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+
+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 75755 ***
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+[Frontispiece: She jumped and looked up and directly into the grey
+eyes of the mysterious boy.  (_See Page 68_)]
+
+
+
+  JANET
+
+  A TWIN
+
+
+  BY
+
+  DOROTHY WHITEHILL
+
+
+
+  ILLUSTRATED BY
+  THELMA GOOCH
+
+
+
+  GROSSET & DUNLAP
+  PUBLISHERS NEW YORK
+
+
+
+
+  Copyright, 1920,
+  by
+  BARSE & CO.
+
+
+  MADE IN U. S. A.
+
+
+
+
+  CONTENTS
+
+  CHAPTER
+
+  I  A Glimpse of Janet
+  II  On the Widows' Wale
+  III  Mrs. Todd Intervenes
+  IV  Janet's Kingdom
+  V  Nor Like Other Girls
+  VI  The Fair
+  VII  A Stranger in the Kingdom
+  VIII  Under Arrest
+  IX  The Mysterious Owner
+  X  Peter
+  XI  Another Letter
+  XII  Janet's Passenger
+  XIII  The Greatest Surprise in the World
+  XIV  A Long Day
+  XV  The Day at Last
+  XVI  A Day Together
+  XVII  At The Rectory for Tea
+  XVIII  A Full Cup of Happiness
+  XIX  Twins Indeed
+  XX  Good-By
+  XXI  Conclusion
+
+
+
+
+ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+She jumped and looked up and directly into the gray eyes of the
+mysterious boy ... _Frontispiece_
+
+For a long minute there was silence, and then Mrs. Page did something
+she was rarely ever seen to do; she smiled
+
+"You're not teasing me, are you?" she asked, and her voice trembled
+
+A keen observer might have thought it odd that he chose the blue
+chiffon dress to rub against instead of the white one
+
+
+
+
+JANET, A TWIN
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+A GLIMPSE OF JANET
+
+It was an every-day sort of a looking road, broad and dusty and flat.
+It ran straight across the landscape and ended abruptly in a merger
+of blue sky and sparkling sea.  On either side of it sandy soil
+dotted with clusters of dwarfed scrub oaks stretched out into
+limitless space.  There was an uninteresting sameness about its sunny
+dustiness that discouraged all hope of adventure.
+
+But on a late September afternoon it was the setting of a little
+scene that marked the turning place in the life of Janet Page.
+
+The drowsy quiet was broken first by the short, excited bark of a
+dog, a crackle of leaves and a snapping of twigs in the scrub oak,
+and then several things happened in quick succession.
+
+A long snake scuttled into the road, a wiry little Irish terrier
+bounded after it, followed by a whirling fury of starched petticoats,
+long slender legs and an immense red bow.
+
+This was Janet.
+
+A tiny cloud of dust curtained them all for a minute; when it
+settled, it disclosed a rigid tableau.  Janet held the dog's collar
+in one strong little brown hand, and with the other and the aid of
+one foot she grasped the snake.
+
+"Do something!" she demanded excitedly, as she turned angry eyes
+toward a fat, roly-poly figure that still remained partially hidden
+by the scrub oak, watching the scene with an expression of fear and
+distaste in his pale blue eyes.
+
+This was Harry Waters.
+
+"What do you want me to do?" he asked sulkily.
+
+Janet was too much occupied to look at him, but her voice expressed
+the contempt she felt.
+
+"You might take Boru," she suggested.
+
+Harry made a wide detour and, snatching the dog, retreated hurriedly
+back to the side of the road.
+
+"You're not going to kill him," he said nervously, and he pointed a
+trembling finger at the wriggling snake.
+
+For answer, Janet picked up a large stone.  Harry turned his face
+away.  He wanted to put his fingers in his ears so that he would not
+hear the soft thud that followed, but the frantic dog made that
+impossible.
+
+"Come on back," Janet said at last; "he's quite dead, and I've thrown
+him into the bushes, so you won't even have to look at him."  Her
+voice sounded very grown up and patronizing, and Harry justly
+resented it.
+
+"Now look here, Janet Page," he exploded; "you needn't put on airs.
+It's not such a big thing to kill a snake anyway," he finished
+lamely.  "I could have done it only I didn't see any sense in it;
+even if it had bitten Boru, it wouldn't have hurt him any."  Harry
+was trying hard to justify an act that he hardly understood himself.
+He was a nice boy, two years Janet's senior, and until to-day he had
+never let her forget his advantage.
+
+He tried to assert it now.
+
+"You see, I'm older than you are and I've got lots more sense.  I
+knew that a snake like that couldn't really hurt a dog and so I
+just--"  He paused, and under Janet's cool gaze he blushed very
+slowly, right up to the roots of his hair.
+
+"Why don't you tell the truth?" she asked quietly.  "You know you are
+afraid of snakes."
+
+"Well, what if I am?"  Harry shifted his feet uncomfortably.  "I
+can't help it, can I?  Anyway, your grandmother says--"
+
+"Never mind what my grandmother says," Janet interrupted angrily.  "I
+know it all by heart.  She says you are a very mannerly little boy;
+that's because you never forget to take off your hat when you go into
+her room.  And she says you're respectful; that's because you always
+say 'yes, ma'm; no ma'm; thank you, ma'm,' and she says you always
+look tidy, and that's because you never climb trees and always wear
+shoes and stockings, no matter how hot it is, and--"
+
+"Can't help it if my mother makes me, can I?" Harry blazed out.
+
+Janet paused to consider.
+
+"No, I don't suppose you can," she said at last; "only somehow I wish
+you were different."  Her gaze traveled slowly from his round-toed
+boots to his neatly brushed hair; a dreamy look came into her eyes,
+and the little flecks of gold in the soft-brown iris caught the sun's
+rays and glistened.  She sighed profoundly.
+
+"But if you couldn't kill a snake," she said, speaking more to
+herself than to him, "why, you couldn't ever kill a dragon, you see;
+nor ride a coal-black charger, nor fight for your lady's favor--"
+Her brow wrinkled in a puzzled frown, but it cleared almost at once.
+"I was forgetting," she laughed; "you wouldn't want to anyway, so it
+doesn't matter; that is, not so very much."
+
+She looked around her for Boru; he was busily investigating the
+remains of the snake in the bushes, but at her whistle he trotted
+obediently to her heel, and together they walked off down the road.
+
+Harry, after a miserable minute of indecision, followed.
+
+They walked in silence, Janet a little ahead, until they reached the
+road that ran along the waterfront and passed the white gate of the
+old Page house.
+
+"Aren't you going to go with me any more!" Harry asked forlornly.
+
+Janet stopped and looked at him.
+
+"Maybe."
+
+"When?"
+
+"Don't know."
+
+"Well, I don't care if you don't; you're just a girl anyway."
+Harry's lip trembled ever so slightly and he turned on his heel and
+hurried off, trying to hold his head high.
+
+Janet swung on the gate for a few minutes and watched him until a
+bend in the road hid him from view, then she went up the long flight
+of stone steps.
+
+The Page house crowned the terrace above.  It was big, somber and
+very old.  To Janet it seemed to be very tired, too, as though it had
+waited and watched a long time for the sea, whose waves beat
+incessantly on the shore below, to yield some secret now long
+forgotten by the living world.
+
+Four stern columns guarded the square porch and the old-fashioned,
+ivory-white door with its leaded fan lights and heavy knocker.  Janet
+slipped noiselessly into the wide hall that reflected the glow of
+polished mahogany and soft afternoon sunlight.  Just as she tiptoed
+across the thick rag rugs and was half way up the stairs, the big
+grandfather clock boomed three, and as if in echo to it a voice,
+quavering but still clear and penetrating, called:
+
+"Is that you, Janet?"
+
+Janet had a sudden and unheard of wish not to answer, but she
+conquered it and replied at once:
+
+"Yes, grandmother, it's me."  Before the words had had time to float
+down the stairs she was conscious of her mistake.  "Drat the personal
+pronoun anyway," she said to herself; "now I will catch it."
+
+"Janet, I called you," the voice came again, and Janet started
+guiltily.
+
+"I'm coming, grandmother," she answered, and walked primly back
+downstairs.
+
+Mrs. Page's room was on the first floor at the back of the house away
+from the sea and overlooking a trim little garden.  An old-fashioned
+sleigh bed stood between the windows, and in the very middle of it a
+little old lady, wearing an immense cap, sat propped up against half
+a dozen pillows.
+
+This was Mrs. Page, Janet's grandmother.  She was perhaps the most
+feared and certainly the most respected woman in Old Chester, and
+although she had been bedridden for as many years as Janet could
+remember she took a lively interest in the affairs of the community,
+and no important step was ever taken until Cap'n Page's widow was
+consulted.  Her advice had a way of sounding very much like a command.
+
+Janet knew the room by heart.  She could have told the location of
+everything in it with her eyes blindfolded, so she wasted no time in
+looking about her but went straight up to the bed and sat down on the
+low chair, where all Mrs. Page's callers sat.  It was placed so that
+she could see them without twisting her neck; a thing she
+particularly disliked having to do.
+
+"You called me, grandmother?"
+
+Two steely blue eyes opened slowly, and seemed to bore into the soft
+depth of Janet's brown ones.
+
+"I did; there can be no doubt of that; nor, I may add, of your reply."
+
+For perhaps the first time in her life Janet interrupted her.
+
+"I know I said me instead of I, but I was thinking of something else
+and I forgot," she exclaimed impatiently.
+
+"And may I ask what you were thinking of?" Mrs. Page inquired in
+surprise.
+
+Janet frowned and shook her head.  "It's not the slightest use to,
+for you'd never, never understand.  You see, it was something
+entirely different from all this."  She looked around the immaculate
+room and shook her head again, this time in despair.
+
+Mrs. Page lifted herself on to one elbow and looked at her
+grand-daughter carefully for a full minute.
+
+"Janet," she said severely, "what has come over you?"
+
+There was a long pause, for Janet did not reply.  She was watching a
+butterfly out in the garden and trying to decide what it was he was
+whispering to that big floppy rose.
+
+Mrs. Page settled back into her pillows and pulled the coverlet well
+up under her chin.
+
+"You may go," she said, pointing a bony finger toward the door.  "I
+am about to write to your brother.  I regret that I will have to tell
+him that you are not only careless but rude."
+
+"Yes, grandmother."  Janet stood up, and after she had carefully
+straightened the chair upon which she had been sitting she walked
+quietly out of the room.
+
+Once in the hall, with the door closed, a tiny sigh escaped her.  She
+leaned up against the old clock and stared at a patch of sunlight on
+the rug; Two big round tears rolled down her cheeks unnoticed.
+
+Boru came over inquisitively from his place by the stairs and licked
+her hand.  She dropped to her knees beside him and hugged him
+impulsively.
+
+"Come along, old fellow," she whispered.  "Let's go up to the
+'widow's walk' and think it all out.  I guess grandmother is right;
+something has come over me."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+ON THE WIDOWS' WALK
+
+"But just what is it?" she mused a few minutes later, as she settled
+herself comfortably and pulled Boru's shaggy head down to her knee.
+
+The "widows' walk" was Janet's favorite place in which to think
+things out, for it was on the flat roof of the house, away from any
+possible interruptions.  Martha, the old servant, had long ago given
+up attempting the rickety stairs that led to it.  It was in itself a
+rather dangerous spot.  Many of the boards that went to make the
+platform were broken or badly rotted from long exposure to wind and
+rain.  The railing that ran around it was in the last stage of decay.
+But there was something about it, perhaps the feeling of being up
+among the tree tops, that made Janet disregard its dangers.
+
+As a rule, she was content to sit and gaze out to sea and "pretend."
+The name, "widows' walk," opened up so many avenues of imaginings.
+She often saw the ghosts of the poor distracted women of long ago,
+pacing up and down, their eyes always turned toward the sea,
+searching for a familiar masthead.  Old Chester had once been a
+famous fishing village, and the roof of every house along the shore
+was topped by some sort of observatory.  Sometimes it was a square
+glass cupola, but more often it was a wooden walk, such as crowned
+the Page house, and because in so many, many cases the looked-for
+boats never did return to harbor, these walks unhappily came to be
+called "widows' walks."
+
+To-day, however, Janet had no time for fancy.  Something inside her
+head and her heart was demanding to be put into words.
+
+"I wonder what is the matter with me!" she said again.  "I feel
+awfully different.  I suppose I'm unhappy.  Am I, do you think!"
+
+If any one had accused Janet of talking to herself she would have
+resented it hotly, but it was characteristic of her to pour out her
+troubles to the ever-patient and understanding Boru.
+
+"I'm lonely, for one thing," she confided as she pulled one velvety
+soft ear.  "Of course any one but you would say that was silly, for I
+have Harry to play with, and then there are the Blake children."  Two
+well-behaved, very clean and very shiny girls filled her imagination
+for an instant, but she dismissed them with a frown.  "They don't
+count, because they simply won't play the way I want to.  Harry is a
+boy, and I do--no, I did like him a little better, but you know, old
+fellow, that after the way he acted to-day about the snake, I
+just--well, he is a scare-cat and that's all there is about it."
+
+Boru's eyes, almost as brown as his mistress's, looked up in solemn
+confirmation of her last remark.
+
+Her thoughts wandered for a minute and then came back to the original
+idea.
+
+"I guess lonely isn't just exactly the word, but it's something a lot
+like it.  I want some one to be with who is more like me--"  She
+broke off suddenly, "I wish I had a sister," she whispered softly.
+Her arm tightened around Boru's neck, and she buried her head in his
+shaggy coat.  Then quite suddenly she sat bolt upright, and her eyes
+flashed.  "I'm mad, too; mad all the way through at everything and
+everybody except you,"--Boru acknowledged the exception with an
+affectionate lick--"and I think the person I'm the very maddest at is
+my big brother Thomas.  He's not a bit the kind of a brother to
+have."  She jumped up suddenly, and the breeze coming in from the
+water took the skirt of her gingham dress and flapped it as it would
+a sail.
+
+"Boru, do you know what I am going to do!" she demanded very
+seriously.
+
+Boru was a little surprised and disturbed at being so unceremoniously
+upset but he cocked one ear expectantly.
+
+"I'm going to write and tell him so," she announced defiantly.
+
+Her determination did not leave her even when she was seated at her
+big desk, where everything was arranged in perfect order for letter
+writing.  Janet had written her brother at stated intervals during
+her thirteen years, but each and every letter had always been
+carefully read and corrected by her grandmother.  Stiff and formal
+notes were the result.  As for answers, she had never received any,
+as far back as she could remember, but a brief typewritten note
+reached her grandmother twice a year and stated, rather than said,
+that Thomas was well and that the ranch in far-away Arizona was as
+successful as could be expected under the conditions of the present
+year.  True, he never forgot to send his love to Janet, but Janet,
+from early childhood, had had a very decided idea about that sort of
+love.  To-day she meant to make that idea known.
+
+With a great deal of care and precision she selected an especially
+clean sheet of paper and a square and very businesslike envelope, put
+a new gold pen in her penholder and set to work.  The first words she
+wrote were "Dear Thomas," then she stopped.  There were so many
+things she wanted to say.  She looked to Boru for inspiration He was
+gazing thoughtfully at a fly that was crawling along the floor; the
+instant it started to fly he pounced on it.  Janet laughed.  "Thanks,
+Boru; that is just what I'll do myself; I'll gobble Thomas up all at
+once."  She turned back to her desk and wrote under the "Dear Thomas:
+
+
+"I have been meaning to write to you for ever so long and to say just
+what I wanted to, and so I might as well tell you right away that
+grandmother is not going to see this letter at all.  It's just from
+me to you, and I'm not going to be particular about grammar or blots.
+The most 'special things I have to say are all questions, and then
+some other things that are not very nice.  Perhaps I'd better start
+with those.  The first one is that I think you would be a lot nicer
+if you called yourself Tom or Tommy, instead of Thomas.  Of course I
+don't know what you look like, for the only picture we have of you is
+a baby one that I know you would perfectly hate, but I think you are
+short and frown a lot, and I hope you haven't a beard but I'm afraid
+you have.  I just told Boru, that's my dog, but you probably wouldn't
+like him, that you were not a bit what a big brother ought to be, and
+I really don't think you are, and I might as well say that you would
+have been much more of a comfort to me if you'd been a sister.
+
+"The questions I want to ask you are: What do you do in Arizona, and
+are you ever coming home, and do you ride horseback, and don't you
+like to be with lots of people instead of just with a few that some
+one else chooses for you, and what would you think of a boy who was
+afraid of snakes?  If you say that he's a sensible boy--that's what
+grandmother would say--I'll never like you, never.
+
+"If I only knew you and you were nice like the boys in the books I
+read, how many things we could talk over!  I could ask you about all
+the things that really matter--the things that grandmother won't even
+let me mention.  Thomas, I'm really not too young to be told things.
+I'd grow up all in a minute if I could be with girls my own age.  But
+I don't expect you'll understand, so I won't write any more.  I've
+said some of the things I wanted to and that makes me feel a little
+tit better."
+
+
+She hesitated over the ending, and finally decided just to sign her
+name.  Then without reading over what she had written, lest her
+resolve weaken, she folded up the paper and put it into its envelope.
+
+Boru's tail thumping on the floor made her conscious of steps outside
+her door, and she hastily finished writing the address and slipped
+the letter into her pocket just as Martha opened her door.
+
+"Now, Miss Janet, not dressed for your tea, and it almost six
+o'clock, and Mrs. Waters with your grandmother and wanting to see
+you!  Tut, tut!"  Martha shook her gray head in real despair.  She
+was a kindly old woman, who had served faithfully all her life, but
+because it was so simple for her to do what was expected of her
+always she had never understood how hard it was sometimes for others;
+but she was never cross and usually contented herself with saying,
+"Tut, tut!" in her mild old voice at all Janet's failings.
+
+"What does Mrs. Waters want me for?" Janet asked.  A vision of
+Harry's mother retailing the afternoon's adventure with the snake
+made her heart sink.
+
+"I couldn't say, my dear," Martha replied placidly.  "Your
+grandmother sent me to get you.  Here now, brush up your hair a bit.
+Are your hands clean?"
+
+Janet submitted to being tidied up, and then hurried downstairs to
+her grandmother's room.
+
+Mrs. Waters was seated in the visitor's chair, her back to the door,
+but she turned around as Janet entered and smiled a welcome.  Mrs.
+Page spoke:
+
+"Janet, what is all this I hear about your knowing how to take care
+of sick dogs?" she inquired crossly.
+
+Janet hesitated.  She did know a good deal about the care of all
+animals, but she was at a loss as to how to explain her knowledge to
+her grandmother.
+
+"Well, do you or don't you know anything about them?" Mrs. Page
+insisted impatiently.
+
+"Yes, I do know about them."  Janet's reply came so quickly that it
+surprised herself.
+
+Her grandmother looked at her for a long minute and then nodded her
+head.  "Very well; go with Mrs. Waters and do what you can for her
+dog," she said sharply, and then to indicate that the interview was
+at an end she turned her back on her visitors.
+
+Mrs. Waters took Janet's arm and hurried out of the room.  She was a
+timid little woman, very easily silenced, and she still spoke in a
+half whisper when they were out of the house.
+
+"It's Roy, my dear, our English setter; he has hurt his paw, and the
+veterinary is away," she explained.
+
+Janet gave a mighty sigh of relief.  Harry had not told tales.  She
+smiled at his mother reassuringly.
+
+"Poor old fellow.  I hope I can do something to help him."
+
+"Oh, I'm sure you can.  Harry says you are wonderful with animals,"
+Mrs. Waters replied.  "Roy is such a valuable dog," she added.
+
+They reached the Waters' cottage, just off the main street of the
+little village, and Janet followed Mrs. Waters around to the barn.
+Before the door was opened, she could hear the low moan of an animal
+in pain.  Once inside, she knelt down beside Roy and patted him.  He
+gave her the affectionate welcome, always awarded a true dog lover.
+
+She examined his paw and found the trouble to be a deeply embedded
+splinter.
+
+"May I have a darning needle? she asked.  Mrs. Waters hurried to the
+house to get it.  Janet busied herself filling a basin with clear
+spring water, and she took the towel from its roller on the kitchen
+porch.
+
+"Here it is, my dear," Mrs. Waters said, "and a bottle of peroxide.
+You don't mind if I don't stay, do you!  I'd be sure to faint."
+
+Janet smiled.  "No indeed.  I can get along quite well alone," she
+said, and knelt to her task.
+
+For the next few minutes she was absorbed in her work.  The splinter
+was in deep, and it was hard to make Roy lie still.  She was about to
+give up in despair when a voice, almost at her elbow, said:
+
+"Here, let me help."
