those days--though, thank goodness, he is growing
like a house on fire _now_--Peterkin was as broad as he was long. So to
keep up with Clement's strides he had to trot, and that sort of pace
soon makes a kid breathless, of course.

'I--I never thought mamma'd be flightened,' he managed to get out at
last. He had been a long time of saying his 'r's' clearly, and now they
still all got into 'l's' if he was bothered or startled. 'I never
thought she'd be flightened.'

'Then you were a donkey,' I burst out, and Clement interrupted me.

'How could she not have been frightened?' he went on. 'She told you to
run straight home, which wouldn't have taken you five minutes, and you
have been at least an hour.'

'I thought it wouldn't be no farther to come this way,' replied
Peterkin, 'and I only meant to look at the pallot one minute. And it
would have been very lu--_rude_ not to speak to the old lady, and go
into her house for a minute when she asked me. Mamma always says we
mustn't be rude,' said Peterkin, plucking up some spirit.

'Mamma always says we must be _obedient_' replied Clement, severely.

Then he relapsed into silence, and his quick footsteps and Peterkin's
short trotty ones were the only sounds.

'I believe,' I couldn't help murmuring, half to myself, half to
Peterkin--'I believe you've got some rubbish in your head about the
parrot being a fairy. If I were mamma I'd stop your----' but at that I
stopped _myself_. If Clement had heard me he would have been down upon
me for disrespectfulness in saying to a baby like Pete what I thought
mamma should or should not do; and I didn't care to be pulled up by
Clement before the little ones.

Peterkin was as sharp as needles in some ways. He guessed the end of my
unfinished sentence.

'No,' he half whispered, 'mamma'd _never_ stop me reading faily
stolies--you know she wouldn't, Gilly, and it's velly unkind of you to
say so.'

'I didn't say so,' I replied.

'Be quiet, both of you,' said Clem, 'and hurry on,' for we had slackened
a little.

But in spite of the breathlessness of the pace, I heard another gasp
from Peterkin--

'It _is_ velly like the blue-bird,' were the words I distinguished.

And 'I knew I was right,' I thought to myself triumphantly.

CHAPTER II

FOUND

THE carriage was standing waiting at our own house when we got there.
And there was some bustle going on, for the front door was not shut, and
we could see into the hall, which o