ery curtain would be drawn, and,
besides, Mrs. Handsomebody was not intimate with her neighbours.

Mary Ellen gave us our cold mutton and rice pudding that day in free and
easy fashion. She did not place the dishes and cutlery with that
mathematical precision demanded of her by Mrs. Handsomebody, but scattered
them over the cloth in a promiscuous way that we found very exhilarating.
And, instead of Mrs. Handsomebody's austere figure dominating our repast,
there was Mary Ellen, resting her red knuckles on the table-cloth, and
fairly bubbling over with plans for the prospective entertainment of her
lover! Our hearts went out to the good girl and her Mr. Watlin. We began to
think of him as a dear friend.

"Now, my dears," said she, when the meal was over, "take yourselves off
while I clane up and do my shoppin', but fer pity's sake, don't lave the
front garden, fer if annything was to happen to ye--"

Angel cut her short with--"None of that Mary Ellen! This is _our_ day too,
and we shall do what we jolly well please!" He completed his protest by
throwing himself bodily on the stout domestic, and The Seraph and I, though
we had eaten to repletion, followed his example. Mary Ellen, howbeit, was a
match for the three of us, and bundled us out of the side entrance into the
laneway, triumphantly locking the door upon us.

Without a look behind, we scampered to the street, and then stood still,
staring at each other, dazzled by the vista that opened up before us--what
to do with these glorious hours of freedom!

II

It was one of those late February days, when Nature, after months of frozen
disregard for man, of a sudden smiles, and you see that her face has grown
quite young, and that she is filled with gracious intent towards you. The
bare limbs of the chestnut trees before the house looked shiny against the
dim blue of the sky; they seemed to strain upward toward the light and
warmth. A score of sparrows were busy on the roadway.

After all, it was The Seraph who made the first dash, who took the bit in
his milk-teeth, as it were; and, without a by-your-leave, strutted across
the strip of sod to the road, and so set forth. He carried his head very
high, and he would now and then shake it in that manner peculiar to the
equine race. Angel and I followed closely with occasional caracoles, and
cavortings, and scornful blowings through the nostrils. All three shied at
a lamp-post. It needed no second glance to perceive tha