+
+She turned quickly, startled, and saw a boy about fifteen, very
+shabbily dressed in old blue overalls and a torn straw hat.  His
+hair, burnt by the sun, was almost red, and his eyes were a clear
+gray.  Janet was too astonished to speak, but with a nod she accepted
+his offer to help, and they worked in silence until the splinter was
+out and the wound carefully bathed.
+
+"I guess I'll let him lick it," Janet said, putting aside the bandage
+Mrs. Waters had given her.  The boy nodded.
+
+"Best way," he said.  "Do you know horses as well as dogs!" he
+inquired slowly.
+
+"No, we haven't any, you see," Janet replied, as she gathered up the
+things and started for the house.
+
+"Too bad."  The boy spoke with a drawl that had nothing of laziness
+in it but a good deal of dreamy calculation.  He leaned over and
+patted Roy.  "Good night, old fellow," he said, and without a word
+more to Janet he disappeared as quietly as he had come.
+
+Janet went on into the house, wondering who he could be, but for some
+reason she did not ask Mrs. Waters, perhaps because that good lady
+was too busy thanking her.
+
+"I think you are so clever, dearie," she said warmly.  "I wonder
+where Harry can be.  It's dark, and he ought to see you home."
+
+"Oh, don't bother Harry," Janet protested.  "I'll run all the way and
+I'll be there in no time.  I'll be down to see Roy to-morrow."
+
+As soon as she was out of sight of the cottage she did run.  It was
+quite chilly, and the salt wind in her face made her blood tingle,
+and all the worries of the day faded away with the last glow of the
+sunset.  It was not until she was undressing for bed, several hours
+later, that she remembered her letter.  Her time had been taken up
+thinking about the strange boy who had come so quietly to her aid.
+When she went to the pocket of her dress to look for it, it was not
+there.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+MRS. TODD INTERVENES
+
+"What are you in such a hurry with your breakfast for, child?"
+Martha, her hands on her big hips, stood in the doorway between the
+dining-room and the kitchen, and looked at Janet with mild curiosity.
+
+It was a gray, misty morning, with a salty taste and feel to
+everything.  Janet looked up from her place where, with the
+assistance of Boru, she was finishing the last strip of bacon on her
+plate.
+
+"I want to go over to the Waters' to see how Roy is," she explained
+only half truthfully, for her thoughts were almost entirely centered
+on the hope of finding the letter she had lost the night before.
+
+"Well, dearie me, that's no reason for bolting your food," Martha
+protested, but she let the matter drop and went back into her kitchen.
+
+Without waiting to stop at her grandmother's room, Janet hurried out
+of the house and started for the village.  She kept her eyes on the
+road, but the Waters' cottage was reached without a sign of the
+missing white envelope.
+
+Harry was lurking in the doorway of the barn, and Janet called a
+cheery greeting to him.  There was no sign of the boy with the torn
+straw hat.
+
+"How's my patient" she asked.
+
+"Ah, he's all right."  Harry was still a little resentful, for he was
+thinking of the snake.  Janet had completely forgotten it.
+
+Roy, at the first sound of her voice, got up from his place in the
+hay and wagged his tail.  Janet knelt and inspected the paw.
+
+"It's a whole lot better, isn't it, old fellow?" she asked as she
+patted him.  "Keep it clean and don't walk on it," she advised
+seriously.
+
+Harry, watching her, laughed.
+
+"You'd think Roy was a human being to hear you go on.  He doesn't
+know what you're talking about," he said.
+
+Janet did not reply, but she smiled into the dog's eyes, and Harry
+had an uncomfortable feeling that they were both laughing at him.
+
+As she talked, Janet made a careful search for the letter but it was
+nowhere to be seen, and with a sinking feeling at her heart she
+realized that some one must have found it.  But whom?  She knelt on
+the floor beside Roy, and the thought worried her brain.  If Mrs.
+Waters had it she would, of course, take it to Mrs. Page and
+then--she shrugged her shoulders.  It was foolish to worry over it
+anyway, until something happened.  It would be a simple matter to
+write another, but somehow the spirit that had prompted her to revolt
+the day before was gone.
+
+"What are you doing anyway?"--Harry interrupted her musings.  She
+gave a characteristic little shrug and jumped up.
+
+"Nothing much," she replied, laughing.
+
+Harry had been doing some thinking himself for the last few minutes,
+and he had come to the decision that it never paid to get mad at
+Janet, for no matter how cross you acted she never even bothered to
+notice you.  So it was with a very different tone of voice that he
+asked as she started for home:
+
+"Do you care if I go along with you?"
+
+"No, come on if you want to," Janet replied, and together they walked
+down the path.
+
+"Let's stop at the post office," Janet suggested, her thoughts, in
+spite of her determination to forget it, still on the letter.
+
+As they neared the little, low, red-brick building almost covered by
+dark green ivy that served as post office and general store for Old
+Chester, they noticed a horse and cart with bright yellow wheels
+drawn up at the curb.  The harness was new and shining, and the
+horse, a beautiful sorrel with slender legs, tossed his head
+impatiently.
+
+"Why, who does that belong to?" Janet exclaimed.
+
+"Dunno," Harry was not particularly interested.  "Guess it's Mrs.
+Todd's.  I heard mother talking about her last night.  She is
+visiting at the rectory, 'cause she's a cousin or something of Mrs.
+Blake's."  The door of the post office opened and he lowered his
+voice.  "Here she comes now."
+
+Janet looked up and saw a tall, mannish-looking woman, dressed in a
+rough serge suit and heavy boots, coming toward them.  She had on a
+soft gray felt hat without any trimming, and she carried a market
+basket over her arm.  Her eyes were small but they were so very blue
+and penetrating that Janet felt they must be making holes in the back
+of her head.
+
+"Hello, whose children are you?" she demanded rather than asked as
+she put her basket into the cart She turned to Harry.  "You're Harry
+Waters.  I know but you."  She scrutinized Janet, and suddenly her
+face softened and she put one big hand on her slender shoulder.
+
+"You're a Page," she said.  "The Pages all have straight short noses.
+Wait a minute and let me think.  Haven't you a sister?"
+
+Janet shook her head and smiled.  It was a merry smile, for she
+suddenly realized that she liked this queer, outspoken woman very
+much.
+
+"No, I haven't a sister," she replied.  "I wish I had.  I have a
+brother and a grandmother, and I think that's all, except Boru."  She
+looked down at the dog who was sniffing at the stranger's skirts.
+"Your horse is a beauty," she added shyly.
+
+"Like him?  So do I.  Suppose you drive me home; that is, to the
+rectory.  I am staying there, and my name is Ann Todd.  Here you are!
+Jump in, Harry.  If you can wind up those fat legs of yours you will
+just fit in the back."
+
+Janet had hard work not to show her surprise, for it was even greater
+than her delight.  She had never, in all her short life, met any one
+who out off their sentences as though they were clipping threads and
+who made up their minds so quickly.
+
+They reached the rectory before she could think of anything to say,
+and then all she could stammer was, "Oh, thank you ever so much; it
+was simply thrilling."
+
+Alice and Mildred Blake were sitting in the tiny little flower
+garden, both busy with yards of green bunting which they were sewing
+together in long strips.  They looked up in surprise as they saw
+Janet and Harry.
+
+"Oh, Janet, will your grandmother really let you; isn't that
+wonderful!" they exclaimed.
+
+Janet was utterly bewildered.  "What are you talking about!" she
+demanded.  "Will my grandmother let me do what!"
+
+Alice and Mildred looked at each other in confusion, and then at Mrs.
+Todd.
+
+"We thought--" Alice began.
+
+"Cousin Ann and mother said--" finished Mildred.
+
+Mrs. Todd laughed heartily at their embarrassment and put her arm
+around Janet.
+
+"Perhaps I can explain," she said.  "The girls are talking about the
+church fair.  Their mother said something last night about your
+grandmother's never letting you take any part in it, and I said that
+I would undertake to see that you came this year, and so I will."
+Her jaw snapped with such decision as she said these words that Janet
+almost jumped.
+
+"That's awfully nice of you," she replied politely, "but
+grandmother's mind is rather hard to change.  I never try."
+
+"Why won't she let you?" Alice asked timidly.
+
+"I hardly remember,"--Janet laughed.  "It's so long since I ceased to
+come.  I was ten then and I thought it would be such fun, but--well,
+I didn't, and I've never asked since.  I think being out late was one
+of the reasons."
+
+"Humph!" was all Mrs. Todd had to say, but a few minutes later she
+offered to drive Janet home.
+
+"And I'll stop in and say 'how do you do,' too, while I'm there," she
+decided.
+
+On the way, as they bowled along the soft sandy road, Janet worried a
+little.  It was luncheon time, and her grandmother never saw visitors
+until after three o'clock, but it would be quite useless even to try
+to explain this to Mrs. Todd, for in her own way she was just as
+positive and determined as the eccentric Mrs. Page.
+
+"Grim as ever,"--Mrs. Todd laughed as the house came into view.
+"It's twenty years since I opened that front door but, bless my soul,
+I know that everything is going to be just the same."
+
+"Why, did you ever live here!" Janet looked at her companion in
+surprise.
+
+"I did, and I was in this house almost as much as I was in my own.
+Your father and I were the best of friends."
+
+"Oh!" was all Janet had time to say, before Martha appeared at the
+door.
+
+Mrs. Todd nodded to her and tied the horse to the garden gate and
+walked slowly up the narrow, moss-grown walk, a whimsical smile on
+her thin face.
+
+Martha was speechless, and Janet had to laugh as she watched her curl
+one end of her apron into a hard little knot.
+
+"Well, Martha,"--Mrs. Todd held out her hand--"don't look as though
+you had seen a ghost."
+
+Martha managed to say something, but she was quite powerless to stop
+the visitor from striding into the house and walking unannounced into
+Mrs. Page's room.
+
+Janet sat down on the stone seat in the garden and waited.  Boru
+stretched out on the path at her feet and panted after his run.  Not
+a sound came from the house.
+
+Janet did not try to imagine what was going on in her grandmother's
+room.  She was conscious that a big change had come into her life,
+and she dimly realized that in the future she would spend more time
+in thinking than she had ever spent before.  It seemed as though she
+was conscious of the world around her, and instead of just accepting
+it she felt that she was a part of it.
+
+"Janet Page," she said aloud, and stared hard at the old sun-dial.
+Suddenly Boru barked, and she jumped as though she had been wakened
+from a dream.  The dog rushed to the corner of the garden, and Janet
+looked up just in time to see the rim of a torn straw hat disappear
+over the wall.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+JANET'S KINGDOM
+
+Janet did not have time to investigate further, for at that moment
+Martha beckoned her mysteriously into the house.  It was plain to be
+seen that the old servant was greatly disturbed.
+
+"What's the matter!" Janet inquired in a whisper, for she caught some
+of the suspense.
+
+"Oh, Miss Janet, whatever shall we do?" Martha exclaimed.  "Mrs. Todd
+walked into your grandmother's room, and they have been arguing ever
+since.  Your grandmother will have a turn I know, and yet I don't
+dare to interrupt them.  What shall I do?"
+
+It was a proof of the Great Change to be consulted, and Janet smiled
+with something like pride.
+
+"I shouldn't do anything if I were you," she replied quietly.
+"Perhaps they are not arguing any more.  They may just be talking;
+they're old friends, you know."
+
+Martha shot a quick glance toward the closed door.  "Old friends,"
+she said, and then, thinking better of it, she did not finish the
+sentence, but said instead, "Sit down to your luncheon, child, do;
+it's getting cold and there's no reason to wait."
+
+Janet nodded and went into the dining-room.  She took a long time
+over her chops and sweet potatoes, but she finished without hearing
+the door to her grandmother's room open.
+
+Martha was almost in tears.  "Your grandmother has had no luncheon,"
+she protested.  "Dearie me, what shall I do?"
+
+"Take my advice and wait until she calls you," Janet advised.  "You
+know she doesn't like to be disturbed.  I'm going out," she added.
+"No, Boru, you can't come to-day; stay home, like a good dog."
+
+Boru buried his head in his paws and with a very mournful expression
+watched her leave.  He knew that there was one mysterious place to
+which he was never allowed to accompany his mistress, and he resented
+it.  He was right in guessing that she was going there to-day.
+
+Janet left the house by the door that led to the steps and down to
+the sea road.  The water looked sparkling blue and inviting, and she
+hurried along until she came to a small dock, very much the worse for
+age.  She untied a row boat and found two broken oars that were
+hidden in the tall grass beside the road.  There was no one in sight
+as she pushed off, and only a few sails were visible flapping smartly
+out beyond the harbor.
+
+Her cheeks were flushed as she sent the old boat skimming over the
+water, for she was on her way to her secret kingdom.  Though she had
+sailed to it many times there was always the chance of discovery, and
+that added zest to the adventure.
+
+The point of land toward which she was heading was quite a distance
+off, and looked to be rather a desolate island.  It was, in reality,
+however, a part of the mainland, for the bay came in, and the land
+around it was shaped like a big hook.  There were a few fishing huts
+along the shore, and farther inland low farms nestled into the hills.
+
+Janet chose a certain cove to land in and pulled her boat safely up
+on shore, and then she started off at a brisk walk.  At this
+particular point of the beach the sand dunes were very high, and she
+was screened from sight except from the water front.  She walked for
+about a quarter of a mile and then began to climb.  Up above her on a
+rising knoll of ground a little way beyond the sand dunes was an old
+gray house.  It was large and very rambling, but it was tumbling
+down.  The roof sagged at one end, and the two big chimneys were
+crumbling to ruin.  There was not a sign of life anywhere about it or
+in the many ramshackled farm buildings that evidently belonged to it.
+All the windows were boarded up but one, a very small one that led
+into the cellar.  Janet pushed it open gently and slid down as far as
+she could and then dropped.  It was very dark and very musty.  She
+groped her way to the rickety stairs as quickly as she could.  The
+door at the top opened with a groan as she pushed, and she was in a
+long, low-ceilinged kitchen.  Rain had come down through the leaky
+roof and rusted the stove, the furniture was covered with dust, and a
+forlorn china cup with its handle broken lay dejectedly on one corner
+of the table.
+
+Janet glanced hurriedly about her, to make sure that no one had been
+in the room since she had, and then hurried into the front hall.
+Some heavy pieces of furniture were partly covered by torn and dirty
+sheets; they looked like ghosts in the dim light that filtered in
+through the boarded windows.  Janet, in spite of the many times that
+she had passed them, could not repress a shiver, and she gave a sigh
+of relief as she closed the door of another room behind her.  She was
+in her kingdom at last, and she surveyed it with sparkling eyes.  It
+was a long room with a low ceiling that ran the length of the house.
+In the center along one side was a huge fireplace.  Each one of the
+six windows had a broad window seat.  There was very little
+furniture, and none of it was covered by dust sheets.  In
+consequence, the stuffing was coming out of several of the chairs and
+a puddle of water had sopped into the big horsehair sofa.  The only
+human looking thing in the room was a pair of gloves on one end of
+the table.  They were badly mildewed and they looked very limp and
+lifeless, but they had belonged to some one of the mysterious owners
+of the house, and Janet always nodded to them with mock respect.  It
+was the books that made the room a kingdom.  Rows and rows of them
+lined the walls from floor to ceiling.  Some of them were damp and
+moldy but they were all readable, and that was all that mattered to
+Janet, though she sometimes cried over a broken binding and patted it
+quite as she would have stroked a hurt puppy.
+
+"Well, my darlings, I have come back to you," she said as she slipped
+to her knees before a corner bookcase, "and I want you to be very
+kind to me and take me far, far away to--"  She let her hand wander
+over the backs of the books until it rested on one, "Greece," she
+finished, as she read the title.
+
+She made herself as comfortable as possible in one of the window
+seats, and for an hour she was so engrossed in the old fables and the
+stirring tales of the gods that she forgot the time.  It was only
+when the light through the chink of the boarding grew too dim to see
+that she realized with a start that it was getting late.
+
+"And I never looked up about Roy's paw in that animal book!" she
+exclaimed.  Had Mrs. Page heard her, she might have understood where
+she had learned so much about the care of dogs.
+
+Janet hurriedly put her book back and went to the bookcase across the
+room to find what she wanted.
+
+"That's funny," she said.  "I thought I left it--why, I did; here's
+the place where it belongs."  An empty hole on the bottom shelf
+confronted her, and looked as if the smiling row had lost a tooth.
+
+Without exactly knowing why, Janet was frightened.  She had looked
+upon this room as so particularly hers for so long that there was
+something uncanny in the thought that some one else had dared to
+trespass.
+
+"Perhaps I put it back somewhere else."  She tried to comfort herself
+with this thought, but she could not get rid of the queer feeling
+that some other hands were touching her loves, and that other eyes
+were seeing into her enchanted pages.
+
+She puzzled over it as she rowed home, but it was impossible to come
+to any conclusion.
+
+Martha was waiting for her in the hall; her face was even whiter than
+it had been earlier in the day.
+
+"Miss Janet, you're back, thank goodness; your grandmother has been
+calling for you all afternoon."
+
+"When did Mrs. Todd leave!" Janet enquired.
+
+"She hasn't left at all," Martha gasped.  "She's sat in there the
+whole blessed day.  Only an hour ago she came into my kitchen as
+smiling as you please, and said she and Mrs. Page would have a cup of
+tea and some toast and jam.  I took it in, and, well, Miss Janet,
+it's beyond me; indeed it is!"
+
+"But, Martha, why shouldn't they have tea?  Grandmother always has it
+for her guests."  Janet laughed.
+
+Martha sighed profoundly.
+
+"If you knew all that I know of those two and then to see them
+smiling and laughing together," Martha shook her head, unable to give
+vent to her feelings in mere words.
+
+Janet raced upstairs and changed her dress, and in a very few minutes
+she was knocking at her grandmother's door.
+
+"Oh, it's you, is it, dear child!" Mrs. Todd called as she entered.
+"I was hoping you would get back in time to drive me home."
+
+"Ann, don't presume too far," Mrs. Page said tartly.  "Janet, where
+have you been?"
+
+Janet decided that the change in her grandmother was not as great as
+Martha had led her to suppose, so she answered as she always did.
+
+"I have been out most of the time."
+
+"To whom are you speaking!" Mrs. Page inquired.
+
+Janet sighed and blushed a little; it was not like her grandmother to
+find fault before people.
+
+"I'm sorry, 'I have been out most of the time, grandmother,'" she
+corrected, but a second later she almost laughed aloud for she was
+sure she had heard Mrs. Todd say "fiddlesticks" under her breath.
+
+"I wanted you all afternoon," Mrs. Page went on.  "However, we will
+let that pass.  Mrs. Todd wishes you to help this year at the church
+fair and I have given my consent under one condition--that you are
+home here by nine o'clock."
+
+"Ten," corrected Mrs. Todd crisply.
+
+"What did you say, Ann?" Mrs. Page's eyes flashed.
+
+"I said ten," Mrs. Todd repeated.  "Ten was the hour we agreed on.
+And now I must be going, as my eyes are not what they used to be and
+these new roads puzzle me.  I must ask you to let Janet drive me
+home."
+
+For a long minute there was silence, and then Mrs. Page did something
+she was rarely ever seen to do; she smiled.
+
+[Illustration: For a long minute there was silence, and then Mrs.
+Page did sometning she was rarely ever seen to do; she smiled.]
+
+"You are a very smart woman, Ann Todd, and I'm a very old one.  Have
+your own way, but remember your promise," she said.
+
+The drive through the twilight was wonderful, for Mrs. Todd let Janet
+do the driving while she sat back and talked.
+
+"You're a funny youngster," she said when they were half way to the
+village.  "You haven't asked me a single question."
+
+"About grandmother, do you mean?" Janet laughed.  "I didn't have to.
+You see, you made her let me go and that's all that matters."
+
+"Aren't aren't you curious to know how?"
+
+Janet shook her head.
+
+"Well, I'll tell you.  I bullied her.
+
+"Your grandmother is a very remarkable woman," she added after a
+silence that lasted until they were turning into the driveway of the
+rectory grounds.
+
+"I think she is too," Janet said loyally, "and every one is sure to
+like her when they know and understand her."
+
+Mrs. Todd got out at the carriage block.  "Bless the child," she said
+almost tenderly, but a second later, as she was going up the steps,
+she said in her usual brisk manner, "Come 'round to-morrow and see
+me; we'll have a chat."
+
+Janet gave the horse over to the hired man and walked slowly home.
+She was so absorbed in her thoughts that she reached the end of the
+garden wall before she knew it.
+
+The sound of an automobile made her hurry to the side of the road.
+Motors were not very common in Old Chester, for it was away from the
+beaten track and the roads were very bad.  Janet was a little ashamed
+of her interest in them, but she could never resist staring at them.
