"He doesn't look as if he thought I was David to-day," said Nancy to
herself; and encouraged by the doctor's attention she went on
confidentially.

"You see, father and mother and the little ones are coming back on
Monday, and the boys are going to open the museum, but Pennie and I
haven't anything to do with that, and we wanted to make a triumphant
arch and decorate the house, and Andrew won't let us have any
ever-greens."

"A triumphant arch, eh!" said the doctor, and Nancy wondered why he
smiled as he said it, as though it were something odd; "but wouldn't it
be difficult for you to make that?"

"The boys would help us," said Nancy; "but it's no use thinking of it,
because we can't have any ever-greens."

"It's a splendid idea," said the doctor thoughtfully. "Whose was it?"

"Mine," said Nancy proudly. She began to like Dr Budge very much.

"Why shouldn't you go up into the woods," said he after a moment.
"There's plenty of ivy and holly there, and you might get as much as you
liked."

"We mus'n't go there alone," said Nancy sadly, "and Miss Grey couldn't
walk so far, and if she could it's too late now, for it would take us
all the afternoon to get there and back, and to-morrow's Sunday."

"But you could get up early, I suppose, on Monday morning and put up the
triumphant arch," persisted the doctor.

Nancy looked quickly at him with a gleam of hope in her eyes.

"If," she began, "someone could go with us--" She stopped, but the rest
of the sentence was written on her face, and Dr Budge understood as
well as though she had spoken it.

He nodded gravely.

"If Miss Grey gives leave," he said, "you can meet me at two o'clock at
the corner of the road. And, of course, the boys are to come too."

"And Pennie," added Nancy. In her excitement she stood up on the bar of
the gate as though she meant to fling herself upon the doctor's neck,
but checking this impulse she climbed down and held out her hand to him.

"Thank you tremendously," she said very earnestly. "Miss Grey will be
sure to let us go with you."

In this way the doctor proved himself a friend in need for the second
time, and now Nancy and Pennie were loud in his praise as well as the
boys. He knew so much about everything, as well as about Latin and
Greek and museums. Where to find the best sort of ivy, how much would
be wanted for the arch, and finally, how to get the bundle of
ever-greens down the hill. He even produced out of one bag