ket when she went back to the house, and she made
up her mind that she would always carry it with her when she went out,
so that if she ever should find the hidden door she would be ready.

Mrs. Medlock had allowed Martha to sleep all night at the cottage, but
she was back at her work in the morning with cheeks redder than ever and
in the best of spirits.

"I got up at four o'clock," she said. "Eh! it was pretty on th' moor
with th' birds gettin' up an' th' rabbits scamperin' about an' th' sun
risin'. I didn't walk all th' way. A man gave me a ride in his cart an'
I can tell you I did enjoy myself."

She was full of stories of the delights of her day out. Her mother had
been glad to see her and they had got the baking and washing all out of
the way. She had even made each of the children a dough-cake with a bit
of brown sugar in it.

"I had 'em all pipin' hot when they came in from playin' on th' moor.
An' th' cottage all smelt o' nice, clean hot bakin' an' there was a good
fire, an' they just shouted for joy. Our Dickon he said our cottage was
good enough for a king to live in."

In the evening they had all sat round the fire, and Martha and her
mother had sewed patches on torn clothes and mended stockings and Martha
had told them about the little girl who had come from India and who had
been waited on all her life by what Martha called "blacks" until she
didn't know how to put on her own stockings.

"Eh! they did like to hear about you," said Martha. "They wanted to know
all about th' blacks an' about th' ship you came in. I couldn't tell 'em
enough."

Mary reflected a little.

"I'll tell you a great deal more before your next day out," she said,
"so that you will have more to talk about. I dare say they would like to
hear about riding on elephants and camels, and about the officers going
to hunt tigers."

"My word!" cried delighted Martha. "It would set 'em clean off their
heads. Would tha' really do that, Miss? It would be same as a wild beast
show like we heard they had in York once."

"India is quite different from Yorkshire," Mary said slowly, as she
thought the matter over. "I never thought of that. Did Dickon and your
mother like to hear you talk about me?"

"Why, our Dickon's eyes nearly started out o' his head, they got that
round," answered Martha. "But mother, she was put out about your seemin'
to be all by yourself like. She said, 'Hasn't Mr. Craven got no
governess for her, nor no nurse?' an