will drink some when she knows
your ladyship brought it for her."

The reappearance of the Noah's Ark, when due, confirmed Gwen's view as
to the whereabouts of the basket, and was followed by a hasty departure
of the gentlefolks to catch the downtrain from London. As Granny
Marrable watched it lurching away into the fast-increasing snow, it
looked, she thought, as if it could not catch anything. But if old
Pirbright, who had been on the road since last century, did not know,
nobody did.

* * * * *

The day after this visit, when Gwen was singing to Adrian airs from
Gluck's "Alceste," Irene and her father being both absent on Christmas
business, social or charitable, the butler brought in a letter from Ruth
Thrale in the very middle of a _sostenuto_ note,--for when did any
servant, however intelligent, allow music to stop before proceeding to
extremities?--and said, respectfully but firmly, that it was the same
boy, and he would wait. He seemed to imply that the boy's quality of
identity was a sort of guarantee of his waiting--a good previous
character for permanency. Gwen left "Alceste" in C minor, and opened her
letter, thanking Mr. Tweedie cordially, but not able to say he might go,
because he was another family's butler. Adrian said:--"Is that from the
old lady?" And when Gwen said:--"Yes--it's Onesimus. I wonder he was
able to get there, over the snow,"--he dismissed Mr. Tweedie with the
instruction that he should see that Onesimus got plenty to eat. The
butler ignored this instruction as superfluous, and died away.

Then Gwen spun round on the music-stool to read aloud. "'Honoured
lady';--Oh dear, I wish she could say 'dear Gwen'; but I suppose it
wouldn't do.--'I am thankful to be able to write a really good report of
my mother'.... You'll see in a minute she'll have to speak of Granny
Marrable and she'll call her 'mother' without the 'my.' See if she
doesn't!... 'Dr. Nash said she might have some champagne, and we said
she really must when you so kindly brought it. So she said indeed yes,
and we gave it her up to the cuts.' That means," said Gwen, "the cuts of
the wineglass." She glanced on in the letter, and when Adrian
said:--"Well--that's not all!"--apologized with:--"I was looking on
ahead, to see that she got some more later. It's all right. '... up to
the cuts, and presently', as Dr. Nash said, was minded to eat something.
So I got her the sweetbread she would not have fo