a that had come into
his head. He laid down his pasty and trotted down to the edge of the
river. In the wet sand he made little holes with his fingers, put the
stems in the holes, and covered them up as though they were growing;
then, greatly relieved, he returned and ate his pasty contentedly.

A pasty, even to a Cornish child, makes a satisfying meal, and when it
is flanked by sandwiches, and apples, and a good draught of river water,
there is no disinclination to remain still for a little while. The four
sat on quietly, and talked in a lazy, happy way of the present, the
future, and the past--of what each one hoped to be, and of Dan's career
in particular; whether he would go away to school, and where. Aunt Pike
came under discussion too, but not with that spirit of bitterness which
would have been displayed at home, or before a less satisfying repast.
Here, in the midst of this beauty and peace, everything seemed
different. Wrongs and worries appeared so much smaller and less
important--any grievance was bearable while there was this to come to.

They talked so long that a change came over the aspect of the woods.
The sun lost its first clear, penetrating brilliancy, and took on a
deeper glow. Dan noticed it first, and sprang to his feet.

"Let's move on," he cried, "or it will be tea-time before we have done
anything."

"If we are going to have ham and eggs for tea," said matter-of-fact
Betty, "I think one of us had better order them soon, or Mrs. Henderson
may say she can't cook them in time."

The appeal did not touch them so keenly as it would have done had their
last meal been a more distant memory. But, at the same time, the ham
and eggs and cream tea was to be a part of their day, and they were not
going to be deprived of it. So they clambered up through the woods
again till they reached the railway line, and strolled along it until
they came to the farm.

Kitty, being the eldest, was chosen to go in and order the tea, while
the others hung over the gate and sniffed in the mingled perfume of the
roses, the pinks, and all the other sweet-scented flowers with which the
little garden was stocked. Across the garden, in the hedge, was another
gate through which they could see a steep sunny field stretching away
down to the river bank, which was steeper here and higher, with old
gnarled trees growing out of it, their large roots so exposed that one
wondered how they managed to draw sustenance enough