,' he began, and, determined
that there should be no mistake, repeated, 'Does Mrs. Ethelberta
Petherwin, the poetess, live here?' turning full upon the person who
opened the door.

'She does, sir,' said a faltering voice; and he found himself face to
face with the pupil-teacher of Sandbourne.

13. THE LODGE (continued)--THE COPSE BEHIND

'This is indeed a surprise; I--am glad to see you!' Christopher
stammered, with a wire-drawn, radically different smile from the one he
had intended--a smile not without a tinge of ghastliness.

'Yes--I am home for the holidays,' said the blushing maiden; and, after a
critical pause, she added, 'If you wish to speak to my sister, she is in
the plantation with the children.'

'O no--no, thank you--not necessary at all,' said Christopher, in haste.
'I only wish for an interview with a lady called Mrs. Petherwin.'

'Yes; Mrs Petherwin--my sister,' said Picotee. 'She is in the
plantation. That little path will take you to her in five minutes.'

The amazed Christopher persuaded himself that this discovery was very
delightful, and went on persuading so long that at last he felt it to be
so. Unable, like many other people, to enjoy being satirized in words
because of the irritation it caused him as aimed-at victim, he sometimes
had philosophy enough to appreciate a satire of circumstance, because
nobody intended it. Pursuing the path indicated, he found himself in a
thicket of scrubby undergrowth, which covered an area enclosed from the
park proper by a decaying fence. The boughs were so tangled that he was
obliged to screen his face with his hands, to escape the risk of having
his eyes filliped out by the twigs that impeded his progress. Thus
slowly advancing, his ear caught, between the rustles, the tones of a
voice in earnest declamation; and, pushing round in that direction, he
beheld through some beech boughs an open space about ten yards in
diameter, floored at the bottom with deep beds of curled old leaves, and
cushions of furry moss. In the middle of this natural theatre was the
stump of a tree that had been felled by a saw, and upon the flat stool
thus formed stood Ethelberta, whom Christopher had not beheld since the
ball at Wyndway House.

Round her, leaning against branches or prostrate on the ground, were five
or six individuals. Two were young mechanics--one of them evidently a
carpenter. Then there was a boy about thirteen, and two or three younger
chil