llent mimic, but she
did not often now indulge in an exhibition of her powers.

At last Timmy looked round at the clock. It was ten minutes to eight, and
his mother would not be down for another five minutes. So he went back to
the window. All at once he saw in the gathering twilight, two people
walking up the avenue which led to the house. The little boy felt
surprised. "Who can they be?" was his immediate thought.

As far as he could make out the one was an elderly-looking
gentleman--Timmy could just see the rough grey Norfolk jacket and
knickerbockers--by whose side there walked, sedately, a wire-haired
terrier. What an extraordinary thing! Surely that dog, walking by the
stranger, was _Flick_--Flick, having escaped from the stable, and
behaving for all the world as if the stranger were his master. But again
there fell on his ears Flick's distant squeals of anger and annoyance and
he felt a queer sensation of relief.

Timmy turned his attention to the other figure, that of the young lady
who, dressed all in black, tripped gracefully along by the side of her
companion. Evidently some tiresome old gentleman, and his equally
tiresome daughter. He told himself crossly that his absent-minded,
kind-hearted father, or his incurably hospitable mother, forgetting all
about Mrs. Crofton, had asked these two people in to supper. If that was
so, Timmy, who was as much at home in the kitchen as in the drawing-room,
knew that there would not be quite enough to go round comfortably. This
was all the more irritating, as he himself was looking forward to-night
to tasting, for the first time, an especially delicious dish. This was
lobster pie, for which Old Place had been famed before the War, but
which, owing to the present price of lobsters, was among the many
delightful things which the War had caused to vanish from poor little
Timmy's world. One of the few sensible people in the world who know
what other people really like in the way of a present had sent by
parcels-post a lot of lobsters to Timmy's mother--hence the coming
lobster pie to-night.

Realising that the strangers must be very near the front door by now, he
edged towards the door of the drawing-room, meaning to make a bolt for it
into what was still called the schoolroom. He did not wish to be caught
by himself in the drawing-room. But he was caught, for the door suddenly
opened, and his mother came in.

Janet Tosswill "paid for dressing" as the old saying is. She