ng
his ties, or brushing his hair, or----

The country was appearing field by field; the train rushed through
cuttings gay with spring flowers; blue was the sky between the baby
clouds ... but it all missed Ronald. What _could_ he have forgotten?

He went over the days that were coming; he went through all the changes
of toilet that the hours might bring. He had packed this and this and
this and this--he was all right for the evening. Supposing they played
golf?... He was all right for golf. He might want to ride.... He would
be able to ride. It was too early for lawn tennis, but ... well, anyhow,
he had put in flannels.

As he considered all the possible clothes that he might want, it really
seemed that he had provided for everything. If he liked he could go to
church on Friday morning; hunt otters from twelve to one on Saturday;
toboggan or dig for badgers on Monday. He had the different suits
necessary for those who attend a water-polo meeting, who play chess, or
who go out after moths with a pot of treacle. And even, in the last
resort, he could go to bed.

Yes, he was all right. He had packed _everything_; moreover, his hair
was brushed and he had no smut upon his face. With a sigh of relief he
lowered the window and his soul drank in the beautiful afternoon. "We
are going away--we are going away--we are going away," sang the train.

At the prettiest of wayside stations the train stopped and Ronald got
out. There were horses to meet him. "Better than a car," thought
Ronald, "on an afternoon like this." The luggage was collected. "Nothing
left out," he chuckled to himself, and was seized with an insane desire
to tell the coachman so; and then they drove off through the fresh green
hedgerows, Ronald trying hard not to cheer.

His host was at the door as they arrived. Ronald, as happy as a child,
jumped out and shook him warmly by the hand, and told him what a
heavenly day it was; receiving with smiles of pleasure the news in
return that it was almost like summer.

"You're just in time for tea. Really, we might have it in the garden."

"By Jove, we might," said Ronald, beaming.

However, they had it in the hall, with the doors wide open. Ronald,
sitting lazily with his legs stretched out and a cup of tea in his
hands, and feeling already on the friendliest terms with everybody,
wondered again at the difference which the weather could make to one's
happiness.

"You know," he said to the girl on his right, "