ed
that there were wider seas than the water pan. Once upon a time her
grandmother had taken her to the bottom of the hill, and at the bottom
of the hill there had been a lot of water, and Fiddle had walked in it
with her bare feet, and had splashed. She had liked it much better than
the chickens' pan.

So she had picked up her three celluloid fish and had trotted down the
path. She wore her pink rompers, and as she bobbed along she was like a
mammoth rose-petal blown by the wind.

At the foot of the hill she came upon a little brown stream. It was just
a thread of a stream, very shallow with a lot of big flat stones. Fiddle
walked straight into it, and the clear water swept over her toes. She
put in her little fish, and quite unexpectedly, they swam away. She
followed and came to where the stream was spanned by a rail-fence which
separated the Flippin farm from the road. The lowest rail was about as
high above the stream as her own fast-beating heart. She ducked under it
and discovered one of her fish whirling in a small eddy. It was a red
fish and she was very fond of it. She made a sudden grab, caught it,
lost her balance and sat down in the water. After the first shock, she
found that she liked it. The other fish had continued on their journey
towards the river. Perhaps some day they would come to the sea. Fiddle
forgot them. She held the little red fish fast and splashed the water
with her heels.

Now on each side of the water was a road, which went up a hill each way,
so that cars coming down, put on speed to go up, and forded the stream
which was a mere thread of water except after high rains.

Randy was talking to the Major as he came down the hill. He did not see
Fiddle until he was almost upon her. He was driving at high speed, and
there was only a second in which to jam things down and pull things up
and stop the car.

Kemp was behind him. He was not prepared for Randy's sudden stop. He
swerved sharply to the left, slammed into a telegraph pole--and came
back to life to find somebody bending over him. "Who is looking after
the lady, sir?" he managed to murmur.

"Young Paine and Mr. Flippin are carrying her to the house. You are cut
a bit. Let me tie up your head." The Major gave efficient first aid and
after that Kemp got to his feet painfully. "Is Miss MacVeigh badly
hurt?"

"She is conscious, and not in great pain. I'm not much of a prop to lean
on, but I think we can make that hill together."

T