+The one that was approaching now had powerful searchlights, and she
+watched them, fascinated.  It looked as though they were sweeping
+right on to her very feet.  Suddenly they fell across the corner of
+the garden wall.  It was only for a minute, but it was long enough to
+illuminate a patch of ground and to bring out into sharp relief a
+torn straw hat and a thick book bound in dull blue, embossed with a
+gold dog.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+NOT LIKE OTHER GIRLS
+
+"My dear, you look tired out!" Mrs. Blake exclaimed the next morning,
+when Janet, very flushed and blown, presented herself at the rectory.
+"What have you been doing?"
+
+"Oh, it's an awfully windy morning, but I'm not really tired," Janet
+replied.
+
+"Yes, it's blowing a gale and it must be hard to walk," Mrs. Blake
+agreed.  "It's bad enough down here, but it must be dreadful up at
+your house.  I can't be glad enough that we are not on the shore; the
+sound of the waves would depress me so," she added as she gave a
+little shudder and held the door open for Janet to come in.
+
+Janet did not bother to tell her that she had battled with those same
+waves in a leaky boat not half an hour ago, for she knew Mrs. Blake
+would not understand the importance of replacing a certain book in a
+certain shelf, nor would she see anything funny in the sight of a
+torn straw hat lying beside a pair of old gloves.  But Janet had a
+very vivid imagination, and she had rowed over that morning to the
+Kingdom in order to replace the animal book and further to confuse
+the mysterious boy, she had left his hat on the library table.  Her
+only regret was that she would not be there to see his expression
+when he found it.  There could be no doubt now that he knew the
+secrets of the deserted house--the hat and book proved it.  But
+Janet, remembering the look in his gray eyes and the way he had
+patted Roy, could not find it in her heart to be angry.
+
+A bright fire burned in the rectory living room, and Alice and
+Mildred were sitting beside it.  They were still working over the
+green bunting.
+
+Janet's heart sank.  She hated to sew, for her fingers, in spite of
+Martha's patient teachings, insisted on acting like thumbs.
+
+"What would you like to do, my dear?" Mrs. Blake inquired sweetly.
+"Will you help the girls or would you rather do something else?"
+
+"I'll do whatever you like," Janet said hesitatingly, "but I think
+perhaps I could do something else better than I could sew.  I'm not
+very good at sewing, you see."
+
+Alice and Mildred looked up in shocked surprise.
+
+"Don't you like to sew?" Mildred said incredulously.
+
+Janet flushed.  "No, I don't," she said bluntly.
+
+"How odd!" Mildred and Alice exclaimed together.  "We love it."
+
+"Daughters!" Mrs. Blake warned, for she had caught the suggestion of
+scorn in their voices, and she was quick to notice Janet's flush.
+
+At that moment the door from the dining-room opened, and Mrs. Todd
+entered.  Her cheeks were flushed, and her narrow little eyes seemed
+brighter than ever.
+
+"Morning everybody," she greeted, smiling at Janet.  "You look very
+cozy in here, but you also look very stuffy.  What's the matter,
+Janet!"
+
+"Nothing, only I'm afraid I'm not going to be much of a help," Janet
+confessed.  "I don't like to sew, you see."  Janet always said "you
+see" when she was embarrassed.
+
+"Neither do I,"--Mrs. Todd laughed.  "Had to do too much of it when I
+was a child."
+
+"Perhaps we can find something else for Janet to do," Mrs. Blake
+interposed.
+
+"Why, of course, we can.  Come with me, Janet.  We'll rig up the
+fishing pond."
+
+Janet waited until she was well away from the library before she
+asked what a fishing pond was.  She was used to doing all the
+explaining and all of the leading when it came to playing with other
+girls, she had played so seldom with them, and this new and scornful
+attitude of the Blakes made her unreasonably angry.  She knew that if
+she were competing in climbing trees or rowing--anything that took
+courage--she would be their superior.  But when it was a question of
+sewing, she had to admit herself beaten.  The thought made her very
+unhappy, for above everything else in the world Janet wanted to be
+like other girls.  Not the Blake girls, but the girl heroines she had
+read of and dreamed of as friends in her Kingdom.
+
+Mrs. Todd noticed the worried expression on her face and did her best
+to dispell it by giving her something else to think about.
+
+"A fish pond," she explained in answer to her question, "is a very
+easy way of making people spend money.  You put up a screen and sell
+little wooden fish poles for ten cents.  The buyer goes fishing over
+the screen and some one ties a present to the end of the line."
+
+Mrs. Todd watched Janet closely, and laughed with delight as the
+frown deepened on her face.
+
+"Well?" she inquired, "what do you think of it!"
+
+"Not very much," Janet answered truthfully.  "Isn't there a better
+way?"
+
+"I should think there would be,"--Mrs. Todd chuckled.  "If you can
+suggest one we'll change it and surprise them all."
+
+"Why not let them really fish?"
+
+"In water!  What would you have them catch?  Pincushions and tidies
+wouldn't be improved by a ducking."
+
+Janet thought for a minute.  They were in the Sunday-school rooms,
+and she was sitting perched up on the high platform.
+
+"Why can't they catch things that come from the sea!" she suggested.
+
+"What, for instance!"
+
+"Oh, shells and coral and fishes and stones.  They are every bit as
+sensible as pincushions and so much prettier."
+
+"No doubt about that,"--Mrs. Todd laughed--"but where shall we get
+them?"
+
+"Oh, we have just loads of them up in the attic; queer old shells
+from all over the world that my great-grandfather, I think it was,
+brought home with him."
+
+"But, my child, you can't give those away," Mrs. Todd protested.
+
+"Why not?"
+
+"Your grandmother--"
+
+"Oh, she wouldn't mind; she can't bear them.  You know, she hates
+anything that reminds her of the water."  Janet looked at her
+companion wonderingly.
+
+"Queer, isn't it?" she said.
+
+Mrs. Todd looked at her with a peculiar light in her steely eyes.
+"Not under the circumstances," she said softly, but though Janet
+waited she did not say any more.
+
+"I asked grandmother once, oh, long ago, if I might play with those
+shells,"--Janet returned to the subject in hand--"and she said I
+might do anything I liked with them as long as I kept them out of her
+sight."
+
+Mrs. Todd seemed to consider the idea.  Finally she said,
+
+"Well, bring them along with you this afternoon, and if they are of
+no value we'll use them and surprise the neighborhood."
+
+
+"They certainly are beauties," she said, when after luncheon Janet
+had returned with a box full of queer old shells and rough bits of
+coral.
+
+"They must have come a long way, to judge by the looks of them."
+
+"Well, I think my great-grandfather used to sail all the way 'round
+the world," Janet replied.  "Do you think they will do?"
+
+Mrs. Todd looked at her.  "Do, child!  Why, they will cause so much
+excitement that our booth will be by far the most popular.  The only
+reason I hesitate is that I am afraid that some day you will be sorry
+you were so generous."
+
+"But how silly,"--Janet laughed.  "These are only a few of what we
+have.  There are heaps left in the attic."
+
+"Settled,"--Mrs. Todd laughed.  "And now, Miss Original, will you
+please tell me what other ideas you have lurking in the back of your
+brain?"
+
+"Now you're teasing,"--Janet laughed.  "There's nothing else to think
+of, except the pond itself, and that ought to be easy.  A big tub of
+real sea water with pebbles and sand banked around it, and perhaps we
+could borrow some of Mrs. Blake's palms.  She has so many, and, oh,
+well, we can make it look--now, you're laughing at me."
+
+"Not a bit of it," Mrs. Todd denied emphatically.  "I am laughing
+with you, and there's all the difference in the world between the
+two.  But I would like to know just where you got all your
+imagination."
+
+For a minute Janet was tempted to tell the secret of the Kingdom, but
+with a start she realized that it was no longer just her secret alone
+and that in telling it she would almost be guilty of betraying a
+confidence.
+
+The Sunday-school room was gradually filling up with people.  Janet
+knew them all and bowed politely to each in turn.  For the most part
+the women from the farms, who were bringing in their donations of
+pies and cakes, stared at her with ill-concealed curiosity.  Although
+she did not know it, Janet was often the topic of conversation and
+gossip at sewing bees.  Women with daughters often spoke of her as
+"that poor lonely child," and thought of her as different from other
+girls.  It was a decided shock to see her in eager consultation with
+Mrs. Todd--a most important person--her cheeks ablaze and her eyes
+sparkling, and having quite as good a time as any ordinary girl; and
+acting for the most part with far less affectation than their own
+children.
+
+But though Janet did not show it, she was conscious of the eyes upon
+her, and it did make her uncomfortable.  She was very much relieved
+when Mrs. Todd stopped in the middle of a sentence and said:
+
+"Stuffy; let's go out and see about finding our landscape."
+
+Once outside, Janet drew a breath of relief.  Harry Waters was
+passing, and she hailed him with so much enthusiasm that he decided
+that he was forgiven and he responded joyfully.
+
+"Want to help me this afternoon?" Janet inquired.  "I want a big box
+of sand, and Mrs. Todd says we may drive her horse and cart to the
+shore.  You get a box," she directed in her old manner.
+
+Harry was too delighted to be back into favor again to make any
+objections and dashed off at once.
+
+Mrs. Todd nodded her head slowly and laughed.  "Boys are better fun
+than girls, eh?" she inquired.
+
+"Heaps," Janet replied, as she disappeared into the barn to assist in
+the harnessing of Durward, Mrs. Todd's horse.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+THE FAIR
+
+The Sunday-school room was packed with people, but to an observant
+eye it was noticeable that the greatest number were in the corner
+under a silk canopy that looked like an Arab's shelter.  Hanging
+beside it on the wall was a sign, printed in orange and blue, that
+read,
+
+  COME AND FISH
+  IN THE INDIAN OCEAN
+  A SURPRISE FOR EVERYBODY
+  10 CENTS A LINE
+
+
+Beyond the tent a group of high palms pointed the way to the beach,
+where a huge tub filled with water and reflecting myriads of little
+pebbles was surrounded by a stretch of sand.  Sticks with strings and
+hooks attached stood ready, and to one side a mysterious mound
+covered by a silk scarf invited the curiosity of the passersby.
+
+Mrs. Todd stood a little to one side and kept looking at her watch.
+Mrs. Blake came over to her, and it was plain to be seen that they
+were both worried.
+
+"What do you suppose is keeping her?" Mrs. Blake exclaimed.  "It is
+after four o'clock, and we must begin with the pond.  Really, I think
+it is most inconsiderate of her to keep us waiting.  Of course, if
+Mrs. Page has changed her mind--"
+
+"Mercy Page never changed her mind in her life," Mrs. Todd snapped.
+"It is something very different than that, and I have a strong
+suspicion what it is."  She looked at a group of giggling girls who
+were whispering to each other in one corner, and had one of them
+turned at just that moment they would have wanted to run away, for
+Mrs. Todd looked very stern and forbidding.
+
+"Let some one else start it," she said.  "I'll help them; she may
+come after all; who knows."
+
+
+But Janet at that particular moment was rowing with all her might,
+and she was rowing in the opposite direction from the church fair.
+
+Something glistened in both of her eyes and she stopped every now and
+then to brush it away.  Nothing in the world could have induced her
+to turn around.
+
+She was hurt and very angry, and the one thought in her confused
+little mind was to forget there ever was such a thing as a church
+fair.
+
+This is what had happened.  Harry and she had been busy in the early
+part of the afternoon putting the finishing touches to their work,
+when Janet found she wanted a pair of scissors.  A number of girls
+were decorating a booth across the room and she went over to borrow
+theirs.  She was hidden from them by a curtain of bunting.  Just as
+she was about to speak, she heard one of them say,
+
+"I don't care if she is Janet Page, I don't like her.  She's not a
+bit like other girls."  And another voice answered, "I don't either;
+she's so bossy."  "Plain stuck up," a third voice added.
+
+Janet flushed crimson and fled.  Harry remembered that she looked
+awfully queer, he said, when he told Mrs. Todd later, "She said she
+was going and not another word," he finished.
+
+Janet had indeed gone.  She felt as though the world was falling
+about her ears.  Try as she could, she could not keep the hot tears
+from coming.
+
+The brisk row did her good, and she started up the sand dunes with
+her usual expectant step.  By the time she was in sight of the house,
+she was laughing at herself.
+
+"I may be different but I am not as bad as all that, and besides I
+don't like those girls any better than they like me, so we're even."
+
+She decided to read about Mr. Micawber in "David Copperfield."  He
+always cheered her up when she was downhearted.
+
+The quiet of the old house soothed her feelings.  She walked slowly
+around to the cellar window and opened it softly.  Just as she was
+about to slip through it, a piece of tin hit her sharply on the nose.
+
+She jumped and looked up and directly into the gray eyes of the
+mysterious boy.  He was sitting on the edge of the sloping roof not
+fifteen feet above her.
+
+"Hurt you?" he called down.
+
+"Not much," Janet answered, rubbing her nose, for it smarted.
+
+"Yes, it did; it's bleeding.  Say, I'm awfully sorry.  Wait a jiffy
+and I'll be down."
+
+He slid near the edge and jumped to the ground almost beside her.
+
+They looked at each other and then burst out laughing.  Janet held
+her handkerchief up to her face and regarded him over the corner of
+it.
+
+"What were you doing up there?" she inquired.  "You nearly scared me
+to death."
+
+"Well, I was kind of scared myself," the mysterious boy admitted.  "I
+was fixing the roof up a bit.  It leaks onto the books now you know,
+and I just happened to look down at you, I was so surprised that I
+let the tin drop.
+
+"I found my hat," he added after a minute, and grinned sheepishly.
+
+"Whatever made you leave it by our fence?" Janet inquired.
+
+"Did you see me jump over your wall the other day?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Well, I was bringing it to you then--"
+
+"And my dog barked at you."
+
+"No,--that is, he did, but that isn't what scared me.  Your dog and I
+are great friends.  It was the woman that came out of the house.  I
+couldn't explain before her so I bolted."
+
+"Explain what?"
+
+"I wanted to show you something about taking a splinter out of a
+dog's paw and a way to put on a bandage so that it won't come off."
+
+Janet laughed, and he joined in.
+
+"I was after the same book the other day and I couldn't imagine who
+had taken it and then I found it beside your hat and I knew you must
+come here too."
+
+"Have you been coming long?"
+
+"Two years."
+
+"Oh, I've been here six months, but I found it the first week I was
+here."
+
+"Where do you live?" Janet inquired.
+
+The boy pointed down the hill.  "At Vicker's farm," he answered.
+"I'm staying there all this winter."  He laughed self-consciously.
+"I'm supposed to be weak or something, so Doc sent me here."
+
+"Who's Doc?" Janet inquired.
+
+"He was Dad's best friend, and now I guess he's mine.  He sort of
+looked out for me after Dad--after Dad went."
+
+Janet looked up at him quickly, for his voice had trembled.
+
+"I'm sorry," she said softly.  "Let's go in and look up that part in
+the animal book."
+
+She started to slide into the cellar, but he stopped her.
+
+"I know a better way than that.  Come around here."  He led her to
+the old porch and took down two boards from one of the windows.
+Janet crawled through and found herself in the Kingdom.
+
+"Oh, that is a lot better.  Wonder why I never thought of it.  It
+saves going through the spooky kitchen, and I just perfectly hate
+that ghostly hall."
+
+They sat down together on the floor and were soon engrossed by the
+book before them.  From discussing dogs and horses they turned to
+other subjects, and before she realized it Janet was telling him why
+she had not gone to the fair.
+
+She looked at him after she had finished.  He was frowning.
+
+"It was rough, I'll grant you," he drawled slowly, "but you should
+have stayed and faced the guns.  There's never any sense in running
+away."
+
+Janet felt very much ashamed of herself all at once, and a dozen
+reasons why she should have stayed rushed into her mind.
+
+"It was cowardly of me," she exclaimed, "and I'm going back this very
+minute."
+
+"Good for you; it won't be much fun, but you'll be glad you did it, I
+guess.  Say," he added after a pause, "will you be back to-morrow?"
+
+"Will, if I can."
+
+"And, say, you don't mind about my coming here, do you?"
+
+Janet had crawled through the window but she called back over her
+shoulder, "No, I'm glad."  A red head appeared in the opening.
+
+"My name's Peter Gibbs," he called.
+
+"Mine's Janet Page."
+
+"Good night, Janet."
+
+"Good night, Peter."
+
+
+As the people came back to the Sunday-school room after the supper
+that had been served in the gymnasium, many of them were astonished
+to see Janet with Harry by the tent.  Mrs. Blake was particularly so.
+
+"Why, Janet, where have you been?  We were so worried about you!" she
+exclaimed.  "And what have you done to your nose?"
+
+"I cut it, Mrs. Blake," Janet answered, "and I am sorry to be late."
+
+"Why, you poor child; what a pity.  It doesn't matter at all about
+your being late."
+
+"Well, Janet, we thought you were lost, but I see you've found
+yourself,"--Mrs. Todd came up and interrupted her cousin.  Janet
+looked at her blue eyes and knew she understood something of what she
+had gone through.
+
+"Yes, Mrs. Todd," she replied gravely, "I think I have."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+A STRANGER IN THE KINGDOM
+
+Janet halted in her climb up the steep bank at the back of the
+deserted house and smiled down at the ground.  The perfect outline of
+a bare foot made a path ahead of her straight to the steps of the
+porch.
+
+It was one of the warm, golden days that come sometimes in the fall,
+as though the summer, being sorry to go, sent it to bid a last
+regretful good-by.
+
+A week had passed since the fair, and during that time Janet had made
+many trips to her Kingdom and she and Peter had become fast friends.
+They read their favorite books aloud to each other and played a game
+of "pretend" that would have been impossible to two people who had
+not both understood the meaning of loneliness.
+
+To-day Janet found Peter deep in a thick, uninteresting-looking book,
+but as she appeared in the window he closed it and jumped up.
+
+"Good morning, Princess," he greeted.  "I thought you were never
+coming, I chopped wood, fed the chickens and did all I could think of
+so that I wouldn't be missed."
+
+"I couldn't get away a minute sooner,"--Janet made a comical face.
+"Mrs. Blake came to see grandmother yesterday, and of course she had
+to tell her that she was so surprised to learn that I didn't like to
+sew.  Grandmother didn't say much, but this morning she made me hem
+some dish towels, for of course she knows I can sew passably well
+when I want to.  Now she'll show them to Mrs. Blake the next time she
+comes."  A note of affection crept into her voice as she added,
+"Grandmother's like that."
+
+"What are you reading?" she inquired a minute later.
+
+"A book about sheep," Peter replied.  "It's kind of dull, but I like
+it.  I imagine sometimes that I--" He hesitated and blushed.
+
+"What?" Janet encouraged.
+
+"Nothing, anyway you'd laugh at me if I told you."
+
+"I would not!"
+
+"Well--"
+
+"Well, what?"
+
+"Oh, it's just a crazy notion of mine, but I like to think sometimes
+that I own this place, and then I plan what I'd do with it, and one
+of the plans is to turn it into a sheep farm,"--he laughed
+nervously--"I guess I'd better stop dreaming though and get to real
+work now."
+
+Janet noticed that he laid stress on the word "now," and she looked
+at him inquiringly.  He pretended not to notice her.
+
+"Peter," she said finally, "it isn't nice to be mysterious.  What
+_is_ the matter with you?"
+
+Peter ran his fingers through his red hair but he did not reply.
+Instead, he put the big book back on its shelf and went over to the
+window.
+
+"It's awfully dark in here, don't you think?  And it's so bully out
+of doors.  Let's go fishing," he suggested.
+
+Janet nodded.
+
+"All right; we won't catch anything but it will be fun anyway.  Come
+ahead."
+
+Peter led the way toward the shore and up to a dark green canoe.
+Janet was properly excited; she had never been in a canoe before.
+None of the girls she knew were at all interested in boating except
+to go off in sailing parties for picnics, and because the bay was
+very often rough and always dangerous none of the boys were allowed
+to have them.  She smiled as she remembered Mrs. Waters' terror when
+Harry, the summer before, had screwed up his courage to ask for one.
+Yet here was Peter acting as though the most ordinary thing in the
+world was to go fishing in one.
+
+"What a beauty!" she exclaimed.  "Is it yours?"
+
+Peter shook his head.  "No, I found it over in our barn and I asked
+Mr. Blunt if I could use it.  He didn't think much of the idea, but
+he said if I could make it watertight I could have it and welcome.  A
+summer boarder left it here a couple of years ago.  Here you go; let
+me help you in.  Sorry I haven't any pillows," he apologized.
+
+Janet looked up at him and laughed.
+
+"What under the sun would I do with a pillow?" she exclaimed.
+
+"Stick it behind your back, of course.  It makes it lots easier.
+That is, most girls tuck 'em in all around, and they seem to like
+it."  Peter sometimes gave Janet a feeling that he was years and
+years older than she by the way he talked of things, people and
+places.
+
+"How do you know?" she inquired as she settled herself gingerly on
+the floor of the canoe.
+
+"Seen them, by the dozens."
