ed open a little
bit, and out peeped a child's head, a small head with smooth short dark
hair, but a little girl's head. We could tell that at once by the way it
was combed, or brushed, even if we had not seen, as we did, a white
muslin pinafore, with lace ruffly things that only a girl would wear. My
heart really began to beat quite loudly, as if I'd been running fast--we
had been so excited about her, you see, and afterwards Pete told me his
did too.

The only pity was, that she was up on the drawing-room floor. We could
have seen her so much better downstairs. But we had scarcely time to
feel disappointed.

When she saw us, and saw, I suppose, that we were not errand-boys or
street-boys, she came out a little farther. I felt sure by her manner
that she was alone in the room. She looked down at us, looked us well
over for a moment or two, and then she said--

'Are you talking to the parrot?'

She did not call out or speak loudly at all, but her voice was very
clear.

'Yes,' Peterkin replied. As he had started the whole business I thought
it fair to let him speak before me. 'Yes, but he called out to us first.
He called us "naughty boys."'

'I heard him,' said the little girl, 'and I thought perhaps you _were_
naughty boys, teasing him, you know, and I was going to call to you to
run away. But--' and she glanced at us again. I could see that she
wanted to go on talking, but she did not quite know how to set about it.

So I thought I might help things on a bit.

'Thank you,' I said, taking off my cap. 'My little brother is very
interested in the parrot. He seems so clever.'

At another time Pete would have been very offended at my calling him
'little,' but just now he was too eager to mind, or even, I daresay, to
notice.

'So he is,' said the little girl. 'I could tell you lots about him, but
it's rather tiresome talking down to you from up here. Wait a minute,'
she added, 'and I'll come down to the dining-room. I may go downstairs
now, and nurse is out, and I'm very dull.'

We were so pleased that we scarcely dared look at each other, for fear
that somehow it should go wrong after all. We did glance along the
terrace, but nobody was coming. If only her nurse would stay out for ten
minutes longer, or even less.

We stood there, almost holding our breath. But it was not really--it
could not have been--more than half a minute, before the dark head and
white pinafore appeared again, this time, of course, on