Milly and Olly

s At Ra

Table of

ough the low nursery window on to the lawn, and let them have their tea out of doors among the flowers and trees and twittering birds. They had found out a fly-catcher's nest in the ivy above the front door, and every evening the two children used to fetch out their father to watch the pa

le blue bathing gowns, and their sand shoes that mother had bought them in Cromer the year before, and then nurse wrapped them up in shawls, and she and they and father went down and opened the front door while e

d Olly, as he and Milly skipped along-such an odd little p

ad to get up every day at five o'clock, you might think i

ours and nobody else's, the garden and the river I mean. Is there anybody up yet do you think-

re to be up now, and that's John Backhouse. I sh

. "I wish we could see them. Somehow it would be quite different s

hey were having a good time all to themselves, before anybody woke up to interrupt them. Mr. Norton took the children down to the stepping-stones, and then, while Milly and nurse stayed on the bank he lifted Olly up, and carried him to the middle of the stepping-stones, where the

ightened, and then in he went; splash! ugh! it was so cold-much colder than the sea used

, and then we'll all dan

that there would be an end of her altogether if she tumbled in. And then, splash! In she jumped by the side of Olly, and after a little shiver or two she also began to think that the river was a delightful bathing place,

htened of us," he said, peering down in

ng. The fishes are hidden safe away under the banks and the big stones. Besides, it's going

nothing of Milly, till up came a dripping head and a pair of hands, and there was Milly kneeling on the stones

an?" said Mr. Norton, holdin

nding on a big stone, and all of a sudde

then I thought you was going to be drowned," sai

k, "it's quite time you came out now. If you stay in

d brought with her. Then nurse took up Olly in her arms, and father took up Milly, who was small and light for her age, and they set off up the bit of road to the house. By this time it was past six o'clock, and whom should t

the sight of them, and Olly struggled h

ied Milly, as she passed them muffled up in

l that their hard-worked father and mother had something else to do on a fine summer's morning than to take them to bathe, and in a few minutes th

his head as he heard Mrs. Norton arrange to take the children next day to a

orrow if I were you," he said to his wif

ome red clouds over there-look! and Nana always sa

ouds may be right and I m

o her bed as it had done almost ever since they came to Ravensnest; but instead there was rain beating stea

the wild strawberries will get so wet. I meant to have gathered some

into the children's room just as they were finishing breakfast, she found a pair o

is mother's knee. "Go to Spain. I don't w

mother, smiling into his brown face as he knelt on her lap, wi

r face gravely on her hands. "Well, we brought some toys, you know, mother.

said Mrs. Norton. "Suppose we

!" said Milly, in a

holidays," cried Olly. "I d

me this morning, I can give you some spills to make, or some letters to tear up for me afterwards. That will save the toys for this afternoon; and some time this afternoon, if it doesn't stop raining, we'l

He yawned a good deal over his reading, and was quite sure several times that h-a-y spelt "ham," and s-a-w spelt "was," but still, on the whole, he got through very well. Milly wrote her copy, then she learnt some verses of a poem called "Lucy Gray," and last of all mother found her a big map of Westmoreland, the county in which the mountains ar

at h-a-y spelt 'ham'

t once-really, could I?" asked Milly, when they had be

easy to go a long way in a pretendy drive. It would only take us

d it take real

three m

ptoe, and stretching out his little arms as high as they would reach

think so, Oll

so krick; I can't see them sometimes when they're flying, they go so fa

putting on her wise face. "Besides, father sa

e's frock to try on, for nurse had taken a turn at the body while Milly had been making the skirt. It fitted very well, and Milly had only the band to put on and the sleeves to make before it would be quite finished. Then nurse promised to put a little white lace round the neck, and cut out a blue sash, that Katie might be quite turned into an elegant young lady. Tea came very soon, and when it was cleared away father and mother came into the big kitchen without a fireplace, next to the children's ro

chattering and skipping up to bed, though on fine evenings they had been stayin

ress, and gazing up into the sky. "Where does it all come from, I wonder?