+
+"Where!"
+
+"Any place where there are canoes and girls,"--Peter grinned.  "Dad
+and I always paddled wherever and whenever we could, and we used to
+laugh sometimes."
+
+"What at?"  Janet was making no effort to hide her curiosity.
+
+Peter was busy turning the canoe around and did not answer at once.
+Janet watched him, fascinated.  He paddled so softly and yet with so
+much strength that they skimmed along over the water as though they
+were flying.  Once out into the bay and headed for the mouth of a
+small creek, where Peter decided was the place to fish, he returned
+to the subject.
+
+"When I said just now we laughed," he explained, "I was thinking of
+last summer.  Dad and I took a trip up the Delaware River and of
+course we passed lots of summer places on the way, and we'd see
+fellows, about eighteen, out with girls all dressed up and sitting
+all packed in with pillows.  They looked all right, but I would hate
+to have had them with us in some of the storms we pulled through and
+some of the rocks we had to pass."
+
+"I see,"--Janet laughed, then she said hurriedly, "Peter, what an
+exciting life you have had.  I wish you'd tell me some more about it."
+
+Peter shrugged his shoulders.
+
+"Not so very," he said; "you see there was only Dad and me, and Dad
+was a civil engineer and he had to be on the go most of the time.
+Wherever there was a bridge being built or a railroad put through or
+a dam built he was always there, and so naturally I was too.  That
+is, I shouldn't say naturally, because lots of people, especially
+women, thought it was very strange, but Dad said I was all he had
+left and he wasn't going to have me shut up in a school where he
+could never see me, so along I went, and I tell you I had some grand
+old times.  But it's all over now and I guess I'll go to work."
+
+"Where!" Janet asked softly.
+
+"Out West, I guess.  I like it out there, and Dad knew a lot of ranch
+men that would give me a job.  Dad always wanted me to be an
+engineer, but that was before--"  In spite of himself his voice broke
+a little, and he paddled with extra zeal.
+
+"Oh, Peter, I'm sorry."  Two big tears stood in Janet's eyes.  "I
+wish I hadn't asked you so many questions and started you
+remembering."
+
+"Oh, I'm always doing that anyway,"--Peter tried to laugh.  "And I
+wanted to tell you about Dad anyway.  Do you still feel like
+fishing?" he inquired, abruptly changing the subject.
+
+"Not 'specially," Janet admitted, "I'd rather just paddle."
+
+"Want me to teach you how!"
+
+"Oh, would you!"
+
+"Of course.  Here, wait a minute and we'll land and change places.  I
+wish I had another paddle, then you could paddle bow."
+
+The exchange of seats was made and the lessons began.  Janet was an
+apt pupil, and Peter, remembering his father's instructions of long
+ago, did as well as instructor.  Black clouds rolled up in the west
+without their noticing them, and it was not until a faint peal of
+thunder sounded that they realized that a storm was coming up.
+
+"Queer at this time of year, isn't it?" Peter asked, as Janet made
+for the bank and he took the paddle again.
+
+Janet shook her head.
+
+"We have pretty bad ones sometimes in the fall; sort of breaking up
+of summer, the fishermen say, and to-day has been hot, you know."
+
+"Well, there's no time to lose for it's coming fast.  That creek's a
+bad place; the trees hide the sky."  Peter took long firm strokes,
+and they were soon out into the bay.
+
+It was not long before the storm broke.  A zig-zag of lightning and a
+sharp growl of thunder, and then the rain--great drops of it.  The
+canoe bobbed up and down, but Peter managed to send it forward with
+every stroke.  Janet, though she would never have admitted it, was
+thoroughly frightened, and Peter, kneeling in the stern, very calm
+and even smiling, began to assume in her eyes the guise of a hero.
+
+After several strenuous minutes that seemed like as many hours they
+landed just below the deserted house.
+
+"Let's go up and wait until it stops," Peter suggested as he turned
+the canoe over.  "You can't possibly row home in this."
+
+Janet nodded, and they trudged up the hill.  They were laughing when
+they reached the window.  Once in the Kingdom with the rain shut out,
+they felt very secure.  Peter pointed up to the ceiling.
+
+"It doesn't leak any more, thank goodness."
+
+Janet felt her nose and smiled.  "Then I don't suppose I ought to
+mind this," she said.  "It's still black and blue, and nobody can
+understand how I ever managed to cut it just there."
+
+"Well, you can't expect me to say I'm sorry."  Peter laughed.
+
+"You might say that you wished we had met under different
+conditions," Janet suggested, but Peter wouldn't agree.
+
+"It was just right the way it was," he insisted.
+
+"I suppose so; anyway we'd never have had such fun together if we had
+been introduced.  Just imagine, 'Janet, I want you to meet Mr. Peter
+Gibbs'; how silly it sounds."
+
+"Instead of 'Your royal highness, Princess of the Enchanted Kingdom,
+allow me to introduce myself, Lord Carrot Tops.  My calling-card is a
+piece of tin, Bingo!  Of course I didn't say all that but I thought
+most of it."
+
+Peter laughed and Janet joined in.
+
+"Anyway the tin calling-card part is true," she said.
+
+They both laughed on heartily and then stopped short, their eyes on
+the doorway of the room.
+
+A short fat little man, wearing a heavy gold watch chain and an old
+fashioned soft black hat, stood frowning at them.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+UNDER ARREST
+
+"Here's a pretty kettle of fish!" he exclaimed, bobbing his head up
+and down; "what do you mean breaking into some one else's house like
+burglars?  Don't tell me you were hiding from the rain for I won't
+believe you."
+
+Neither Peter nor Janet made any attempt to tell him anything.  They
+were both too startled.  They stood frozen to the spot on which they
+stood.
+
+"Nothing to say, eh?" the old man went on in his excited, squeeky
+little voice.  "Well, that's just as well.  You'll come along with me
+now, both of you."
+
+"Are you the owner of this house?"  Peter was himself again, and
+Janet marveled at the quiet manner in which he spoke.
+
+"Never you mind about that; you'll soon enough know."  The old man
+bustled toward them.  Peter stepped in front of Janet.
+
+"Are you the owner of this house?" he demanded again.
+
+"Now look here, young fellow, don't give me any of your impertinence,
+but come along quick."  The quieter Peter's voice got the more
+excited grew the little man.  "What are your names, eh?  Tell me
+that," he squeaked.
+
+"We will do nothing of the kind," Peter said firmly.
+
+"What, what, what!  You tell me at once and no more nonsense," the
+old man fairly spluttered.
+
+"We refuse to tell our names to any one but the owner of this house."
+By now, Peter was thoroughly enjoying himself, and he winked ever so
+slightly at Janet.
+
+Janet was chuckling to herself, but not at Peter.  She was wondering
+what would happen if she did tell her name.  From past experiences
+she knew that from blustering the old man would apologize and offer
+to take her home.  But he might insist on arresting Peter, and
+loyalty made her keep silent.
+
+The old man was getting very angry at Peter; he even stamped his foot
+and his big gold chain jingled.
+
+"You come straight along and tell the owner then," he exploded, "and
+you'll be sorry you didn't tell me first.  I can promise you.  I'm a
+sheriff, and you are both under arrest.  Now then, what have you got
+to say?"
+
+Peter and Janet looked at each other, and Peter laughed.
+
+"We have nothing to say until we see the owner," he said.
+
+The sheriff turned on his heel.  They followed him through the hall
+and out of the back door, of which he had the key.  A buggy was
+standing in the woodshed, and they all got in.  The rain had stopped
+and soft mud spattered them as they drove along.
+
+"I'm awfully glad he isn't the owner," Peter whispered in Janet's ear.
+
+"Oh, so am I," she agreed, "but of course I knew he couldn't be and
+look like that."
+
+The sheriff did not notice them in any way.  His ridiculous little
+fat face tried to look grim, but only succeeded in looking funny.  He
+was thinking very hard and wondering if the owner would approve of
+his actions.  He had not bothered to explain, when he said he was a
+sheriff, that he was a retired one, without the slightest right in
+the world to make an arrest.
+
+"Where does the owner live?" Peter inquired, breaking a silence that
+had lasted a mile.
+
+"Never you mind where," the sheriff retorted; "all that concerns you
+is that you will find the owner at my house to-day."
+
+Peter and Janet exchanged glances.
+
+"We're in for it," Peter whispered, "but it can't be very bad, and
+anyway we will see him at last."
+
+"I'm almost sorry," Janet sighed.  "He was always such a thrilling
+mystery to me.  Do you suppose those are his gloves on the library
+table?"
+
+Peter did not have time to reply, for they were turning in at the
+gate of a big farm, and the sheriff whipped up his horse to make a
+gallant approach.
+
+Once on his own land he regained his assurance, and he opened the
+door of the tool house as though it were a dungeon cell.
+
+"You'll wait in here," he directed.
+
+There was nothing else to do, so in they went, and Janet heard the
+key grate in the rusty lock with a queer sinking feeling.  But a look
+at Peter's face made her swallow her fears and manage a little laugh.
+
+"What do you suppose will happen next?" she asked.
+
+"Nothing very terrible," Peter assured her.  "You see, we never did
+any harm to anything, and if we explain about the books, it ought to
+be all right."
+
+"That will depend on the owner,"--Janet's voice sounded frightened in
+spite of herself.  "If he is nice, he will understand, and I suppose
+he is if he owns the Kingdom; still, why doesn't he live in it?"
+
+"Why, that's the mystery,"--Peter laughed.  "We will find out soon
+enough.  Mr. Sheriff is probably telling all about us now, and I
+guess he is not saying anything to help our case much."
+
+Janet was silent for a minute, then she drew a long heartfelt sigh.
+
+"Oh, Peter, do you realize that we can never go to the Kingdom again?
+It isn't enchanted any more; it's just a house that belongs to a man
+that probably has a bald head and whiskers."
+
+"I hadn't thought of that," Peter said gravely.
+
+The door opened, and the little man stood before them again.
+
+"Come with me," he said, and led the way to the house.
+
+"He's not nearly so starchy," Janet whispered; "maybe he is nice
+after all."
+
+"Of course he is," Peter assured her.
+
+They passed through a big clean kitchen, full of shiny pots and pans,
+and then into a dark little hall.
+
+"Wait here," their guide directed, as he shoved them into a little
+room that looked like an office.
+
+They waited, and a minute or two later the door opened.
+
+It would be hard to say just what either Peter or Janet imagined the
+owner of the deserted house to resemble.  Janet, when she thought of
+the place as belonging to any one but herself, usually pictured a
+modern King Arthur who would admit her claims as princess without
+hesitation.  Peter knew that it was a house that his father would
+have loved, and he thought of the owner as a quiet gray-haired man in
+consequence.  They were neither of them prepared to see a woman.
+
+"Mrs. Todd!"  Janet after a stupefied second fairly shouted the name,
+and it was Peter's turn to be astonished.  He looked from one to the
+other and blushed a little; he realized it might be difficult to
+explain to a woman, for Peter knew nothing about women.
+
+Mrs. Todd did not say anything.  She stood in the doorway and laughed
+and laughed.
+
+"Is it really your house?" Janet stammered, and she nodded.
+
+"Yes, it's my house, and perhaps you can tell me, for Mr. Simpson's
+benefit, what you two were doing in it."
+
+Peter looked at Janet, and she started the explanation.
+
+"We weren't doing anything just when he found us," she said, "except
+waiting for the rain to stop, but this wasn't the only time we've
+been there.  You see, I found it first, oh, ages ago, and I used to
+row over and read in the Kingdom--I mean the library--"
+
+"What did you call it?" Mrs. Todd interrupted.
+
+"Oh, that was just my name for it.  I always thought of it as 'The
+Enchanted Kingdom' because of all the wonderful books first and then
+because it was so old and deserted and spooky."  Janet looked at
+Peter and he nodded encouragement.
+
+"I only met Peter the other day; it was the very day of the fair.  I
+came over because--"
+
+"I know; go on about Peter," Mrs. Todd put in.
+
+"He was fixing the roof, and he dropped a piece of tin down on my
+nose, and then, well, of course we began to talk, and he said he had
+found the books, too, and so we went into the Kingdom, and it was
+Peter that made me go back to the fair in spite of--"  Janet stopped,
+confused.
+
+Mrs. Todd surveyed the two before her.  There was nothing left of her
+laughter but the tiniest twinkle in her bright blue eyes.  She
+snapped open her old-fashioned watch, looked at the time, and snapped
+it shut again.
+
+"It's late," she said.  "Janet, I'll drive you home.  Where do you
+live?"--she turned to Peter.
+
+"At Blunt's farm.  I work there," he answered her.
+
+"Humm, well, you won't have far to go.  Good-by.  I'll see you again,
+and thanks for mending my roof," she added, as Peter hurried to the
+door.
+
+He smiled at her over his shoulder.  Janet went with him as far as
+the gate.
+
+"It's funny, isn't it!" she laughed; "and of course she understands."
+
+"Guess she does," Peter admitted.  "Good-by."
+
+"Until next time," Janet added.
+
+"Maybe," Peter hesitated and then finished, "Do you remember asking
+me what the matter was this morning?  Well, it's this.  Doc is going
+to Europe, and I won't let him leave me any money 'cause I know he
+needs it all himself, so I've got to get work, and I think I'll be
+starting soon."
+
+"But, Peter, I'll see you before you go," Janet exclaimed in dismay.
+
+"Maybe," Peter drawled as he had done the first time she had ever
+seen him.  "Anyway good-by for now."
+
+Janet watched him walk down the road until the twilight shadows
+swallowed him up.  There was something that felt like a lump in her
+throat.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+THE MYSTERIOUS OWNER
+
+"And now, you amazing child, tell me all you know about Peter."  Mrs.
+Todd let her horse trot along unguided through the dusk and settled
+back in her seat, with a look of amused expectation on her face.
+
+Janet plunged into a recital of Peter's life, or at least that
+portion of it that she knew, and before very long the amusement
+changed to interest and then to pity.  Mrs. Todd was a splendid
+listener and a very understanding woman.
+
+"What kinds of books does he like to read?" she asked, when Janet
+paused for breath.
+
+"Everything in the library," Janet told her.  "He laughs just as hard
+at 'Alice in Wonderland' as he does over 'Robinhood and his
+Merrymen,' but of course he likes Robinhood best, especially the part
+about Little John.  He likes the 'Idyls of the King' too, and he just
+eats up history.  To-day I found him reading a stuffy old book about
+sheep.  I think he would like to raise, or do whatever it is you do
+to, sheep, but of course he can't now because of Doc."
+
+"And who is Doc?" Mrs. Todd inquired.
+
+Again Janet explained as best she could, and this time it was Mrs.
+Todd's eyes that were wet.
+
+"Hum," she said after a little pause, "perhaps sheep would be a good
+idea, I never thought of it myself.  I'll talk to Peter about it."
+
+Janet sighed a long, happy sigh.
+
+"It's the most perfect fairy tale that ever came true," she said.
+"Of all the people in the world that I would have chosen to be the
+mysterious owner of the Enchanted Kingdom, you would be the first,
+only I simply can't understand why I never knew or why you never
+lived in it."
+
+Mrs. Todd sighed too, but hers was not a happy sigh.
+
+"My dear child," she said, "that is a very long and a very
+disagreeable story, but perhaps I can tell you enough of it for you
+to understand why I left my home and Old Chester.
+
+"When I was not so very many years older than you, say about
+eighteen, your grandmother decided that I was to marry your father
+Tom, and my parents thoroughly agreed to the plan.  Your father and
+I, however, did not.  In fact I might say that we thoroughly
+disapproved.  We were the very best of friends, but we were both in
+love with other people; Tom with your beautiful mother and I with Mr.
+Todd.  You know quite well how your grandmother acts when anybody
+goes against her wishes, so I need only say that my father was just
+about as stubborn and they had both determined on the match.  Now
+then! to make a very long story short, I ran away with Mr. Todd, and
+that made them both, your grandmother and my father--my mother, bless
+her dear heart, understood--very angry.  Your grandmother said that I
+was never to enter her house again.  I never did until the other day
+when I went with you.  My father was just as severe and told me that
+I could never come home with my husband.  Well, of course, there was
+never any idea of my returning without him, and so we stayed away and
+traveled in every country under the sun and had the happiest three
+years imaginable, and then he died."  There was a long pause before
+Mrs. Todd continued her story.
+
+"I went home after that with my baby boy and--oh, my dear child, you
+will think this a very dismal tale, but it's best to finish it.  My
+baby died the next year, and I left the house, I thought, forever.
+It was mine for my father had died the year after my marriage and
+left it to me, but for so many years I had been unhappy there that I
+determined never to come near it again.  That was thirty years ago
+and I have just come back.
+
+"To-day I determined to go and see how the old place looked, I was
+afraid it would be in ruins.  On my way I stopped in at the Simpsons
+and there my courage failed.  So, I sent Mr. Simpson up to look at it
+and see if there was any chance of repairing it.  I thought perhaps
+if it were patched up and swept out and tidied a bit it would not be
+as hard to return.  Now I know I was a very silly and sentimental old
+lady, and I will go myself to-morrow morning and see about hurrying
+up the work of repairs.  With two caretakers I am sure it has not
+suffered too much."  Mrs. Todd stopped as shortly as she had begun
+and picked up the reins and chirruped to the horse, as though to say
+the conversation was finished now and forever.
+
+Janet knew it was, and without quite understanding it she realized
+the effort it had taken to tell it.  She wanted to say something to
+Mrs. Todd, but she knew there was nothing that could be put into
+words, so she sat silent for the rest of the drive.  This was the
+second "story" she had heard that day, and the combination of the two
+opened up a world beyond Old Chester and gave her a sudden glimpse of
+life, its sorrows, its struggles, its joys and, above all, its
+victories.  The knowledge made her restless, but it made her happy
+and above all expectant.
+
+If big things happened to the Mrs. Todds and the Peters in the world,
+surely big things would come to her.
+
+Mrs. Todd stopped at the garden gate of the Pages and held out her
+hand.
+
+"Good night, child," she said.  "Don't think too much of all I have
+told you, or, if you do, remember this: no matter how much sorrow
+there is in this old world of ours, there is never a minute of it
+that is not worth the living.  And now, good night; go to your
+Enchanted Kingdom whenever you like, it is more yours now than it
+ever was."
+
+Janet held the big firm hand tight, but all she could find to say was
+"thank you."  There were a hundred questions that she wanted to ask,
+and she finally found the words for the most important of them all.
+
+"Mrs. Todd," she asked softly, "did you know my mother?"
+
+Mrs. Todd looked at her intently for a long time and then she looked
+at the light that always burned in Mrs. Page's room.
+
+"Yes, my child, I did, and I loved her; but then everybody did with
+the exception of--" she hesitated; "no, that's not quite fair, so I
+won't finish.  Some day, with your grandmother's permission, I will
+tell you all I can about her, and now hurry in and eat your dinner or
+Martha will be having one of her nervous spells."
+
+Janet laughed, and squeezed Mrs. Todd's hand a little harder before
+she let it go.
+
+"All right," she promised, "I just suddenly realized that I am as
+hungry as a bear."
+
+Then Mrs. Todd did something that would have surprised her friends.
+She leaned out of the carriage and kissed Janet.
+
+Martha was on the verge of a nervous spell, Janet found her looking
+out of the front hall window.  She tiptoed up behind her and said
+"boo."
+
+"Miss Janet, you're home at last; wherever have you been!" Martha
+exclaimed.  "I have been worried to death over you out in that storm."
+
+"Oh, but I wasn't out in all of it,"--Janet laughed.  "I've been
+driving with Mrs. Todd."
+
+"I might have known that," Martha said, exasperation written large on
+her face.  "Ann Hitchens was always one to upset things.  Here we've
+been living in peace for years and the minute she comes back, oh,
+deary me, everything's a-flutter and topsy-turvy, I wish she'd go
+away again, I do indeed."
+
+"But she won't," Janet replied happily.  "She is never going away
+again, and I am so glad I could dance."
+
+Martha sniffed, and when Martha sniffed it was never necessary for
+her to put her meaning into words.
+
+"Well, don't dance into your grandmother's room," she advised.  "Walk
+like a little lady and go at once.  She has been worrying about you
+all afternoon."
+
+Contrary to all expectations, Mrs. Page had nothing to say about the
+lateness of the hour.  She greeted Janet as usual, told her to wash
+her hands and eat her dinner; then she turned her face to the wall,
+her way of saying good night.
+
+Janet was about to leave the room, but something made her pause at
+the foot of the bed.
+
+"Grandmother," she said slowly.
+
+"Well!" Mrs. Page sat up and looked at her.
+
+"Grandmother," Janet began again, "I am sorry if I worried you by
+being out late."
+
+"Who told you I was worried?" Mrs. Page demanded.
+
+"Martha," Janet said.
