his hands on Jan's shoulders and held her away from him.
"Do you know," he said, "I shall always like Hannah better after this.
In spite of her moustache and her grimness, that child was sure Hannah
would take her in, whether any of us were here or not. Now, how did she
know?"
"Because," said Jan, "things are revealed to babes like Meg that are
hidden from men of the world like you. Hannah is all right--you don't
appreciate Hannah, and you are rather jealous of her moustache."
Anthony leant forward and kissed his tall young daughter: "You are a
great comfort, Jan," he said. "How do you do it?"
Jan nodded at him. "It will all straighten out--don't you worry," she
said.
All the same, there was plenty of worry for everybody. The man, after
his fashion, was very much in love with Meg. He was horribly alarmed by
her sudden and mysterious disappearance. No one had seen her go, no one
had noticed her.
He got into a panic, and motored back to the Trents', arriving there
just before dinner. Mrs. Trent, tired and cross after a wet picnic, had,
of course, read Meg's note, thought it very casual of the girl and was
justly incensed.
On finding they knew no more of Meg's movements than he did himself, the
man--one Walter Brooke--lost his head and confessed the truth to Mrs.
Trent, who was much shocked and not a little frightened.
Later in the evening she received a telegram from Jan announcing Meg's
whereabouts.
Jan had insisted on this, lest the Trents should suspect anything and
wire to Major Morton.
Mrs. Trent, quite naturally, refused to have anything further to do with
Meg. She talked of serpents, and was very much upset. She wrote a
dignified letter to Major Morton, explaining her reasons for Meg's
dismissal. She also wrote to their relative among the weariful rich,
through whom she had heard of Meg.
Meg was more under a cloud than when she left Ribston Hall.
But for Jan and Anthony she might have gone under altogether; but they
took her down to Wren's End and kept guard over her. Anthony Ross dealt
faithfully with the man, who went yachting at once.
Meg recovered her poise, searched the advertisements of the scholastic
papers industriously, and secured a post in a school for little boys, as
Anthony forced his cousin Amelia to give her a testimonial.
Here she worked hard and was a great success, for she could keep order,
and that quality, where small boys are concerned, is much more valuable
than
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