brushing Olly's hair, and trying hard t

, what's the m

e," said nurse. "To-morrow, gardener says,

away to-night, right away up into the mountains. There's plenty of room for yo

he window, the same gray sky and dripping garden. After breakfast there was just a hope of its clearing up. For about an hour the rain seeme

their lessons again in the drawing-room, "when we

Mil

And I shall say to him, 'please, Mr. Old Gentleman, at first I thought you were quite wrong about the r

ain can do in the lakes you know, so far. Father and I have been he

like the mountains very much, mother; but do you think

ang. "Have you forgotten all your happy sunshiny days here, just because it has rained for two? Why, when I was a little girl,

ck and kissing her. "Now, I don't feel a bit nice this morning. It makes me so cross not to be able

nd they have to go right up on the mountains to get past the water place. And sometimes they have to ge

is is only the second rainy day. Come, I don't think we've got much to complain of. Now suppose, instead of doing all your lessons this morning

hurry. "They'll be so much astonished, mother, for we didn't pro

get half the pleasures and amusements that they did. And, as I have already told you, they could not bear Miss Chesterton, the little bo

y could only write very slowly, in rather big

boat on the lake. And we gathered some wild strawberries, only some of them were quite white-not red a bit. But now it has begun to rain, and we don't like it at all. Perhaps we sha'n't be ab

ing litt

LL

y, and as this was a much easier way of writing than Milly's way, he got on very fast, and Mrs. N

than Milly. We went very slow when Milly rowed. It was very jolly at the picnic. Aunt Emma gave me some cake, and mother gave me some bread and jam. Nana won't let us have cake and jam both, when we have tea at home. Aunt Emma told us a story about King Arthur. I don't believe you ever heard it. The water-fairies took him away, and his friend wanted to go too, but the king said 'N

ittle

L

, all of which the children enjoyed very much, and by the time they were

come over the side of the stream. While they were having their tea, with mother sitting by, working and chattering to them, they heard a knock at the door, and w

uch rain! It does know how to come down here! The water's over the road just by the stepping-stones. John Backhous

ining, and if the river came up and up, right up to the drive and into the hall, and we all had to sit upstairs, an

his mouth full of bread and butter, "and they would put the black boxes into

t, and was seated by Milly, helping himself to some tea, "suppose we got

, "they wouldn't know anything about us till we were dead you know, and then they'd c

y know about Westmoreland rain indeed. This was nothing-just nothing at all; she could remember some floods in the wintertime, when she wa

lly and Olly stood at the window together, and told the rain to be sure to go

other's flowers want a good watering. And there's Spot-you might give her a good w

d, and could only get along by sputtering and foaming as if some wicked water-fairies were driving it along and tormenting it. And all the little pools o

ped up in a wet white cloud-blanket. They could not see the mountain at all from the window, it was all covered with a thick white

e expected to bear this third wet morning cheerfully. Nurse found them cross and out of spirits at breakfast. Even a prospect of asking Becky and Tiza to tea

e discovered him smearing Katie's cheeks with raspberry jam "to make them get red kricker" as he sa

n the floor, which was Milly, sobbing, while Olly sat beside her with his mouth wide op

Norton, taking hold of the heap and lifti

ed Milly, "and it will go on

only rubbed some jam on its cheeks to make them a nicey pin

poor Katie's appearance when nurse handed the doll to her. "Suppose you leave Milly's dolls alone for the future

lessons did not go well. It was all Milly could do to help crying every time she got a figure wrong in her sum, and Olly took about ten minutes to read two lines of his reading-book. Olly had just begun his sums, and Milly

shouted Olly, jumping down

"cars," as the Westmoreland people cal

up, "how good of her to come over on such a

the door open, and who should they see stepping down the carriage-steps but Aunt Emma herself, w

to her, and throwing his arms round her, "are y

u have me to dinner? I thought we'd all be company for each other

of Milly's pulling him by the sleeve to

p inside, and if you crumple my cap I shall have to sit with my head in a bandbox at dinner. Old ladies are never seen without their caps you know.