d inquiringly,

"Audrey?"

"Well, Tom?"--I dare say I spoke impatiently.

"Audrey, speak. What are you thinking?"

"I don't know what I'm thinking," I said. "At least I do, but I think
I'd better not say it."

"Why not?" said Tom.

"Because it's no good."

"Audrey," said Tom again, "you're rather cross, and I'm _so_ unhappy."

"Oh, _dear_ Tom," I said, "don't speak like that. It's just because I
love you so, and I can't bear you to be unhappy, that I'm cross."

"_I'm_ unhappy too," said Racey's high-pitched little voice from the
corner of the room. "I'm vrezy unhappy, and I do so want to det up."

A sudden idea struck me. "You shall get up," I said. "I'm sure mother
never would have wanted us to stay in bed hours after we were awake.
Jump up, Racey, and Tom too; _I_'ll dress you."

[Illustration: For his hair was very tuggy this morning.]

Up jumped both boys with the greatest delight, and we set to work. There
was no hot water! That we had quite forgotten, and it was too cold to
wash properly without it, even though we always had a cold bath too.
Racey made rather a fuss, but Tom was very good, and at last we got the
dressing finished without any worse misfortunes than the breaking of
Tom's comb, for his hair was very tuggy this morning, and the
spilling a great lot of water on the floor. This last catastrophe
troubled us very little, for the carpet was not very new or pretty, but
we were sorry about the comb, as now that Pierson was away we did not
know to whom to apply for a new one! Just as I was telling the boys to
go into the day nursery and warm themselves at the fire, forgetting that
no one had come to make it, a knock came to the door and in marched
Sarah, looking decidedly cross. Her face cleared, however, when she saw
us all dressed.

"So you've been and dressed yourselves," she said. "Well, that's very
clever of you, though I don't know what Mrs. Partridge will say."

But it was something for Sarah to be pleased, and she set to work to
make the fire with good-will, for we were very cold and our hands were
blue and red.

We were helping Sarah to the best of our ability, when stump, stump,
up-stairs again came Mrs. Partridge, and oh, how cross she was when she
saw that her orders had been disobeyed; only, fortunately, it all fell
on me. I was a naughty disobedient child--it was all I that made my
brothers naughty--it was high time some one took me in hand, that was
clear. What she meant by t