+
+"Martha talks too much," Mrs. Page snapped.  "I was worried, but you
+are back now so don't talk any more about it."
+
+Janet left the room, closing the door very softly behind her.  In the
+hall she studied the grandfather's clock with apparent interest, but
+it is a question whether she saw it at all.  She was realizing for
+the first time in her life that her grandmother was a very old lady.
+
+Martha called her, and she went in to her dinner.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+PETER
+
+Martha was cleaning house; rugs were hanging in the kitchen yard and
+clouds of dust testified to the strength of her arm.  Indoors all the
+chairs were turned over, and white sheets covered the rest of the
+furniture.  Janet and Boru fled to the "widow's walk" to escape.
+
+"I hate house cleaning," Janet complained; "if I ever have a house of
+my own I will go away on a trip and not come back until there's
+enough dust to make things look comfy again."  Boru, who had a marked
+respect for Martha's broom, folded his paws over his nose and looked
+sympathetic.
+
+"I wonder what will happen to-day," Janet went on; "everything has
+been so exciting for the last few weeks that I love to wake up in the
+morning.  I wonder if it wasn't all a dream about Mrs. Todd and that
+absurd little man and Peter.  I don't really believe that I ever
+paddled that canoe yesterday at all."
+
+A whistle interrupted her musings, and she leaned over the railing
+and saw Harry Waters at the garden gate.
+
+"What do you want?" she called.
+
+It was a little time before Harry could locate her, but when he did
+he beckoned.
+
+"Come on down."
+
+"All right, wait a minute,"--Janet sighed.  Harry was not the form of
+excitement she would have chosen for the day, but he was better than
+talking to Boru or listening to Martha's beating the rugs.
+
+"Hello," she greeted when she had joined him in the garden.  "How's
+Roy?"
+
+"Oh, he's all right.  He caught a rabbit the other day."  Harry
+bragged as though the credit were his.
+
+"I think that was horrid of him.  That's just the trouble with those
+hunting dogs,"--Janet flared up--"they are always catching some poor
+little animal that never did anybody any harm.  If Boru ever did such
+a thing I would whip him good and hard, I can tell you."  Boru hung
+his head; no doubt the memory of countless innocent rabbits weighed
+heavily on his doggish conscience.
+
+"Ah, shucks," Harry grumbled; "that's just like a girl.  They make a
+fuss and even kiss a dog if it gets a splinter in its paw, but the
+minute one does something worth while they want to whip it."
+
+"Well, I don't like to think of a little dead bunny.  They're so soft
+and snuggly,"--Janet defended herself; "and I don't care who knows
+it."
+
+"Scared!"  The word was hardly out of Harry's mouth before he
+regretted it.
+
+Janet eyed him with so much scorn that words were unnecessary.
+
+"If I were you, Harry," she said at length, but Harry interrupted her.
+
+"Oh, I know what you're thinking of, but that's different," he
+protested; "my mother says so.  Anyway, I didn't come over here to
+argue," he finished crossly.
+
+Janet wanted to ask him what he had come over for, but she was just a
+little ashamed of the way she had been acting.  After all, Harry was
+an old friend of hers, and it wasn't his fault that he was fat and
+always complaining.  She gave herself a little shake and smiled.
+
+"It is silly to scrap; let's go for a walk," she suggested.
+
+"All right, if you want to," Harry agreed, "but I came over to tell
+you that there's a letter for you at the post office, and Miss Clark
+says you haven't been for mail for over a week, and there are some
+letters for your grandmother and a newspaper.  I'd have brought them
+to you but the old crosspatch wouldn't let me.  She said I'd lose
+them on the way, and she was responsible for the U.S. mail.  I don't
+think much of Miss Clark any--"  Harry stopped rambling, and stared
+at Janet.  "Now what have I done!" he demanded.
+
+Janet marched off down the road, and he followed.
+
+"Gee, but you're queer lately!" he grumbled.
+
+Janet stopped to look at him.  Her cheeks were bright red, and her
+eyes danced with excitement.
+
+"Harry Waters," she said, "if I were a dog I think I'd bite you."
+
+The rest of the way to the village Harry had hard work keeping up
+with her.
+
+At the post office, Miss Clark insisted on asking innumerable
+questions about Mrs. Page.
+
+"You didn't come for the mail for such a long time that I said to my
+sister last night, 'I wonder if Mrs. Page has had a turn,' so this
+morning I told the Waters' boy to tell you that there were several
+letters in your box--"
+
+"May I have them, please,"--Janet tried politely to stem the tide,
+but Miss Clark did not even notice the interruption.
+
+"Time was when one letter a week was all most folks looked for, but,
+lands sakes, nowadays with all these advertisements and picture
+postcards, your box is full before you know it.  Did you say your
+grandmother was sick?"
+
+"No, she is quite well, thank you.  Er--may I--?" Janet tried again,
+and Miss Clark did walk over to the box.
+
+"Well, that's a blessing," she said over her shoulder.  "I do think
+that when a body must lie abed all day that they ought to have good
+health except for that.  Now when my aunt Lucy--  Why, I do
+declare--"  Miss Clark interrupted herself this time--"I clean forgot
+to tell you there was a letter for you.  It's from your brother.  Now
+that seems odd; he always writes to your grandmother, but this
+certainly is for you.  I can't imagine why it slipped my mind.  I've
+been thinking about it all week."
+
+"May I have it, please?"  Janet held out her hand, and with apparent
+reluctance Miss Clark gave her the little bundle of letters.  She
+took them, said a hasty thank you, and escaped from the post office
+before there was time for any more conversation.
+
+She studied the envelope with its Arizona postmark and made sure that
+it was directed to her.  Then she tore it open to find a penciled
+note inside that read:
+
+
+"_Dear little Firebrand sister of mine:_
+
+"I am almost everything that you accused me of being, except my
+appearance, and that is a little better than you feared.  To prove it
+to you I am going to come in person to see you and then we can talk
+over all those worrying things you spoke of.  Until I get there
+please try and think a little better of me than you have through all
+your short, little life, and please believe that I am heartily
+ashamed of myself, but that I solemnly promise to make up for it in
+the future.
+
+  "Your affectionate big brother,
+      "TOMMY."
+
+
+Janet read the letter over three times and then she sat down on the
+carriage block and read it again.
+
+Harry watched her and shook his head.  He had no doubts now that
+Janet was anything but an ordinary, and by ordinary he meant queer
+and unreasonable, girl.
+
+"Now, what's the matter!" he asked again, this time very forlornly.
+
+"Matter?" Janet's laugh rang out happily.  "Not a single thing in all
+this wide wide world, Harry!" she exclaimed.
+
+"Then what are you crying about?" he demanded.
+
+Janet brushed away the two big tears that had filled her eyes, and
+jumped up.
+
+"I'm not crying, silly," she denied hotly.  "Anyway you wouldn't
+understand.  I'm going home.  Good-by."
+
+"Well, I'm darn glad I can't," was Harry's parting, and he walked off
+in the opposite direction.
+
+Janet read her letter all the way home.  It was such a surprise, for
+she had quite given up all hopes of ever finding the letter she had
+written a month before.  She had never entertained the idea of
+receiving an answer, and such an answer, full of every sort of
+promise.  And he was coming, and coming soon.  She consulted the
+postmark and found that the letter had been in the post office six
+days.
+
+The sight of Martha still patiently beating rugs was unbearable.  She
+hurried into the house and took the rest of the mail to her
+grandmother.  As she handed them to her, she saw to her surprise that
+one of them was from her brother.  Perhaps he was writing to tell her
+that he was coming home, and that would make it unnecessary for her
+to mention her letter.
+
+"A letter from your brother," Mrs. Page said solemnly.  "Please wait,
+Janet, and I will read you what he says."  She opened the letter with
+her customary precision and read it first to herself.  Apparently she
+thought better of her promise to read it aloud, for she folded it up
+and put it back into its envelope.
+
+"Your brother is well," she said at last, "and he is coming home.
+This letter is a week old so that I imagine he will be here before
+long.  Please tell Martha not to make so much noise in the hall and
+don't say anything to any one about Thomas's proposed visit."
+
+"But, grandmother, why in the world not!" Janet could not help saying.
+
+"Because I dislike gossip," Mrs. Page snapped.  "When he comes all
+the village will know it; that will be soon enough."
+
+"Yes, grandmother."  Janet left the room, but she forgot to tell
+Martha not to make so much noise.  The house was unbearable, and she
+decided that even if she could not share her secret with Mrs. Todd,
+it would be a comfort to go and see her and talk about the Enchanted
+Kingdom.
+
+She was hardly on her way with the idea fixed in her mind when she
+heard horse's hoofs coming toward, and after a minute she saw Mrs.
+Todd in her carriage.  She stopped her horse at sight of Janet, and
+beckoned to her.
+
+Janet jumped in beside her.
+
+"I was just coming to see you," she said.  "Have you been over to
+your house this morning!"
+
+Mrs. Todd was plainly upset about something.  She was frowning, and
+there was not a spark of fun in her eyes.
+
+"No, child, I haven't," she answered.  "I went over to find Peter
+early this morning, and the Blunts told me he had gone away.  They
+said he had told them that he was going west and that he could not
+leave any address, but he left a letter addressed to Dr. Peabody in
+Boston.  Now I happen to know Jack Peabody.  He was a very dear
+friend of my husband.  Of course I haven't seen him in years but I am
+going up to Boston this afternoon and give him Peter's letter, and
+between us we ought to be able to find the boy.  It's dreadful to
+think of his hunting for work and with no money."
+
+"I think it's splendid," Janet said shyly.
+
+"That's because you are a silly, romantic child with your head full
+of story-book nonsense," Mrs. Todd said briskly.  "What I wanted to
+see you about was to ask you if that foolish boy gave you any hint as
+to where he was going."
+
+"No, indeed, he didn't," Janet said.  "I didn't even dream he was
+going.  Oh, Mrs. Todd, do you think you really can find him!" she
+asked suddenly.
+
+"There, there, child, don't worry your head about it," Mrs. Todd
+comforted.  "Of course we can.  Peter's hair is too red to allow him
+to run away unnoticed."
+
+Janet tried to smile, but it was difficult.  The more she thought of
+Peter's going, the more she realized how much she would miss him, and
+half the joy in her brother's return was lost when she realized that
+she could not introduce him to Peter.
+
+"Do you think you could manage Clinker,"--Mrs. Todd was speaking--"if
+you do I wish you would drive over to Simpsons' this afternoon and
+give him a letter for me."
+
+"Why, I think I could drive him," Janet replied.  "I'll just let him
+walk and I'll be awfully careful of him."
+
+"Very well, then, that's settled."  Mrs. Todd spoke with her usual
+briskness, and a little of the laughter returned to her eyes as she
+added, "It will be a sorry dose for our friend the ex-sheriff, but I
+think it will do him good."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+ANOTHER LETTER
+
+At two o'clock Janet was waiting in front of the rectory.  She was to
+drive Mrs. Todd to the station and then go on to Simpsons' and
+deliver the letter.  Alice and Mildred came out on the steps to see
+them off, and their faces mirrored their thoughts.  Mrs. Todd had
+never let them drive Clinker, and they could not understand why Janet
+should be allowed the privilege.  There was an air of mystery about
+their cousin's sudden departure, and Janet holding the reins and
+watching Clinker's ears importantly added to it.
+
+"When are you going to bring the carriage back?" Alice inquired.
+
+"Oh, I won't be late," Janet answered evasively.
+
+Mrs. Todd's "Hurry along now, child, or we'll miss the train," put a
+stop to further questions.
+
+"I do hope you won't be away very long," Janet said softly when they
+were on their way.  "Something exciting, that I can't tell you about,
+is going to happen, and I think I will simply die if you are not
+here."
+
+"Mercy, child, you sound mysterious,"--Mrs. Todd laughed.  "Why can't
+you tell me about it?"
+
+Janet did not reply; it would sound so rude to say, "Grandmother
+won't let me."
+
+Mrs. Todd understood her silence and laughed again.
+
+"Well, I can see that I'll have to come back and find out for myself
+then," she said; "when is it going to happen?"
+
+"Soon, I hope," Janet told her.  "It can't happen too soon for me."
+
+Mrs. Todd considered for a moment.  "Of course I haven't the
+slightest idea when I will come back.  It all depends on when we find
+that boy.  Oh, but I shall give him such a talking to when I find
+him.  Why couldn't he have waited until to-morrow and saved all this
+fuss?"
+
+"It was really to save fuss that he ran away," Janet reminded her.
+"Poor Peter!  I just hate to think that maybe he's hungry, but just
+the same it was a splendid thing for him to do."
+
+"Splendid, fiddlesticks!" Mrs. Todd ejaculated, as they drew up to
+the station platform.
+
+She said good-by very briskly, and Janet watched her, preceded by a
+porter carrying her bags, get into the parlor car.  Clinker did not
+approve of the noisy engine, and she turned his head and started off
+before the train pulled out.
+
+It was a long drive to the Simpsons', and she let the horse set his
+own gait, and so it was well over an hour later before they reached
+the Simpsons' place.  Janet, remembering the style in which Mr.
+Simpson had driven in the day before, touched up Clinker with the tip
+of the whip and the cart swung into the gateway and rolled briskly
+down the drive.
+
+Mr. Simpson came out of the barn at the sound of Clinker's hoofs, and
+was as startled as Janet could have wished.
+
+"How do you do, Mr. Simpson!" she said in her sweetest manner.  "I
+have a letter for you here from Mrs. Todd.  She asked me to deliver
+it to you."  She held out the envelope, and Mr. Simpson, after
+carefully wiping his hands on his overalls and finding his glasses,
+took it from her.
+
+"Where's Mrs. Todd herself?" he asked sulkily.
+
+"She had to go to Boston, so she won't be able to come over to the
+house to-day," Janet explained.
+
+Mr. Simpson eyed her suspiciously, then he read the letter.  Janet
+watched his face, and at the sudden change of expression, she could
+not repress a smile.
+
+"Are you Widow Page's granddaughter?" he inquired at last.
+
+Janet nodded and tried to look solemn.
+
+"Did you and that boy from Blunts' know all the time that the owner
+of that house was Mrs. Todd!"
+
+This time Janet shook her head.
+
+"Did you have permission to go there when you liked!"
+
+"No."
+
+"Did you know I weren't no real sheriff!"
+
+"No."
+
+"Weren't you scared!"  The question was asked with so much anxiety,
+that Janet could not find it in her heart to disappoint the little
+man before her.
+
+"Indeed I was," she said.  "I was frightened to death.  You see, you
+looked so very severe that I thought at first you were the owner.  It
+was lucky for us, wasn't it, that Mrs. Todd did own it, for of course
+she didn't mind a bit."
+
+Mr. Simpson stroked his chin slowly and tried to hide the smile of
+satisfaction on his round face.
+
+"Waal," he said condescendingly, "I'm sorry I scared you, though I
+must say neither of you looked very frightened; but, you see, I had
+to do my duty as a one-time officer of the State."
+
+"Of course," Janet agreed.
+
+"I hope you'll tell Mrs. Page that I am sorry my duty lay in the
+direction it did," he continued.  "I wouldn't like to have her put
+out with me."
+
+"I'll tell her," Janet laughed, and added, as she turned Clinker
+around, "I am going to the house on the hill now, so please, if you
+happen in as you did yesterday, ring the bell and let me know you're
+coming.  I'd hate to be frightened that way ever again."
+
+Mr. Simpson was now thoroughly sure that he was not the object of
+ridicule, and he beamed upon Janet and all the autumn landscape.
+
+"Don't you worry, little lady," he chuckled; "now that I know who you
+are I won't never question your right to be any place in this county,
+and any time I can do you a service you just call on me and you'll
+find I'm your man."
+
+Janet thanked him graciously and drove off, without giving herself
+away by even a smile.  Once on the road and out of earshot, however,
+she laughed so heartily that Clinker pricked up his ears and started
+to run.
+
+"There, there, old fellow, I didn't mean to frighten you,"--she
+quieted him--"take your time and do stop frisking.  It would be too
+awful for words if you ran away and dumped me anywhere.  Think what
+Alice and Mildred would say."
+
+Clinker obligingly settled into a trot, and they were soon at the
+entrance to the Enchanted Kingdom.  Janet had never before approached
+it from the land side, and she was surprised at the broad sweep of
+driveway before her.  The house and barns looked more imposing from
+this side too.
+
+"It is truly a fairy castle," she said aloud.
+
+Clinker submitted to being tied under one of the sheds, and Janet
+hurried around to the front porch.  Mrs. Todd had offered her the key
+Mr. Simpson had, but she had said she would rather go in the old way.
+
+Everything was very still, and somehow she felt the loneliness of it
+all more than ever.  The roof seemed to sag dejectedly, and a few
+dead autumn leaves swishing in the wind against the front door added
+to the unnatural dreariness.
+
+She shivered a little before she slipped through the window.  She
+wanted more than anything else in the world at that moment to hear
+Peter's cheery "hello."
+
+Once in the library, she went straight to the books and ran her hand
+over them as if to find consultation in their worn backs.  She
+finally selected a little book bound in red.  It opened readily, more
+readily than usual, at a little poem.  Janet sat down on the floor
+and started to read aloud to herself.  There was something in the
+rhythm that always comforted her when she was lonely.  Surely Mrs.
+Browning had understood much when she wrote "Little Ellie."  Janet
+read it idly:
+
+  "Little Ellie sits alone
+  'Mid the beeches of a meadow,
+  By a stream-side on the grass.
+  And the trees are showering down,
+  Doubles of their leaves in shadow
+  On her shining hair and face.
+
+  "She has thrown her bonnet by
+  And her feet she has been dipping
+  In the shallow water's flow;
+  Now she holds them nakedly
+  In her hands all sleek and dripping
+  While she rocketh to and fro."
+
+  "Little Ellie sits alone,
+  And the smile she has been using
+  Fills the silence like a speech,
+  While she thinks what shall be done
+  And the sweetest pleasure chooses
+  For her future within reach."
+
+
+Many and many an afternoon Janet had read the beginning of the little
+poem and then chosen the sweetest pleasure for herself and lost the
+rest of the day in dreams.
+
+She looked up from the pages with a sigh, then her eyes fell on a
+folded piece of paper lying on the floor beside her.  She picked it
+up and opened it.  Idle curiosity gave place to excited interest as
+she read:
+
+
+"_Dear Princess:_
+
+"I am sorry to go away without another good-by, but I must.  Doc was
+coming here to see me, and I knew if he talked to me I would give in
+and that wouldn't be fair to either of us, and Dad would never
+approve.  I'm awfully glad you know the owner of the 'E.K.,' for now
+I can always think of you there.
+
+"I left the canoe on the bank below your house, and I rowed your boat
+back.  When I get a job in the West I will write and tell you about
+it if you want me to, and of course some day I will see you again.
+
+"Good-by again, and thanks for being such a good little pal.
+
+"PETER GIBBS."
+
+
+Janet's eyes were blurred long before she came to the end of the
+letter, and as she finished reading two big tears splashed on to the
+book in her lap.
+
+She stood up and looked about the room forlornly; the old gloves were
+gone from their accustomed place on the table.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+JANET'S PASSENGER
+
+Janet left the house by the cellar window instead of the easier way.
+It would be hard to explain her reasons, but it was noticeable that
+when she had safely climbed out and stood on the ground by the
+window, she leaned over and picked up something and put it away
+hastily in the pocket of her dress.  A great many years were to pass
+before she showed it to another soul.
+
+"Come along, Clinker," she said briskly, as she went to the shed.
+"It's high time we were starting."  She jumped into the cart, and
+Clinker, only too delighted to start for home, set off at a brisk
+pace.
+
+It was a long way by road back to the village, and it was dusk before
+they neared it.  As they came within sight of the railroad station
+Janet heard a train pulling in, and remembering Clinker's dislike for
+locomotives she slowed up to wait until it left the station.
+
+It was the train from Boston, and she could not help wishing that
+Mrs. Todd and Peter were on it.
+
+When the last puff of the engine was lost in the distance, she drove
+past the station very slowly.  Of course there was no sign of Mrs.
+Todd or Peter, and she drove on, disappointed in spite of herself.  A
+short stretch of wood made the road quite dark ahead of her for a
+way.  Clinker pricked up his ears as they entered it but Janet did
+not pay any attention to him and was therefore thoroughly startled
+when a voice, coming apparently from nowhere, called:
+
+"Wait a minute there, will you!"
+
+She pulled Clinker to a sudden stop and waited.  A man walked out of
+the shadows and came up to the cart.
+
+"I beg your pardon," he said, taking off his hat.  "I didn't see it
+was a lady driving."
+
+"Well, but what difference does that make?" Janet answered awkwardly.
+"Won't I do?"
+
+The man laughed and showed a set of the whitest teeth Janet had ever
+seen.
+
+"Well, as a matter of fact," he explained in his low voice, "I was
+going to ask for a lift."
