ts in the Baby's Walk. Mrs. Trent and Lotty, the second girl, the
big, handsome one--and he evidently knows them...."

"Who evidently knows them?"

"Captain Middleton, silly! (I told you he was with us, talking about his
everlasting dog)--and they greeted him with effusion, so he had to stop.
But you can imagine how they glared at me. Of course I walked on with
Tony, but little Fay had his hand--I was wheeling the go-cart thing and
she stuck firmly to him, and I heard her interrupting the conversation
all the time. He followed us directly, I'll say that for him, but it was
a bad moment ... You see, they had a right to glare...."

"They had nothing of the kind. I wish I got the chance of glaring at
them. Daddie _saw_ Mrs. Trent; he explained everything, and she said she
quite understood."

"She would, to him, he was so nice always; but you see, Jan, I know what
she believes and what she has said, and what she will probably say to
Captain Middleton if she gets the chance."

Meg's voice broke. "Of course I don't care----"

She held her tousled head very high and stuck out her sharp little chin.

"My dear," said Jan, "what with my gregarious niece and my
too-attractive nurse, I think it's a good thing we're all going down to
Wren's End, where the garden-walls are high and the garden fairly large.
Besides all that, there will be that dog with the teeth 'dead-level and
big.'"

"Remember," said Meg. "He treated me like a princess always."

CHAPTER XV

WREN'S END

It stands just beyond the village of Amber Guiting, on the side furthest
from the station, which is a mile from the village.

"C. C. S. 1819" is carved above the front door, but the house was built
a good fifty years previous to that date.

One Charles Considine Smith, who had been a shipper of sherry in
Billiter Street, in the City of London, bought it in that year from a
Quaker called Solomon Page, who planted the yew hedge that surrounds the
smooth green lawn seen from the windows of the morning-room. There was a
curious clause attached to the title-deeds, which stipulated that no
cats should be kept by the owner of Wren's End, lest they should
interfere with the golden-crested wrens that built in the said yew
hedge, or the brown wrens building at the foot of the hedges in the
orchard. Appended to this injunction were the following verses:

If aught disturb the wrens that build,
If ever little wren be killed
By dweller in Wren'