the Manor, always
listening for footsteps outside. And one night she got caught. She
came face to face with an officer of the British army, Colonel Webb.
The man was an intimate friend of Lord Cecil's and had been entertained
in the Manor many times."

"O--oh Bet! What happened?"

"Lady Betty gave a little gasp of dismay. 'Arthur Webb! You here!'
she exclaimed.

"'Yes, Betty, but do not fear, I will not harm you or give away your
secret. I thought you were miles from here.' You know, Kit, I always
like to think that Colonel Webb was half in love with her, for he came
and kissed her hand over and over again. Wasn't that lovely?"

The girls gave themselves up to their dreams for
a little while, then Kit said, "And did Colonel Webb
find out that Lord Cecil was there, too?"

"He suspected it after a while, for he knew that Lord Cecil had been
wounded and was ill. So he begged her to let him see his friend. But
it was only after much pleading that she finally allowed him to descend
the steps that led to the tunnel. Colonel Webb waited until late in
the night to be sure that his men were asleep.

"The three friends spent the rest of the night talking of the happiness
they had had together, and the sorrow and tragedy that the war had
brought to all of them. Lady Betty must have been glad that she had
allowed Colonel Webb to come and spend those hours with them, for later
on he was killed in an engagement and they never saw him again."

"How sad they must have felt," whispered Kit.

"Yes. Lady Betty was never as gay again. You couldn't expect her to
be: she had seen and heard of so much suffering and disappointments."

"And did Lord Cecil ever go back to the war?"

"He was in the last campaign that meant victory for the Americans. By
the time the war was over, Lord Cecil was a poor man. He had the
Manor, of course, but there was little money and they had few luxuries."

"But I'm sure Lady Betty didn't care about that! She still had Lord
Cecil!"

"You know, Kit, I don't believe people have a chance now-a-days to show
so much courage. In those stirring times, one had to do daring things."

"If Lady Betty were alive now, I think she'd do something wonderful.
It was her nature."

"I think she'd be pleased if she knew about our club, don't you? _The
Merriweather Girls_! I half fancy her smile is sweeter since we
thought of it," smiled Bet. "She's the dearest thing, isn't she?"

"It's the mos