+
+Janet looked at him for a minute and decided she liked him, and
+therefore it would not be necessary to treat him the way she usually
+treated strangers.
+
+"Why can't I give you one?" she asked, laughing too.
+
+"Well, now, that's mighty nice of you, and I'm very much obliged," he
+said.  "My bag is a little too heavy to make walking any fun."  He
+got in with surprising quickness, and Janet started Clinker by a word.
+
+"That's a mighty fine horse you've got there," he said quietly.
+
+"Yes, isn't he a beauty!  His name's Clinker," Janet replied.  "He
+doesn't belong to me, though.  I only wish he did."
+
+They were out of the wood by now, and she turned to look at her
+passenger.  He was, to judge from the way he had to pull his knees
+up, a very tall man and certainly he was handsome.  His face was
+burned a dark tan, and his eyes were set far apart and deep in his
+head.  His hat covered most of his hair, but Janet knew it was brown
+like his eyes.  There were lines at his temples that proved, if proof
+were necessary, that he laughed a good deal.  He had big broad
+shoulders and nice long lean hands, that looked as though he could do
+almost anything with them.
+
+"Well?" he asked, laughing, and Janet realized she had been staring.
+
+"I really couldn't help it, you see," she apologized, very much
+confused.  "Why, I've forgotten to ask you where you wanted to go?"
+she added.
+
+"To a hotel if there is one," the man replied.
+
+"Oh, but there isn't," Janet laughed.  "We have a boarding house
+where most every one stays.  The post mistress keeps it, but I'm
+afraid you won't like it very much."
+
+The man considered for a minute or so, and then smiled and shrugged.
+
+"Then I must take the chance of being mistaken for a tramp in these
+dusty clothes and go straight home."
+
+"Where's home?" Janet inquired.  "I don't like to be inquisitive, but
+we are almost to Main Street now."
+
+"Not at all, I didn't realize I hadn't introduced myself.  I'm Tom
+Page; perhaps you know my little sister Janet."
+
+Whatever Janet did no one will ever know, but Clinker, and he showed
+his disapproval of it by almost jumping over the shafts.  If Tom had
+not caught the reins and made him come to order he might have
+succeeded in running away.
+
+"Well, well, what happened?" he inquired, when Clinker was walking
+quietly again.  "I didn't see anything to frighten the animal, did
+you?"
+
+"I--I did it," Janet gasped.  "Can't you see!  I'm Janet, and
+you--oh, I know I'm dreaming."
+
+"You!"  It was Tom's turn to be surprised.  "Why, you can't be.
+Janet is just a youngster and you are a very grown up young person."
+
+"But I'm Janet just the same, and, well--how do you do, Tom; I'm very
+glad to see you."  She held out her hand.
+
+"Bless your heart!"  Tom put his arm around her and in spite of
+Clinker gave her a hearty kiss.  "What luck for us to meet like
+this!"--he laughed--"and I had pictured it so differently, and you
+are just about fifty times as nice as I thought you were going to be."
+
+"Well," Janet sighed happily, "you certainly are heaps nicer than _I_
+thought you were going to be."
+
+They turned the corner by the rectory, and Clinker, without asking
+any one's permission, turned in at the gate.
+
+"We will have to leave the horse here," Janet explained.  "He belongs
+to Mrs. Todd.  I was just doing an errand for her."
+
+"Mrs. Todd."  Tom was thoughtful.  "I seem to remember her--oh,
+yes,"--and he laughed.  "I'd like to meet her."
+
+"But she's in Boston," Janet replied.  "She's only visiting at the
+rectory."
+
+"Well, you'd better let me out anyway," Tom suggested.  "I don't want
+to meet anybody to-night.  You rustle along, and I'll wait here."  He
+jumped out, and Janet hurried to the barn, where the hired man was
+waiting to unhitch Clinker.
+
+Mrs. Blake came out on to the back porch.
+
+"Is that you, Janet?" she called.
+
+"Yes, Mrs. Blake, I was a little delayed in getting home.  I hope you
+haven't been worried," Janet replied.
+
+"Only a little uneasy," Mrs. Blake confessed; "won't you come in and
+see the girls?"
+
+"Oh, not to-night, thank you.  I must really hurry home."  Janet
+spoke with so much concern that Mrs. Blake did not urge her, and
+after a hurried good night she was able to join Tom.
+
+"It's quite a long walk home," she apologized.  "I wish I could have
+driven all the way.  Won't you let me help you with that bag!"
+
+Tom laughed his hearty, good-natured laugh, and caught his little
+sister by the arm.
+
+"You little featherweight!  I could carry you and the bag and never
+know you were there.  But we'll take it easy, and that will give us
+more time to talk.  First of all, how is grandmother?"
+
+"Oh, she's well; that is, of course, she is in bed always, but I
+think she feels all right otherwise," Janet replied.
+
+"Yes, of course.  I was forgetting.  Let me see, who else is in the
+house?"
+
+"Why, just Martha and me; that's all."
+
+"Any friends?  Your letter sounded as though you were lonely."
+
+"I am sometimes," Janet confessed; "that is, I used to be.  Lately I
+haven't had time because there's been Peter and Mrs. Todd."
+
+"Who's Peter?" Tom inquired.  "The boy that was afraid of snakes?"
+
+"Certainly not," Janet denied hotly; "that was Harry Waters."
+
+Tom started to ask a question, thought better of it, and said instead:
+
+"How about girls?"
+
+Janet did not reply at once.  Her own mind was far from made up on
+the subject, and it was difficult to answer Tom.
+
+"I don't know any girls, really," she replied slowly.  "The ones I
+have met didn't like me much, and I didn't like them.  When I wrote
+that letter to you I thought I wanted a girl friend more than
+anything else in the world, but now I guess boys are better; anyway,
+they don't say mean things behind your back."
+
+"All girls are not alike, little sister of mine.  There are lots of
+girls in the world that are just like you and you'd like them, even
+better than you like boys."
+
+There was a long pause, and finally Janet said:
+
+"Tom, do you remember what I said in my letter about wishing you were
+a sister instead of a brother?"
+
+"Even to the exact words,"--Tom laughed.  "You said that I would be
+much more of a comfort to you as a sister.  That's what made me come
+on at once.  I wanted to prove that brothers are some use in the
+world."
+
+"Don't tease," Janet begged.  "I only reminded you of it so that I
+could say I was sorry."
+
+"But you would like to have a sister too, wouldn't you?" Tom asked
+anxiously.
+
+"Oh, of course,"--Janet laughed.  "I'd like to have one too, but not
+in place of you."
+
+"Then _that's_ all right,"--Tom gave her arm a tight squeeze.  "Isn't
+that our house?" he inquired, as the light from Mrs. Page's room
+twinkled in the distance.
+
+"Why, yes, but how did you know?" Janet asked, surprised.
+
+"Oh, I was ten years old before I left for school," Tom explained.
+"You were a tiny baby then."
+
+Janet lapsed into another thoughtful silence.
+
+"Tom," she said seriously, "why didn't you ever come back!"
+
+Tom's voice was very gentle as he answered her:
+
+"That, little sister of mine," he said, "is one of the many things I
+am going to tell you about after I have talked to your grandmother."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+THE GREATEST SURPRISE IN THE WORLD
+
+Janet tiptoed down stairs and stole softly out into the garden.  It
+was very early in the morning, and even Martha was still asleep.  But
+there was no sleep for Janet.  Her eyes had been wide open since the
+first streak of pale light had fallen slantwise across her floor.
+For hours she had tossed restlessly, and at last, unable to stand it
+any longer, she had dressed.
+
+It was the morning after Tom's arrival.  Janet thought over the
+events of the night before and frowned.  As soon as they had entered
+the house he had gone straight to his grandmother's room, and she had
+not seen him since.  She and Martha had sat up until after ten and
+then, very much against her will, she had gone to bed and listened
+for a long time to the murmur of voices in the room below.  At first
+her grandmother's querulous tones had predominated, but after a while
+Tom's low rumble sounded comfortingly in her ears, and she had
+slipped off to sleep.
+
+This morning, as she thought about it, she tried to imagine all that
+had been said behind that closed door, but she found it impossible.
+Why there should be anything to discuss, she couldn't imaging.  Other
+people lived without an air of mystery surrounding them, and at this
+moment of Janet's life she envied those people with all her heart.
+
+Once several years before she had asked her grandmother to tell her
+about her mother and father.  Mrs. Page had told her there was
+nothing to tell, and had forbidden her ever to speak of the subject
+again.  She had looked so gray and sick as she said it that Janet had
+been frightened, and she had never ventured to refer to it again
+except to Martha, and all Martha could tell her was that her mother
+had been a dear patient saint and her father the finest man that ever
+lived.  Janet had tried to picture them from this description, and up
+until a year before she had been contented.  Now she wanted to know
+more.  Mrs. Todd, too, had made her think.
+
+She looked up at Tom's window impatiently, and as she looked the
+shade moved and Tom put his head out.
+
+"Hello!" he called down softly.  "I knew you'd be up with the birds.
+Wait a jiffy, and I'll be down with you."
+
+Janet threw him a kiss and told him to hurry.  She listened, smiling,
+as she heard him splash in the bathtub.  It was not many minutes
+before he was beside her, and they were seated on the old stone
+garden bench.
+
+"How is my little grown-up sister this morning?" he inquired, as he
+kissed her.
+
+"Tommy, please tell me everything," Janet begged.  "I want to know so
+badly."
+
+"Poor youngster,"--Tom patted her shoulder affectionately--"so you
+shall, but first let me have a look at you, I hardly saw you last
+night."  He turned her face toward him and smiled down into her eyes.
+
+"Janet, what would you say if I told you that you had a sister?" he
+asked slowly.
+
+"But--why, how silly!  I wouldn't, believe you,"--Janet laughed.
+
+"Not if I told you quite seriously?"
+
+Janet jumped up from her seat and faced her brother.
+
+"Tommy, what do you mean?" she asked wonderingly.
+
+"Not only an ordinary sister," Tom continued, "but a twin sister."
+He studied her anxiously.
+
+Janet was more bewildered than ever.
+
+"But I couldn't have, Tommy, and not know it."
+
+"It does sound unreasonable," Tom agreed, "but it's true.  Do you
+want me to tell you about her?"
+
+Janet put her hands on his shoulders and looked at him, still
+doubtful and a little frightened.
+
+"You're not teasing me, are you?" she asked, and her voice trembled.
+
+[Illustration: "You're not teasing me, are you?" she asked, and her
+voice trembled.]
+
+Tom stood up and put his arm around her, and they walked slowly down
+the garden path.
+
+"No, honey, I'm not teasing you," he said quietly.  "Let me try and
+explain.
+
+"I will have to say some things about grandmother that I would rather
+leave unsaid, but you must try and understand that although she is a
+very unreasonable and selfish old lady she did what she thought was
+right."
+
+"Of course,"--Janet nodded her head.
+
+"I thought that you must know all about mother and father, I never
+dreamed she would refuse to answer your questions, and of course I
+knew you would ask questions as soon as you began to think.  I've
+been a very selfish brother and I am heartily ashamed of myself, I
+should have come home ages ago, but we'll let that pass now.
+
+"You know Mrs. Todd?" he paused, and Janet nodded.
+
+"Well, a long time ago grandmother decided that she was to marry
+father, but father was in love with mother then; very, very much in
+love with her."  Tom smiled as he added, "And he married her.
+Grandmother was furious, but she adored father and before long she
+forgave him and he and mother came here to live.  I guess grandmother
+had to like mother in spite of herself, but she could never quite
+forgive her for not being the girl she had chosen.  I was born, and
+then ten years later you and Phyllis came along."
+
+"Phyllis, oh, what a lovely name!" Janet exclaimed.
+
+"It was mother's name too," Tom told her, and went on with his story.
+"One day when you were just tiny tots father and mother went out for
+a sail.  It was windy, and grandmother tried to persuade them not to
+go, but mother laughed at the idea of danger and they went."  Tom
+paused and stroked Janet's soft hair.
+
+"They never came back, dear," he said gently.  After a little he went
+on: "When grandmother heard it she almost lost her mind from grief,
+and she was sick for a long time.  When she got better she had a
+fixed idea in her head that it was mother's fault and she would not
+let any one mention her name before her.  Aunt Marjorie, mother's
+sister, came down, and of course she wanted to take you and Phyllis
+home with her, but grandmother wouldn't let her.  She let her have
+Phyllis, because she had been named for mother, but she kept you.
+Aunt Marjorie was very angry and when she left grandmother told her
+never to come back and never to write to you or to me.  Of course
+there was nothing for Aunt Mog to do but to agree.  However, she
+didn't keep her promise, for she used to write to me at school and
+send me all kinds of things to eat.  But I never saw her.
+Grandmother sent me away to school, and because I was noisy in the
+house she wouldn't let me come home for vacations.  I was glad of it,
+for some of the boys always took me to their houses and I had a much
+better time.  After I finished college I went west and for a while I
+was so busy on my ranch that I forgot I had any sisters.  I used to
+write to grandmother now and again, as you know, and I sent my love
+to you, you were quite right to object to that kind of love," he
+added, laughing.
+
+"But how could you tell I wasn't the horrid prim thing that wrote
+those letters that grandmother corrected,"--Janet was quick to defend
+him against himself.  "Did you ever write to Phyllis!"
+
+"Only at Christinas and after a while I stopped doing even that.  She
+was just a little kid and I was so far away.  Aunt Mog writes me
+whenever they move and change addresses.  Bless her heart, I
+shouldn't wonder if perhaps she'd guessed that some day we would all
+want to be together.  You'll love Aunt Mog; she's a dear."
+
+Janet walked back to the bench and sat down limply, her knees felt
+shaky.
+
+"A sister," she said softly.
+
+"A twin," Tom corrected her, laughing.
+
+"It's the same thing, only better," Janet answered, and then she
+laughed too.  "Oh, Tommy, I'm so happy I think I'm going to cry like
+an idiotic baby."
+
+"Cry ahead, I won't look," Tom promised, but Janet had too many
+questions to ask to waste time crying.  She swallowed hard, gave
+herself a little shake, and no tears came.
+
+"Am I going to see Phyllis soon?" she inquired.
+
+"Just as soon as I can get ahold of Aunt Mog and arrange for them to
+come down," Tom assured her.
+
+"Come down!" Janet exclaimed.  "Will grandmother let them?"
+
+Tom smiled a peculiar sort of a smile.  "Grandmother is going to
+_ask_ them to come down," he said quietly.
+
+Janet looked at him in amazement.  It was hard to imagine her
+grandmother's giving in to anybody, but it was harder still to look
+at Tom's mouth and imagine anybody not giving in to him.
+
+As they had talked, Martha had been busy about the kitchen, and the
+sound of pots and pans and running water reached the garden.  Finally
+Tom sniffed.
+
+"Muffins," he exclaimed, "and I am as hungry as a bear.  Come along
+and let's find breakfast."
+
+Martha's excitement and bewilderment were such that it is a wonder
+everything was not burned for breakfast, but her ability as a cook
+was greater than any temporary shock, and the breakfast was delicious.
+
+Tom and Janet did it full justice.
+
+"It is such fun to have some one at the table to talk to," Janet
+said, and Tom had a sudden vision of her sitting alone year after
+year in the big dining-room, and once more he called himself a
+thoroughly selfish brother and choked a little over his coffee.
+
+After breakfast Janet went to her grandmother's door and knocked as
+she had always done.  It was all a little different this morning and
+she hesitated a second on the threshold before she went in.
+
+Mrs. Page, propped up as usual by countless pillows, looked smaller
+and older than ever, and any feeling of resentment that Janet may
+have felt disappeared and an understanding sympathy took its place.
+
+"Good morning, grandmother?" she said as usual.
+
+"Have you seen your brother?" Mrs. Page asked a little shakily.
+
+"Yes, grandmother, and he told me everything."  Janet spoke very
+gently.
+
+"Well, what have you to say about it?  Come, speak up," Mrs. Page
+fidgeted with the bed clothes.
+
+"I haven't anything to say," Janet answered.  "Of course I am awfully
+glad really to know Tom and I want more than anything in the world to
+see my sister."
+
+"You do, eh?  Very well, you shall; but if you don't like her, don't
+blame me.  I've tried to keep you away from unhappiness but now you
+may do as you like."
+
+Janet thought of the lonely yet happy years, and she laid her hand on
+her grandmother's that was nervously stroking the sheet.
+
+"I know you have, grandmother, and I am very grateful, truly I am;
+and of course I will love Phyllis," she added with a gay little laugh.
+
+Tom was waiting for her in the garden with Boru.
+
+"Let's take a walk down to the village.  I want to send off a wire
+and then you can show me the sights," he suggested.
+
+"I'll take you over to the big house on the hill,"--Janet was eager
+to be off.  "Get your hat and let's start this minute.  Oh, dear,
+I've so many things to ask you and twice as many to tell you."
+
+"Thirteen years' worth,"--Tom laughed, and they set off.
+
+It was a glorious day, the wind blew the red-brown leaves in graceful
+swirls, and the sunshine melted everything to a misty gold.
+
+It was surely a never-to-be-forgotten day in Janet's life.  Tom told
+her thrilling stories of the West and his own ranch, and in return
+she confided all her secrets.  He was interested, especially in
+Peter, for he had heard of his father.  He blessed Mrs. Todd secretly
+for her interest in Janet, and his wish of the night before to meet
+her took on a new significance.
+
+At the end of the day the "thirteen years" had very nearly been
+bridged, and Tom's admiration for his little sister was only equalled
+by her love for him.
+
+"Do you know, Janet," he said half seriously, as they climbed the
+steps from the shore, "I'm not nearly as sorry as I was that I have
+neglected you for so long.  Left to yourself you have certainly made
+a very acceptable little sister, and think how badly I might have
+spoiled you."
+
+"Oh, do stop blaming yourself," Janet cried; "what is the use of
+thinking about anything that is farther back than last night or
+perhaps two weeks ago?" she corrected herself, thinking of Peter and
+Mrs. Todd.
+
+
+
+
+XIV
+
+A LONG DAY
+
+Some one was tapping the knocker on the porch below, and Janet
+stopped in her work to listen.  It was an unfamiliar sound, for most
+callers came to the house by way of the garden.
+
+She tiptoed to the window and looked down.  Alice and Mildred Blake
+stood below her.  She could see the tops of their brown felt hats.  A
+minute later she heard Martha let them in, and then call her from the
+foot of the stairs.
+
+She looked about her in dismay.  She was getting the front room ready
+for Phyllis and Aunt Mog, and she did not want to be disturbed.
+
+"Miss Janet," Martha called again, and this time Janet answered.
+
+"Just a minute, Martha; I'll be right down."  She flew to her room
+and brushed her tossled hair and took off the huge apron of Martha's
+that she was wearing.
+
+Alice and Mildred came forward to meet her together.
+
+"Oh, Janet!" they exclaimed in chorus, "we have just heard that your
+sister is coming.  Isn't it exciting!  Miss Clark told mother, and
+she sent us over to ask you if you wouldn't bring her and your
+aunt--mother used to know her when they were girls--to tea just as
+soon as they come."
+
+"Why, that's awfully nice of you,"--Janet was a little taken back.
+"I'd be glad to."
+
+"When are they coming?" Alice queried.
+
+"To-morrow," Janet told them.  "Tom went to New York last Monday and
+he sent me a telegram saying they would all be here to-morrow."
+
+"Yes, so Miss Clark said."  Mildred did not try to conceal the fact
+that her sister's question was asked purely to make conversation.
+The date and hour had been circulated freely about the village as
+soon as Tom's wire had arrived.
+
+"How is Mrs. Todd?" Janet asked, to save Alice further embarrassment.
+
+The girls exchanged glances.
+
+"It's lucky you spoke of her or we might have forgotten to give you a
+message she sent you in a letter to mother," Mildred said.  "She said
+to tell you that you could drive Clinker any time you liked and that
+she would be very glad to have you exercise him."
+
+"How sweet of her!" Janet exclaimed.  "She knows I love to drive.
+I'll come this very afternoon and take him out."
+
+"We have our own horse, you know."  Alice spoke with condescension,
+although Janet knew quite well that only the rector ever drove the
+ancient gray mare that kept Clinker company in the rectory barn.
+
+"I was tired of driving long ago," Mildred upheld her sister.  "I
+wish father would buy an automobile."
+
+"Do you?" Janet asked.  "I don't believe I could ever love an
+automobile."
+
+Mildred looked at her in surprise and turned to her sister.
+
+"We must go, Alice," she said.  "Good-by, Janet; don't forget to
+bring your sister to tea."
+
+"No, I won't, and thank you ever so much."  Janet watched her
+visitors until they reached the shore road below the house.  She
+marveled at the easy way in which they spoke of Phyllis and called
+her "your sister" when she herself found it so hard to grow
+accustomed to the relationship.  Finally she went back to her work.
