as I intended to save time by motoring to the
Club harbor, where the yacht was lying; and when Starr and I had waited
in the hall for some minutes, Aunt Fay appeared.

"Haven't the girls come in yet with Tibe?" she asked. There was a note
of anxiety in her voice, though, owing to the fact that the blue
spectacles are very large, the wings of gray hair droop very low, a
perky bow of white gauzy stuff worn under the chin comes up very high,
and the face is very small, it is difficult to tell by the lady's
expression what she may be feeling; indeed, there is remarkably little
room for an expression to be revealed; which adds to the mystery of the
Chaperon's personality.

"Are they out?" asked Starr.

"Yes. But they promised to be back at a quarter to ten, without fail,
or I shouldn't have let them go. Tibe's had no breakfast, and he _must_
have his teeth brushed before we start. Oh dear, I'm afraid something's
happened."

"For goodness' sake, don't be excited. You get such an American accent
when you're excited," whispered the Mariner, fiercely. "Be brave.
Remember you're a Scotswoman."

"If I lose Tibe, I shall be a madwoman," she retorted.

"You won't lose him. Alb and I care at least as much for the girls as
you do for your dog, and we're not worrying----"

"That's different. The girls don't belong to you," almost wept the tiny
creature. "You haven't fed them, and brushed them, and washed their feet
every day of their lives since they were a few months old, as I have
with Tibe, and if you're not _very_ nice to me, you never will."

"We never dared hope for quite as much as that," said Starr, "but we
_are_ being nice to you. What do you want us to do? They're half an hour
behind time. Shall we give an order for the Town Crier? I dare say
there's one in use still, as this is Holland."

"If you're sarcastic, Ronald, I'll _leave_ you the moment I have my
darling Tibe again," replied the Chaperon, and the threat reduced Ronald
to crushed silence.

"What took them out so early in the morning?" I asked.

"Oh, Tibe escaped from my room for a minute, and was eating a boot which
he found at somebody's door--a horrid, elastic-sided boot: I'm sure it
couldn't have been good for him--and the two girls brought him back.
They were going out for one last glimpse of that quaint, hidden square
you call 'the village,' which they longed to see again, and they asked
if they should take Tibe, so I said yes, as he's fond of driv