eyes were so dilated that they
flashed black as night instead of gray; and a bright red spot burned in
either cheek. In the corner, in an attitude of anxious dejection, sat a
small dog. He had tried following his mistress at first, when she began
her walk, and finding that the promenade took them nowhere and was very
monotonous, had tried to vary the monotony by worrying her heels in a
playful manner; whereupon he had been severely reprimanded, and sent
into the corner, from which he dared not emerge. He was trying, with his
usual lack of success, to fathom the motives which prompted human beings
to such strange and undoglike actions, when suddenly a door opened, and
a lady and gentleman came in. The girl sprang forward. "Mamma!" she
cried. "Doctor!"

"It is all right, my dear," said the doctor, quickly; while the lady,
whose name was Mrs. Grahame, took the girl in her arms quietly, and
kissed her. "It is all right; everything has gone perfectly, and in a
few days your lovely friend will be better than she has ever been since
she was a baby."

Hild