east, but while he drank milk with the little girls, Pixie
emptied the tea-pot with undiminished enjoyment.

"It gives it a flavour," she said. "I like to taste what I'm drinking."

It was not a trifle like smoked tea which would mar Mamzelle Paddy's
enjoyment when on pleasure bent!

The Captain's preparations had been on so lavish a scale that there was
quite a supply of good things left when the meal was finished, and by a
kindly thought these were packed together to give to the children of the
lock-keeper on the way up stream.

When every odd piece of paper had been religiously collected and packed
in the hamper with the cups and saucers, the little girls were lifted
into the boat, Pixie pulled the rudder-ropes over her shoulders, and the
Captain pushed the boat from the shore and jumped lightly into his seat.

They were off again, rowing homewards and passing once more all the
fascinating landmarks which they had noticed on the way down. The
picnickers on the banks were fastening hampers and preparing to depart;
on the green lawns by the waterside servants were flitting to and fro
carrying trays into the house. Inda was beginning to yawn and long for
bed. She leant against Pixie, the weight of the small head becoming
ever heavier and heavier, but roused up again as the boat entered the
"box," as she persisted in calling a lock. She wanted to hand out the
parcel of good things without a moment's delay, but the Captain told her
to wait until the water had lifted the boat nearer to the bank.

It seemed an extraordinary thing that, whereas, in passing through the
lock before they had gone down, down, down, they should now rise higher
with every moment that passed. The children had a hundred questions to
ask, while the Captain stood up and kept the boat in position with a
boat-hook. He explained the mystery as simply as possible, and also why
he was at such pains to keep at a safe distance from the walls.

"You see those things sticking out from the side of the boat into which
I put my oars? They are called `rollocks,' and when you are coming up
stream through a lock you have to be careful indeed not to let them
catch under any of the beams. It would be almost impossible to get them
loose again, you see, because every moment more water would pour in, and
press them tighter and tighter!"

"And what would it do to us if it did press them?" Viva inquired
curiously, whereat the Captain smiled and shook his h