me if I could
find out which of you girls had been out."

"Bessie went out openly, and she came back when we were all up," said
Eleanor, stoutly. "If she'd been doing anything wrong, Mrs. Chester, she
would have tried to get here without being seen, wouldn't she?"

"I know, Eleanor, I know," said Mrs. Chester, kindly. "You think she
couldn't have had anything to do with it--and so do I, really. But for
Bessie's own sake we want to clear it up, don't we?"

Bessie stood her ground bravely, and kept back the tears, although it
hurt her more to have these friends who had been so good to her bothered
about her than it would had almost anything happened to her.

"Oh, I wish I'd never seen you, Miss Eleanor!" she cried. "I've done
nothing but make trouble for you ever since you found us. I'm so sorry!
Zara wanted to come with me this morning, and if I'd let her, she could
have told you that I didn't even see the birds."

"It'll all come out right, Bessie," said Mrs. Chester. "I thought
perhaps you might have done it by accident, but if you weren't there
we'll find out who really did do it, never fear. Now, you had better
come with me. General Seeley asked me to bring any of the girls who had
been out this morning with me when I went to see him. He will want to
talk to you himself, I think."

So Bessie, tears in her eyes, which she tried bravely to keep back, had
to go up to the big house that they could see through the trees. It was
a big, rambling house, built of grey stone, with many windows, and all
about it were beds of flowers. Bessie had never seen a house that was
even half so fine.

"General Seeley is very particular about his birds, and all the animals
on the place," explained Mrs. Chester, as they made their way toward the
house. "Some men keep pheasants just so that they can shoot them in the
autumn, and they call that sport. But General Seeley doesn't allow that.
He's a kind and gentle man, although he's a soldier."

"Has he ever been in a war, Mrs. Chester?"

"Yes. He's a real patriot, and when his country needed him he went out
to fight, like many other brave and gentle men. But, like most men who
are really brave, he hates to see anyone or even any animal, hurt.
Soldiers aren't rough and brutal just because they sometimes have to go
to war and fight. They know so much about how horrible war is that
they're really the best friends of peace."

"I never knew that. I thought they liked to fight."

"No,