hings off. But the assailants were as alarmed and angry at their
position now as the attacked and, while some sought safety by running up
Lynn's sleeves, thus forcing her also to dance and scream, the remainder
swarmed higher and higher up the luckless Muffie.

Miss Bibby's presence of mind quite deserted her. The whole of her
note-book seemed to zig-zag vainly across her brain--her note-book where
she had carefully written down antidotes for any poisons the children
might swallow, remedies for scalds, burns, cut fingers, sprains,
snake-bites. There was nothing about ants! Yet something must be done
and instantly--the feet were the worst.

"Quick, quick! give me your foot, Muffie," she cried.

The child wildly stuck out one leg.

And Miss Bibby with her slim white hands seized the shoe--the shoe all
black with its fierce, prickly living mass--unlaced it and dragged it
off. Her own arms were alive in a moment, but she merely bit her lip and
began to pull at the sock.

"What insanity of folly!" cried Hugh Kinross, sweeping her nearly off
her feet, "here, where's the bath-room?"

Pauline dashed on to lead the way, and Hugh ran the two afflicted little
girls hurriedly before him with one hand, and Miss Bibby grasped firmly
by the shoulder with the other.

Once in the room, he turned on the three taps, hot, cold and shower, all
at the same time, and followed this by dropping both children into the
water.

"You'd better follow them," he said, for Miss Bibby was fidgeting about
as if afflicted with St. Vitus's dance in her arms and shoulders. "Is
there any ammonia in the house? Never mind, I'll go across and get some
from Kate."

He strode away and Miss Bibby did not lose a minute in following his
advice.

He gave the bottle to Anna on his return, Anna, who had only just come
back from the end of the orchard where she had found it necessary to go
and ask Blake--leisurely--for some parsley. She was open-mouthed at
what had happened.

"Here's the armonia, Miss Bibby," she said, going into the bath-room,
"and you're to--to pollute it with some water and rub it on hard. Here,
will I be doing, Miss Lynn?"

The children were gasping and gurgling now with laughter at the
funniness of the whole affair, and even Miss Bibby was smiling a little
at the drowned appearance of all of them.

She applied the ammonia to the bites, then left Anna to help the
children into dry clothing, while, having carefully ascertained that M