And down went he.'"

By the time he reached the end of the second verse he was almost
breathless. "I was afraid you would say it before me," he gasped as he
concluded the last line; "that's why I hurried so."

"Oh, I was trying to think of something much more--more, well, not so
babyish; more like what Kitty said than what you and Dan said."

"Perhaps you had better compose something yourself," said Dan, "and we
will go on and light the fire and get the dinner ready while you are
about it."

"You needn't be in a bad temper," retorted Betty severely, "even if you
couldn't make the donkey go." And Dan thought perhaps it might be wiser
not to torment his younger sister any more.

CHAPTER XV.

MISSING!

They all struggled to their feet after that, collected their baskets,
and resumed their climb, over big boulders, through furze and bracken,
dead now and withered, but beautiful in the glow of the clear wintry
sunshine, until at last they came to an immense flat rock, with another
rising high behind it, sheltering them from the wind and catching every
gleam of sunshine that possibly could be caught.

Here they spread their cloth, laying large pebbles on the corners of it
to keep it down, and on it they spread their feast, and then at last
there was nothing left to do but sit down and enjoy it. The sun shone
quite warmly, a soft little breeze blew up from the valley, bringing
with it the mingled scents of peat smoke, crushed thyme, and wet moss.
From their high perch they looked down on long stretches of brown fields
ploughed in ridges, with here and there a big gray rock dropped into
the middle of it, and here and there a roughly-built cottage, not much
bigger, seemingly, than some of the rocks. In a distant field a man was
carrying mangolds to a flock of sheep. The bleating of the sheep
floated up to them through the still air, and, with the voices of the
birds, made the only sounds of life that reached them. The scene,
though lovely in the eyes of the children, was desolate to a degree.
Scarcely a tree marked the landscape, and those there were were bowed
and stunted, leaning landwards as though running before the cold winds
which blew with such force across the few miles of flat, bare country
which alone lay between them and the Atlantic Ocean.

To-day, though, it was hard to believe that that sunny spot was often so
bleak and storm-swept that man and beast avoided it. Anna gazed about
her wonderin