Two Little Travellers / A Story for Girls

ut wake and f

t-oh, what

ood things that

nes are a

es never h

airies al

away, and the

nd Flopsy

. Wo

ime-far too long, thought Darby, who liked to use

lace on her father's shoulder, and flinging her a

n't do wifout you. Don't go away

y orders. Besides, I am not leaving you alone. You shall have the aunts to take care of you. Th

eclared Joan warmly. "And I doesn't want no aunties. Auntie Alice is nice, bu

he front door, for already he had learned that Aunt Catharine had a trick of pouncing upon him w

ence to attract a soft little creature like Joan-for a while at least. After a time he knew things would be on a freer footing between

soon be old enough to play with you, and y

n. "Why, how could we play wif

sleeping or crying, and nurse hardly ever lets us touch him. It's because he's delikid, she

e afresh the pain at her father's heart-a pain so shar

s, why did mamsie not stay and take care of us? Other ch

ah,

by, in broken, quivering tones-Darby, who remembered h

e? Shall we not see her again-ne

ve with God in heaven. Her body was tired and worn out, and in a way it had grown too small for the spirit within. And just as you leave off wearing your garments when they grow shabby

"I 'member quite well seeing a big, long box with brass handles and fl

ve headiks. But the thinkin' place and the part of her that used to say 'Joan, darlin',' and 'Darby, my son,' in such a cuddlin'

the father, fondly kissing the

You are not telling us that, father, and that's what I want most partikler to know

ften with us, I believe, although we cannot see her. And by-and-by, I do not know when or how soon," he added, thinking of the cruel warfare in which he was about to take his share, "if you try to be brave and

o exalted, so pure, as if he were already beholding the glories o

No?" as her father shook his head. "Well, will He se

r comes for us we must make no de

rolina, my dolly, wif me, and th

ctly how hard it is this leaving behind of friends and possessions. Did not the Master Himself fo

darling," continued Captain Dene-"more beautiful than I can either imag

er father's knee and snatched up a shabby, battered doll that was lying on the grass

and the pussies. So please tell dear Lord Jesus that He nee

st message to him were to come through the muzzle of a Mauser rifle? Should it find him any

a-time, I expect, and children's bedtime comes early at Firgrove, as I know," he added, smiling into Darby's wi

her to carry them on, the little ones sang a favourite hymn, the key-note of which

urneying

by a

. He dreamt that his father came to his be

nd rubbed his eyes. Then suddenly he remembered that this was the da

ether they trotted downstairs. The breakfast-room was empty. From the drawing-room, whither she had gone to have a good cry, came Auntie Alice, with tears running down her cheeks, while close

Alice, throwing tender arms arou

demanded Aunt Catharine, eyeing the pair severely over the rims

n very truth, gone! So drawing Joan along with him up-stairs, they both cuddled into D

had been turned into a handsome, roomy residence. From the outside it looked rather picturesque, with windows framed in ivy, clematis and wistaria peeping out of the most unexpected places, chimney-stalks shooting up from the least likely corners. Inside, the same surprises awaited one. No two rooms were similar in size, scarcely any exactly the same in shape. There were passages here, rece

es for a drive, or ambled into the meadow, where Strawberry and Daisy, the meek-eyed Alderney cows, browsed at will over the sweet, juicy after-grass. There were big, soft-breasted Aylesbury ducks on the pond, fowls in the yard, pigeons in the dovecot so tame that th

And there also, in a sheltered corner, stood Auntie Alice's beehives, around which the small, busy brown bees buzzed and droned from dawn till dark, laying up their stores of rich golden honey that was to supply the little ones with many a toothsome morsel. Then there

ting his teeth, and life in general, almost too much for him. Aunt Catharine's notion of the needs of children began and ended with giving them plenty of plain, wholesome food, seeing that they went early to bed, were properly clothed, and knew their Catechism thoroughly. She instructed Darby and Joan for an hour each morning in the mysteries of reading, writing, and counting. She drilled them most conscientiously in the commandments, and always wi

t been used to children; she was actually shy of them! She fancied they might be happier without her, so she kept mostl

nd moaned as if in sorrow for the death of summer-then they longed for the dear, loving daddy with a longing that was almost pain! They had letters from him as often as was possible. Darby wrote in reply, and Joan covered a piece of paper with pot-hangers, with a whole str

reseen, that now since he was gone there we