+
+The room that Phyllis and her aunt were to have was long and low
+ceilinged.  It ran the length of the front of the house.  Six
+latticed windows opened to the south and looked over the bay below.
+It was a quaint room, hung in faded chintz and furnished with heavy
+old mahogany.  Janet was doing her best to make it shine.
+
+"I'll put some asters in a bowl on the table," she said to Boru, who
+was watching operations from the doorway, "and then I think we will
+be all ready.  Are you going to like your new sister?" she asked
+laughingly, as she dropped to her knee beside him and rubbed her
+cheek against his shaggy coat.  "You must, you know, because she's my
+twin, but you mustn't love her as much as you do me."
+
+Boru got up and walked away, as though he considered that the only
+way to answer such a silly remark.
+
+Janet sat on the floor where he had left her and cradled her chin in
+her hand and gave herself up to sudden gloomy speculation.  Suppose
+Phyllis turned out to be like Alice and Mildred!  The very idea
+chilled her, and she stared dismally at the pretty room.
+
+"I don't suppose she'll have to like me just because she's my
+sister," she said aloud; "perhaps she'll think I'm different too, or
+maybe she'll think I'm countrified.  Oh, dear, I almost wish she were
+not coming."
+
+Boru came back and snuggled into her lap, and they sat quiet, both
+busy with their own thoughts until Martha interrupted them.
+
+"There you are, Miss Janet.  I knew you'd be tiring yourself out with
+all this fixing.  Come down to your lunch now; do, like a good child,
+and let me do the rest."
+
+Janet got up slowly.
+
+"Oh, Martha, I don't feel a bit like eating," she said dolefully.
+
+"And no wonder, working yourself to death, poor lamb."  Martha's arms
+comforted her as they had done many times before, and from the
+shelter of one broad shoulder Janet confessed her fears.
+
+"Martha, what will I do if Phyllis doesn't like me?"
+
+Martha may be said to have snorted in disgust.
+
+"Not like you!" she ejaculated; "but, my lamb, she's bound to; she's
+your own mother's daughter and so, tell me now, how could she do
+anything else?"  She offered this method of reasoning as though it
+were sure to cast out any doubts, and Janet gladly accepted it.
+
+"What a baby I am," she laughed, wiping her eyes; "look at Boru; he's
+disgusted with me, and no wonder."
+
+"Come now and have your lunch," Martha insisted; "you'll see how
+hungry you are after the first bite."
+
+Janet was hungry, and her spirits brightened with every mouthful.
+
+"I wish it were to-morrow," she said, as she lingered over her
+cantaloupe.  "I think I will die of suspense if I don't find
+something to do.  I thought I was going for a ride, but look, it's
+raining."
+
+"And a good thing too," Martha replied emphatically.  "I can't
+understand Mrs. Todd letting you drive that horse of hers.  Some day
+it will run away and kill you, and then I wonder what she will say."
+
+Janet laughed in spite of herself at so dismal a picture, and got up
+from the table.
+
+"Well, I won't die to-day, that's sure," she said.  "I wish I could
+think of something really interesting to do."
+
+Martha thought for a minute, and then a smile lit up her face.
+
+"Perhaps I can find something that will interest you," she said with
+some hesitation.  "Now that you know all about everything there can't
+be any harm in it," she continued, lowering her voice.
+
+"In what?" Janet inquired.
+
+Martha beckoned to her mysteriously and led the way upstairs all the
+way to the big attic.  It was filled with old trunks and bits of
+broken furniture and pictures, Janet had passed them many times on
+her way to the "widow's walk" but she had never been curious enough
+to give them a second thought.
+
+She watched Martha with interest as she pulled out a little old trunk
+from one corner.  From a bunch of keys that was hanging to one of the
+rafters she selected the right one, and gave it to Janet.
+
+"There now, open that and see what you find," she said mysteriously.
+"Now I must get back to my work," she added briskly and bustled down
+the stairs, leaving Janet looking at the key in her hand.
+
+Boru patted up the stairs and sniffed the trunk.
+
+"What do you suppose we will find, old fellow?" Janet asked him, as
+she fitted the key in the lock.
+
+At sight of the contents of the first tray she gave a little
+exclamation of delight.  It was filled with soft silks and laces, now
+yellow with age.  Janet lifted them out gently and discovered that
+they were dresses.  Old-fashioned little things.  There was a pale
+yellow one and a robin's-egg blue, made with hundreds of little tucks.
+
+Janet smoothed them out with reverent fingers, for she knew they had
+belonged to her mother.
+
+The next tray held odds and ends, and Janet sat down on the floor and
+lifted them out one by one.  Packages of letters that almost fell to
+pieces as she touched them, silk stockings of every color, and three
+pairs of tiny slippers.  She could hardly believe a foot was ever
+small enough to fit them.
+
+She found a wooden box too, beautifully carved and filled with dozens
+of sheer handkerchiefs and, best of all, a pile of books.  She read
+their titles eagerly; "Pride and Prejudice" by Jane Austin, Scott's
+"Lady of the Lake," Shakespeare's "As You Like It" and a beautifully
+bound copy of Mrs. Browning's poems.
+
+"Then mother loved 'Little Ellie' too!" she exclaimed.  There was
+something very wonderful in the knowledge.
+
+She put the books to one side and went on with her discoveries.
+Toward the very bottom she found a chamois bag wrapped up in a yellow
+piece of paper.  Inside of it was a jeweler's black-leather case.
+Janet's fingers trembled as she opened it.
+
+Lying on a bed of blue velvet was a miniature set in a gold frame,
+and as she looked she gave a cry of astonishment.  A face almost
+exactly like her own smiled up at her.
+
+"Mother," she whispered softly.
+
+It was dusk before she left the attic, but when she did go down
+stairs she went straight to Martha.
+
+"Did you know what was in that trunk?" she asked.
+
+Martha nodded.
+
+"I put them there myself," she said.  "Did you have a happy
+afternoon?"
+
+For answer, Janet threw her arms around her and hugged her tight.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+THE DAY AT LAST
+
+"If it rains to-morrow I think I shall die," Janet said as she got
+ready for bed that night.
+
+She need have had no fears, for the next day dawned clear, with just
+enough of autumn chill in the air to whip the color into your cheeks.
+Tom's telegram had said that they would arrive by the same train that
+he had come by.
+
+Janet wished it had been an earlier one, but the day passed more
+quickly than she had hoped.  In the morning she drove Clinker out
+into the woods and came back with the cart full of brilliant autumn
+leaves.
+
+As she drove back through the village it seemed as though every one
+stopped her to ask when Phyllis was coming.  She told them all, and
+her excitement mounted every time she uttered the magic words but
+toward afternoon the fear that had depressed her the day before
+returned and she could not shake it off.  She felt suddenly very shy.
+When train time came it was all she could do not to fly to the
+Enchanted Kingdom and hide, as she had done on the day of the fair.
+She walked up and down the platform in a fever of excitement, and her
+hands were icy cold.
+
+Old Mr. Jenkins came out from the ticket office to talk to her.
+
+"Quite a day for you, isn't it?" he asked with evident interest.
+"Can't say as I ever heard of another case quite like it.  To have a
+twin sister that you never saw and didn't even know you had!  I often
+wondered when you'd find it out."
+
+"Did you know all about it?" Janet asked in surprise.
+
+"I should say I did."  Mr. Jenkins nodded his head to give further
+weight to his words.
+
+"I wonder why no one ever told me," Janet said more to herself than
+to him.
+
+Mr. Jenkins chuckled.
+
+"I kinda guess all the folks that knew about it, knew your
+grandmother didn't want it told, and perhaps you've noticed folks
+have a way of doing things like she wants."
+
+"I suppose that was it," Janet agreed idly.  "Isn't that the train?"
+she asked a minute later as a faint rumble became audible.
+
+Mr. Jenkins consulted his watch.
+
+"Wouldn't wonder if it were," he said.  "I'd better be getting the
+mail bags ready."
+
+Janet couldn't very well ask him to wait, but she watched his
+retreating figure with a sinking feeling around her heart.  At least
+he was somebody to talk to, and anything was better than being alone.
+She could feel her heart pounding, and something in her throat seemed
+to interfere with her breathing.
+
+Never did a train take so long to slow up and finally stop, but Janet
+found herself suddenly wishing that it would take twice as long.
+
+The first person to alight was Tom, and he took time to wave to her
+before he turned to help down a slender little lady dressed in pearl
+gray.  Janet started forward to meet them, and then stopped short for
+she saw herself stepping off the train; eyes, hair, straight little
+nose, even to the solitary dimple in the left cheek.  She was
+carrying a basket and she was laughing at Tom.  Then she looked up
+and stopped too.
+
+The Page twins stared at each other.
+
+"Janet!"  Phyllis was the first to regain the power of speech.  She
+dropped her basket into Tom's arms and ran forward.
+
+The next thing Janet knew she was being kissed and hugged.
+
+"Oh, you adorable love!" Phyllis exclaimed rapturously.  "Isn't it
+all perfectly thrilling and fairy-taleish?  I could just eat you
+alive, I am so excited.  Please say right away that you are going to
+love me or I shall die of misery."
+
+Poor Janet!  She had never heard so many adjectives in all her life
+and the speed with which Phyllis rattled on dumbfounded her.  Miss
+Carter, Aunt Mog, came to her rescue.
+
+"Phyllis, my love, do stop talking and give some one else a chance to
+say how do you do to Janet."  She laughed.  "Janet, my dear, I am
+your Aunt Mog, and I am, oh, so very happy to see you."
+
+Janet kissed her and murmured, "Thank you."
+
+"Well, don't I get a kiss, little sister of mine?" Tom inquired in
+his deep, good-natured voice.
+
+At the sound of it Janet found her tongue.
+
+"Of course you do!" she exclaimed.  "Oh, I am so happy, I can't think
+of anything to say," she confessed shyly.
+
+"You precious love, that's just exactly the way I feel!"  Phyllis
+could not keep still another instant.  "There are all sorts of funny
+little chills miming up and down my back and--oh, for goodness'
+sakes, Tommy, what are you doing to Sir Galahad!" She snatched the
+basket away from Tom and lifted out a huge tortoise-shell cat with a
+big blue bow around his neck.
+
+Boru, who had been sniffing at Tom's side, gave a sudden jump, and
+Janet caught him just in time to save the cat.
+
+"Get down, sir," she scolded, "and don't you dare to touch that cat.
+Do you understand?"  Boru slunk away with his tail between his legs.
+
+"Poor kitty, did he frighten you?  I'm so sorry,"--Janet stroked the
+ruffled fur comfortingly.
+
+Phyllis laughed.  "What a time we will have with those two!" she
+exclaimed; "but they'll make friends sooner or later.  Sir Galahad is
+just as much to blame as your dog.  He has no manners when it comes
+to dogs.  Go back in your basket, you're in disgrace."
+
+"Let's make at least a start for home," Tom suggested.  "I'm hungry."
+
+"There's a wagon to carry up your bags," Janet said, "but I'm afraid
+we will have to walk."
+
+"Oh, yes, let's do start.  I'm simply crazy to see the house and
+grandmother and Martha.  Here, Tommy, you carry puss, now that you
+have no bags.  I'm going to walk with Janet.  You and Auntie Mogs can
+bring up the rear."
+
+"You are going to do no such thing," her aunt contradicted her
+smilingly.  "I don't want Janet deaf by the time we reach the house,
+and besides I want to talk to her myself."
+
+She took Janet's arm and started off, and Phyllis and Tom followed.
+
+"Phyllis doesn't always talk as much as this," she said as they
+walked along; "she is just excited to-day."
+
+"Oh, but I love it," Janet said quickly.  "She's--well she's
+everything she said I was."  She looked at her companion and smiled.
+Miss Carter was a dainty little lady, Janet thought she looked as
+though she had just stepped down from a Dresden vase, her cheeks were
+such a soft shell pink and her eyes such a delicate china blue.
+Unconsciously she looked down at her feet; they were nearly small
+enough to fit the slippers in the trunk in the attic.
+
+"Oh, Janet, do tell me who lives in that cunning little house!"
+Phyllis called.
+
+"The Waters," Janet told her; "that's Harry looking out of the barn
+door."
+
+Phyllis laughed merrily.  "Oh, but he's fat," she cried.  "Do you
+know him!"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Like him?"
+
+"Not much."
+
+"Why!"
+
+"Isn't he the boy who is afraid of snakes?" Tom asked, laughing.
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Well, I don't blame him for that!" Phyllis exclaimed.  "I'm scared
+to death of the crawly things myself, but I do think he is a little
+bit too fat."  She chattered on and succeeded in monopolizing the
+conversation until they reached the house.  At the first glimpse of
+it she went into ecstasies.
+
+"It's perfect," she announced from the garden gate.  "Oh, Janet, do
+love me so that I can stay here always.  There's a real sundial!
+Auntie Mogs, do look.  Tommy, you never told me about it.  And what
+ducky little white flowers!"
+
+In the hall she was equally enthusiastic over the grandfather's clock
+and the big brass warming pan.
+
+Martha met them at the door, arrayed in a stiff white apron, her face
+shiny with soap applied vigorously.
+
+Before she had a chance to speak, Phyllis was shaking her hand.
+
+"You're Martha," she said.  "I'm awfully glad to know you."
+
+Martha turned to Miss Carter.  "She said that like Master Tom," she
+said.
+
+Aunt Mog smiled.  "Yes, she is very like her father," she said.  "I
+see it so often.  It's queer, isn't it!  Janet is more like her
+mother."
+
+"She is, indeed, ma'm, even in her ways."  Martha spoke proudly, and
+she looked at Janet affectionately.
+
+"Won't you be coming up to your room?  You must be tired."
+
+They all followed her upstairs, Phyllis leading the way and once more
+carrying her cat.
+
+Tom brought up the rear, carrying the bags, which had arrived a few
+minutes before from the station.
+
+"I must change my dress before I see grandmother," Phyllis said as
+she opened a big suitcase, "but I won't be a minute, so stay and talk
+to me while I wash in this adorable basin," she said to Janet.
+
+Aunt Mog took off her hat and with a smile, which neither of the
+girls noticed, she slipped from the room and joined Tom at the foot
+of the stairs.
+
+"It's quite perfect, as Phyllis says," she laughed, "and now suppose
+I go in and say 'how do you do' to Mrs. Page."
+
+When the girls came down a few minutes later they heard voices and
+Tom's hearty laugh.  Janet sighed with relief and opened the door
+softly.
+
+"Grandmother," she said in the hushed voice she always used in that
+room, "here is Phyllis."
+
+Before Mrs. Page had had time really to look at her other
+granddaughter, Phyllis had kissed her warmly on both cheeks and was
+rattling on in her joyful way.
+
+"Grandmother, isn't this fun!" she demanded.  "I'm so glad to see
+you.  Why, only just imagine, I never knew you existed until Tom came
+out of the skies and told me about you and Janet.  You can imagine,
+can't you, how surprised I was, and of course I've been simply crazy
+to see you ever since."
+
+"Phyllis dearest, be careful; I'm afraid you'll tire your grandmother
+with so much chattering," Aunt Mog admonished gently.
+
+"Let the child alone, Marjorie," Mrs. Page snapped.
+
+"Oh, but I'm sorry," Phyllis was contrite at once, "I always forget,
+and you know you don't look a bit sick, grandmother, even though you
+are in bed.  Here, let me shake up your pillows for you.  They don't
+look half puffy enough to be really comfortable."  She suited the
+action to the word, and in the twinkling of an eye the pillows were
+re-arranged to her satisfaction.
+
+"Keep still a minute, child," Mrs. Page said not unkindly; "I want to
+look at you."
+
+Phyllis smiled down at her, and stood as still as it was possible for
+her.
+
+"I wish you would all leave me now," Mrs. Page said when she had
+studied each of Phyllis's features in turn.  "Come in and say good
+night to me, child, when Janet comes."
+
+They left her, and the girls went into the garden.  Janet was too
+surprised to voice her thoughts, but Phyllis did not seem even to
+know that she had done anything out of the ordinary.  She dismissed
+her grandmother with "she's really a love," and returned to more
+important subjects.
+
+By evening she knew all about the Enchanted Kingdom, Peter, Mrs. Todd
+and the Blake girls, and she had moved her suitcase into Janet's
+room, "for--" she said--"what is the use of having a sister if you
+can't sleep with her and talk over things with her in the dark."
+
+Miss Carter and Tom, sitting in the living-room before the fire,
+heard the buzz of their voices late into the night.
+
+"How alike they are," she said, smiling.  "And yet how absolutely
+different."
+
+Tom nodded.  "And to think they're both my sisters; bless 'em, do you
+know, Auntie Mogs, I'm a very proud man this night!"
+
+Auntie Mogs leaned over and patted his hand in understanding.
+
+"They must never be separated again," she said with decision.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+A DAY TOGETHER
+
+Janet kept her eyes tight closed the next morning, long after she was
+awake.  She was afraid to open them lest the memories that had
+crowded into her consciousness should prove to be only dreams.
+Phyllis was dancing inside of her eyelids, and she smiled at her and
+closed her eyes tighter to keep her there.
+
+After a long while she turned over very quietly and listened.  Some
+one was breathing softly on the other side of the big bed.  She
+opened her eyes very slowly and found herself looking straight into
+Phyllis's merry ones.
+
+They both laughed.  Janet from relief, Phyllis from sheer joy.
+
+"I've been watching you for perfect hours.  I thought you were never
+going to wake up.  I very nearly pinched you," Phyllis exclaimed.
+"Isn't it time to get up!"
+
+"Yes, it's late, and, thank goodness, it's a beautiful day," Janet
+replied.
+
+Phyllis bounded out of bed and pulled all the covers off of Janet.
+
+"Get up, you sleepy head, and I'll race you getting dressed!" she
+challenged.
+
+Janet was up in a second and clothes flew in every direction.  Martha
+had left a big can of hot water in the hall outside their door, and
+Phyllis was giggling so hard when she tried to pour it into the basin
+that she splashed some of it on her bare toes.
+
+"Cricky, but that hurts!" she cried, sitting down on the side of the
+bed to nurse it.  Sir Galahad got up from his basket by the window to
+come over and see what all the noise was about, and at the same time
+Boru pushed open the door with his black muzzle.
+
+For an instant the two animals looked at each other, then Boru
+growled and Sir Galahad arched his back and hissed.  Janet and
+Phyllis just caught them in time to avoid a scrap.
+
+Sir Galahad went back in his basket, and the lid was closed and Boru
+was shut out into the hall.
+
+"What under the sun are we going to do with those two!" Phyllis
+demanded.
+
+"They will just have to get used to each other, but I'm afraid it
+won't be easy," Janet replied.  "Boru hates cats."
+
+They finished their dressing and consulted Tom at breakfast.
+
+"I tell you what to do," he suggested.  "You both go off somewhere
+this morning and leave the live stock with me, when you come back
+they will both be eating out of the same dish."
+
+Janet and Phyllis exchanged glances and shook their heads doubtfully,
+but they decided to let him try, after they had made him solemnly
+promise not to let any harm come to either of them.
+
+"Where shall we go!" Phyllis demanded.  "Shall we take a walk!"
+
+"We might take a drive," Janet suggested.  "Mrs. Todd sent me word
+that I could have Clinker whenever I wanted him."
+
+"Of course, that's the very thing!" Phyllis enthused.  "He is at the
+rectory, isn't he!  Let's go this very instant.  I'm crazy to see
+those Blake girls."
+
+Janet had an unhappy moment of doubt.  Suppose Phyllis liked the
+Blakes, what would she do then?  But she led the way to the village.
+She only showed that she was worried by being a little quieter than
+usual.  As Phyllis talked all the way, her silence was not noticeable.
+
+Alice and Mildred must have seen them coming down Main Street, for
+they were at the gate to meet them.  Janet introduced them and
+waited.  She expected Phyllis to enthuse as she had been doing ever
+since her arrival, but a surprise awaited her.
+
+From the laughing, bright-eyed youngster Phyllis changed all in the
+twinkling of an eye into a quiet self-possessed girl.
+
+"How do you do?  I'm very glad to meet you."  She shook hands with
+Alice and nodded carelessly to Mildred.
+
+"We are going for a drive," she went on, still walking toward the
+barn.  "That is, Janet is going to do the driving, and I am going to
+watch her in real envy."
+
+"Don't you know how to drive?" Alice inquired.  "Mildred and I really
+don't care for it, we've done so much of it."
+
+Janet watched Phyllis and waited, wondering what she would say to
+such a silly snubbing.
+
+Phyllis looked at both the girls before her and a roguish grin tilted
+up the corners of her mouth, and then she laughed.  It was a merry
+little laugh, but it made Alice feel very small and very
+uncomfortable so that she would have given almost anything not to
+have made her last silly remark.
+
+"Aren't you coming in!" Mildred asked hastily.  "We'd love to have
+you."
+
+"Not just now, thanks; we are going for a drive, you see."  Phyllis
+smiled and followed Janet into the barn, where the hired man was
+already harnessing Clinker.  Alice and Mildred stayed and talked
+until they were ready to go.
+
+"You'll stop in on your way back, won't you?" Alice almost begged.
+
+"Oh, thanks, we will if we have time," Phyllis replied sweetly.
+
+Once on the main road and bowling along briskly, she laughed.
+
+"No wonder you don't like them!" she exclaimed.  "Of all the sillies!
+Why, Janet, they are what old-fashioned books call stuck up."  She
+laughed until the tears rolled down her cheeks.  "I wish we could
+have them at school for about a month; they would learn so many
+things, and how I'd love to help teach them."
+
+"If you think they're funny, what must you think of me?" Janet spoke,
+without thinking and regretted it at once.
+
+Phyllis eyed her reproachfully.  "I don't think that's a very nice
+thing to say to your sister," she said slowly.  "How could I think
+you anything but the most wonderful girl in the world when I've been
+longing for you all these years."
+
+"Longing for me?" Janet queried in surprise.
+
+"Yes, longing for you!" Phyllis returned with spirit, "and that's
+more than you can say about me."
+
+"It's no such thing," Janet denied hotly.  "I have wanted a sister
+always.  Why, I wrote Tom and told him I wished he'd been a girl
+instead of a boy."
+
+"Oh, you darling, did you really?"  Phyllis returned to her gay self
+in a flash.  "Isn't it just like a story?  I wanting you, oh, so
+much, and you wanting me, and now here we are.  I don't see what in
+the world we are fussing about, do you?"
+
+"Then let's stop," Janet said wisely.  "Shall I drive you to Mrs.
+Todd's house?"
+
+"Yes, do; I want to see the big room you were telling me about.
+Auntie Mogs has a lovely library, so you won't miss your Kingdom so
+very much when you come to town."
+
+"Come to town?" Janet inquired.  "But I'm not going to town, am I?"
+
+"Of course you are," Phyllis insisted.  "I heard Tommy and Auntie
+Mogs talking about it on the train and again this morning.  Gracious,
+you don't suppose that now I've found you I'm going to ever let you
+out of my sight, do you?"
+
+"But how can I go to town?"
+
+"Well, why in the world can't you?"
+
+"But grandmother?"
+
+"Oh, don't worry about that.  Tommy will take care of it.  Anyway
+you're coming, and we are going to school together; and, oh,
+Janet,"--Phyllis broke off impatiently--"aren't you the least little
+bit excited about it?"
+
+"Excited!  I could scream from excitement only I'm breathless, and my
+mind is all upside down," Janet replied, laughing.
+
+"Well, thank goodness!"--Phyllis was comforted.  "I was afraid you
+really didn't want to come, and I was just having fits, for of course
+I told all the girls about you, and they are nearly as excited as I
+am.  Where have you been going to school?  I asked Tommy, but he
+didn't know."
+
+"I've never been to school, real school, in my life," Janet
+confessed.  "Grandmother has always had a tutor come every day from
+Swanet--that's the next town to us.  I don't suppose I know very much
+and I'll probably be years behind you, but perhaps I can catch up."
+
+"Years behind!  Nonsense, I haven't any brains," Phyllis said, "and I
+don't really care very much.  The girls at school that are really
+brainy are awfully stupid; that is--oh, you know what I mean."
+
+They were passing the Simpsons' house by now, and Janet saw a
+familiar figure standing in the roadway.
+
+"Why, what do you suppose Harry Waters is doing so far from home?"
+she inquired.
+
+Phyllis looked and laughed.  "Oh, that's the fat boy we saw last
+night, isn't it?"
+
+"Yes, but I never knew him to walk as far as this before,"--Janet was
+puzzled.
+
+"Let's give him a lift back," Phyllis suggested.
+
+Janet called, and Harry waved in reply, but he did not come out to
+them.
+
+"He's bashful," Janet laughed.  "I'll chase him."  She turned Clinker
+in at the gate, and although Harry did his best to retreat to the
+barn, they were soon beside him.
+
+"This is my sister Phyllis," Janet said.  "Don't you want to drive
+back with us?"
+
+Harry hung his head and mumbled something about walking.
+
+"What are you doing over here anyway?" Janet inquired.
+
+"Nothing," Harry replied sulkily.
+
+"Good."  Phyllis spoke for the first time.  "Then there is no reason
+why you can't ride home with us; we were going on a little farther
+but we can do that another day, can't we, Janet?"
+
+It was a new idea to Janet to put off going to the Enchanted Kingdom
+for the sake of Harry's company, but she nodded and let down the flap
+of the cart and Harry jumped in without another word.
+
+Phyllis turned her back to the horse and talked to him, though it
+must be admitted it was a one-sided conversation, for Harry refused
+to say more than "yes" or "no" in answer to her numerous questions.
+
+Janet, who knew him better than he knew himself, realized that he was
+angry, but she was too much occupied with her driving to give any
+assistance to Phyllis.
+
+When they reached the edge of the village Harry insisted upon jumping
+down, and before they realized it he was lost to view in the scrub
+oak by the side of the road.
+
+Phyllis turned around with an ejaculation of amazement.
+
+"Did you ever see such an extraordinary boy?  What do you suppose is
+the matter with him?"
+
+Janet laughed.
+
+"I can't imagine; it isn't like Harry to be mysterious," she said.
+
+"I thought I'd have to laugh the way he sat there and glowered at
+me."  Phyllis was frankly surprised that any one could withstand her
+charms.
+
+"Well," she added with a sigh, "I suppose, now that we have spoiled
+our chances of going to your Enchanted Kingdom we may as well stop in
+to say how do you do to the Blakes."
+
+Janet was not enthusiastic over the proposal, but she agreed, with a
+nod, and after Clinker was safely in the barn they went around to the
+front porch and rang the bell.
+
+Alice came to the door.  She was delighted to see them, and it was
+evident she had not expected them to return so soon.  She ushered
+them into the living-room where a cheery fire was blazing in the
+fireplace.  Mrs. Blake and Mildred were sewing before it, and Mrs.
+Blake greeted the girls with her usual sweet manner.
+
+They stayed until lunch time, and when they left they had given their
+promise to return the next day at four o'clock.
+
+"We are not going to have a party," Mrs. Blake assured them, "but we
+want to ask some of the ladies in to meet you and your aunt," she
+spoke to Phyllis.
+
+"Are all the girls in Old Chester like the Blakes?" Phyllis inquired,
+laughing.
+
+Janet made a little face.
+
+"They are," she replied dismally.
+
+Phyllis put her arm around her and hugged her tight.
+
+"You poor darling," she said; "no wonder you wanted a sister.  Well,
+you've got one, and we'll have a good time at their party.  You see
+if we won't."
+
+When they reached home a comical tableau greeted them.  Tom was
+sitting on the stone bench in the garden holding a plate of milk
+between his knees.  From one side Sir Galahad lapped daintily and
+from the other, one ear cocked suspiciously, Boru's pink tongue was
+greedily bespattering his black muzzle.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+AT THE RECTORY FOR TEA
+
+The dining-room table at the rectory was laden with sandwiches and
+baskets of cake.  Mrs. Blake sat at one end pouring tea, and Mildred
+and Alice took turns with the chocolate pot at the other.
+
+Mrs. Blake had not been entirely truthful when she had said that she
+was not going to give a real party, for the people who walked in and
+out of the two rooms gave an air of festivity that was rivaled only
+by fairs and weddings in Old Chester.
+
+Miss Carter dressed in the palest of gray satin gowns was busy
+renewing her many acquaintances, and Janet and Phyllis were the
+center of a laughing group of girls and boys.
+
+Phyllis had on a dainty afternoon dress of dark blue chiffon, which
+contrasted oddly with the more elaborately made summer dresses on the
+other girls.
+
+Janet wore her customary white piqué dress with its broad belt of
+black patent leather.  Mrs. Page believed in simplicity, and as far
+back as Janet could remember she had always owned just such a dress.
+It served to wear to church and to the occasional meetings of the
+Ladies' Aid Society that met in her grandmother's room.
+
+She was conscious this afternoon that its plainness marked her among
+the other girls, and she looked at Phyllis with just a touch of envy
+in her soft brown eyes.
+
+Aunty Mog from far across the room saw the look, and made a mental
+note of it.
+
+There was a very small percentage of boys in comparison with the
+girls, but among these Harry Waters stood out.  His hair was brushed
+back sleek against his bullet-shaped head, and the dotted Windsor
+tie, that his mother had insisted on his wearing, accentuated his
+fatness.
+
+Phyllis greeted him upon his arrival like an old friend and insisted
+on his talking to her, although it was very apparent that Harry was
+miserably embarrassed.  Janet, who was busy at that moment talking
+dogs to the old country doctor, watched them, and wondered that Harry
+still carried with him his air of mystery.  She determined to find
+out what was the matter with him before the end of the afternoon.
+She had not long to wait, before Harry gave her a clew.
+
+He refused refreshments!
+
+"But, Harry, surely you're going to have something," Mildred
+insisted.  She spoke more loudly than she had intended, and all eyes
+turned toward her.
+
+Poor Harry turned very red and stammered.
+
+"But honestly, Mildred, I don't want it," he protested, almost in
+tears.
+
+"I don't know what is the matter with Harry," Mrs. Waters confided to
+the women around her; "he won't eat a thing, and he's so quiet."
+
+"But surely you'll have a piece of chocolate cake," Alice said and
+she held a plate temptingly before him.  But Harry was obdurate.  He
+shook his head, speech had left him minutes before, and looked about
+him for a means of escape.
+
+Janet beckoned to him, and when they saw their chance they slipped
+into the pantry and took refuge on the back stairs.
+
+"Now," Janet said sharply, "tell me what the matter is?  I know
+you're not sick."
+
+"Gee, of course I'm not.  Can't a fellow refuse food without all this
+fuss?" Harry complained bitterly.
+
+"Some could but not you; come on, tell me what's wrong.  If you
+don't, I'll guess anyway," Janet threatened.
+
+Harry eyed her dejectedly.
+
+"I suppose you will," he agreed.  "Well, it's this then--I heard what
+your sister said last night when you were coming back from the
+station about--about--well, about me."
+
+Janet thought for a minute and then she laughed.  It was not an
+unkind laugh however, and Harry reluctantly joined in.
+
+"Is that why you refused refreshments?" she demanded, and Harry
+nodded.
+
+"And that's what I was doing out at Simpsons too," he added.  "I was
+walking to reduce.  I didn't want to ride home, but, gee, she
+wouldn't let me off--" he stopped abruptly, for some one was pushing
+open the door.  It was Phyllis.
+
+"Here you are, you scamps!" she whispered.  "I've been looking
+everywhere for you.  Changed your mind about that cake, Harry?  I
+brought you a piece in case you had."
+
+Harry looked miserably from the cake in her hand to her laughing
+eyes, and once more shook his head in refusal.
+
+"All right then, I'll eat it."  Phyllis broke the large piece in half
+and handed one piece to Janet.  "Here, Jan, you have to help me, and
+now listen both of you.  I've thought of the greatest idea that ever
+was."
+
+She sat down between them on the step, and like Janet, rested her
+chin in her hand.  They looked so much alike that Harry could not
+help laughing.
+
+"What's your idea?" Janet inquired.
+
+"Harry, can you keep a secret?" Phyllis demanded.
+
+"Sure I can.  I'm not a girl," Harry answered defiantly.
+
+"Now what do you mean by that?"  Phyllis sat up very straight, her
+eyes bright with a challenge.
+
+"Well, you know girls can't keep secrets," he said crossly.
+
+"Very well,"--Phyllis dismissed the subject airily and sat munching
+her cake with evident relish.
+
+"Aren't you going to tell us?" Harry asked sheepishly.
+
+"No, not you,"--Phyllis smiled at him sweetly and winked roguishly at
+Janet.
+
+Harry got up and opened the door.
+
+"All right, don't then," he said angrily.  "You're just exactly as
+bad as Janet," he added, and the door shut behind him with a bang.
+
+Phyllis put her head on Janet's shoulder and laughed until she cried.
+
+"Poor Harry; that's the very worst thing he could think of to say to
+you."  Janet laughed almost as hard as her sister.  "I bet he is
+eating everything in sight this minute.  He heard you say he was fat
+and--well, now you can understand why he wouldn't eat."
+
+Phyllis was serious in a second.
+
+"Was that really the reason!"
+
+"Yes, but I shouldn't have told you."  Janet was ashamed of having
+betrayed a confidence.
+
+"I'm glad you did," Phyllis said slowly, "and I'm sorry I teased him,
+but really he shouldn't talk about girls that way, and my idea will
+really be lots more fun if no one knows it except ourselves."
+
+"What is it?" Janet inquired eagerly.
+
+Phyllis lowered her voice.
+
+"Grandmother told Auntie Mogs to ask any of these people to come to
+our house to tea any afternoon she liked," she began; "to sort of
+return this, you know.  So she has asked them for Thursday.  Now I
+haven't talked to a single girl to-day that didn't say how different
+we were and they made me furious until suddenly--" she lowered her
+voice and the rest of the sentence was lost in the soft waves of
+Janet's hair.  It must have been amusing, for Janet's eyes sparkled
+with suppressed merriment.
+
+When they joined the others a few minutes later they both looked very
+demure, so much so in fact that Auntie Mogs, who knew Phyllis
+thoroughly, knew that they were planning some mischief.
+
+Miss Clark had arrived during their absence and was apparently amazed
+beyond speech at the striking resemblance between them.
+
+"I have seen many twins in my time!" she exclaimed, "but I never saw
+anything so remarkable!  Why, you could never in the world tell them
+apart."
+
+"Oh, I think you could easily.  They're not a bit alike," Alice said,
+from the chocolate pot.
+
+Phyllis looked at Janet, and a swift glance of understanding and
+amusement passed between them.
+
+"And, oh, Janet,"--Miss Clark was speaking again--"I almost forgot to
+tell you that there is a letter in your box for you.  Seems to me you
+are getting lots of mail lately.  I didn't recognize the handwriting."
+
+Again Phyllis and Janet exchanged glances, and this time their looks
+said as plainly as words "Peter."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII
+
+A FULL CUP OF HAPPINESS
+
+The letter was from Peter, as Janet had hoped.  She opened it eagerly
+and read:
+
+
+"_Dear Janet:_
+
+"Mrs. Todd says that I really ought to send you a telegram, but a
+letter can say so much more, and I have a whole lot to say.
+
+"First of all, I came to Boston intending to get something to do as a
+first step toward the West, but would you believe it whom should I
+run into the day after I landed but Doc.  He grabbed me by the arm,
+and I felt the way I did the day Mr. Simpson appeared in the doorway
+of the 'E.K.'  He hardly spoke to me, but hustled me off to his
+house, and there I found the explanation of his queer behavior.
+
+"Mrs. Todd was sitting in the office waiting for me!  My ears still
+tingle when I remember what she said!  But I guess I deserved it.
+And now comes the amazing part of my story.
+
+"I am going to school.  She and Doc, who are old friends, by the way,
+insist upon it.  Then, next spring, one of my 'E.K.' schemes is
+coming true.  Mrs. Todd is going to let me raise sheep on her place.
+This is all thanks to you, Princess, and some day I'm going to show
+you that I am really grateful.
+
+"Mrs. Todd wants me to tell you that she will be back within a few
+days, and she hopes it will be in time for your surprise.  What is
+your surprise?
+
+  "Yours in the bonds of the E.K.
+      "PETER GIBBS."
+
+
+Janet read the letter aloud to Phyllis and explained the parts of it
+that she did not understand.
+
+"I knew Mrs. Todd would do something like that," Janet exclaimed,
+delightedly.
+
+"She must be a dear," Phyllis said.  "I'm crazy to meet her."
+
+It seemed to Janet that with this last good news her cup of happiness
+was full to overflowing.
+
+The next few days passed all too hurriedly.  They spent them out of
+doors for the most part, either driving or paddling on the bay.
+
+Phyllis added admiration to her affection for Janet.  It seemed to
+her that she could do almost everything in the outdoor line and do it
+well.  As a city girl she marveled and predicted a great success in
+athletics at school.
+
+The day before the tea was so warm and sunshiny that they decided to
+have a picnic out in the woods.  Martha packed them a basket filled
+with twice as much as they needed, and they made an early start.
+
+They walked out into the country beyond the village, and Tom chose a
+sheltered corner under the lee of a hill, and built a fire.  Janet
+helped him, and together they roasted potatoes and broiled a steak.
+Auntie Mogs and Phyllis watched and offered suggestions.  Phyllis
+upset a jar of Martha's specially preserved peaches, but only Tom saw
+her, and she scooped them back into the glass, only adding a pine
+needle or two.
+
+"Tommy, don't you dare to tell," she whispered, and Tom, who had
+dropped the steak only the minute before had to promise.
+
+It was a merry little party, and Tom kept them all laughing with
+tales about picnics and camping trips out in the West.
+
+"Tommy, I think, now that you have found two new and perfectly nice
+sisters, that the least you could do would be to invite them out to
+pay you a visit," Phyllis suggested airily.
+
+"Oh, you do, eh?" Tom asked lazily.
+
+"Of course I do; don't you, Janet?"--Phyllis turned for support.
+
+"I do," Janet answered solemnly.
+
+"Children, you have no manners," Auntie Mogs chided.  "If I were Tom,
+I should never think of asking you now."
+
+"Just as I feel about it,"--Tom tried to make his voice sound very
+dignified and cold and failed utterly.  "I intended asking you all
+next summer, but of course now I shall limit my invitation to just
+you, Aunt Mog, and I do hope you will accept."
+
+"Indeed I will," Auntie Mogs answered laughingly.
+
+"Meanie," Phyllis teased.  "If you ever did such a thing!  But
+seriously, Tommy, did you mean to ask us next summer?"
+
+"I did."
+
+"Then we'll accept with thanks; won't we, Janet?"
+
+"Oh, yes; can't we leave the day after school closes?" Janet
+suggested.  "There's no use in wasting time."
+
+"Or even before,"--Phyllis was not to be outdone.
+
+"Here, here," Tom protested, "not quite so fast.  I accept your
+acceptance of my ungiven invitation, but I insist on naming the day.
+
+"I stump you both to climb that tree over there," he added, pointing
+to a tall pine; "the one who wins can have the last piece of cake."
+
+Both girls started for the tree.  Janet was almost to the top before
+Phyllis was half way up.  As she climbed down again she noticed that
+Phyllis was very white and standing perfectly still, holding tightly
+to the trunk.
+
+"What's the matter!" she asked.
+
+Phyllis looked at her beseechingly.
+
+"Oh, Janet, I'm scared to death," she whispered.  "I looked down and
+now I am terribly dizzy; what shall I do!"
+
+Janet came close and took hold of her arm.
+
+"Keep your eyes on the sky," she directed.  "Don't look down for even
+a second and don't be afraid.  I'm here and I won't let you fall."
+
+She dropped quickly to the branch below and took one of Phyllis's
+ankles in her strong grasp.
+
+"Hold tight to the bough above and let your foot swing free, I'll put
+it on a safe branch.  There now, bring the other one down beside it."
+In this way she helped her carefully and surely to the bottom.
+
+"Oh," Phyllis was almost in tears, "thank you, darling.  I am quite
+sure you saved my life.  Oh, dear, I'm still dizzy."
+
+"Well, stand still a minute until you are better.  There's no need
+for Tommy to know.  He'd be sure to tease," Janet whispered.
+
+"I don't care about Tom, but I hate being such a baby.  You went way
+to the top," Phyllis answered.
+
+"You tried, anyway," Janet consoled her, "and that's what counts."
+
+"You're a darling to say so, anyway," Phyllis said gratefully.  "I
+feel better now; let's go back."
+
+Tom held the cake out to Janet.
+
+"It's yours, you won by a dozen branches.  What happened, Phyllis?
+Did you get scared?"
+
+"Of course not," Janet answered for her.  "I promised to go halves,
+so what was the need of her climbing too,"--she held out a piece of
+the cake, and Phyllis took it.
+
+"Oh, come, that's not fair," Tom protested.  "You should eat every
+bit of it yourself."
+
+"No, we're twins and we have to share everything," Janet insisted.
+"Isn't that so, Phyllis?"
+
+Phyllis nodded seriously.
+
+"Everything," she said, and it sounded like a prophecy.
+
+On the way home Mrs. Todd called them as they passed the rectory.
+She had only just returned, and she was so delighted at Janet's good
+fortune that she kissed her, much to every one's surprise.
+
+"Please tell me about Peter," Janet whispered, when she had the
+opportunity.
+
+"Peter is a rogue," Mrs. