tors to the farm, and ran to call her mistress to the scene.

"You may wait for me here, girls, while I do my business with Mrs.
Brand," said Miss Frazer; "or if you like you may walk back to the
stile, and I will overtake you in the wood."

Mrs. Brand insisted that Miss Frazer should come into the best parlour
to transact her errand, so, left alone, the girls began slowly to
retrace their steps towards the copse.

"I wonder how long she'll be," said Lindsay, who with Cicely had
lingered a little behind.

"I believe she has to pay a bill and order more butter and eggs and
things, so I don't expect we shall see her for five or ten minutes at
least," replied Cicely.

"Then there'll be just time to run round the farm. I want to peep inside
those barns, and see what is at the other side of those haystacks. It
looks interesting. Come along! The dairymaid is busy milking, and
won't see us, and I don't suppose it matters if she does. We'll soon run
after the others."

Feeling rather adventurous, the pair fled away down the yard, and dived
through an open doorway into the depths of a big barn. How fragrant it
smelled--such a delicious, sweet scent was in the air! Surely it must
come from that great heap of hay in the corner. The girls ran across,
and jumping on to the pile, were soon burying each other with armfuls
of the hay, and scooping out nests to sit in. It was dark inside the
barn--the beautiful brown gloom that one sees only in old castles or
churches, or ancient buildings, and is quite different from the black of
ordinary darkness. Through the open door came just one shaft of
sunshine, in which the specks of dust seemed to float and flutter like
living things. Overhead the great beams of the roof were lost in dim
obscurity; very old and rough they were, and covered with a mass of
cobwebs, among which Cicely declared she could see bats hanging head
downwards, with folded wings, though Lindsay said it was all her
imagination.

It was so nice sitting perched on the hay that neither was in a hurry to
move. I believe they quite forgot about the time, until at last they
heard Miss Frazer's voice in the distance bidding good-bye to Mrs.
Brand.

"We shall have to go," groaned Cicely. "What a nuisance! I could stay
here for hours."

"So could I," said Lindsay, getting up with a yawn, and brushing loose
stalks from her dress. "Let us jump down on the other side of the hay."

I do not know why it should have occurred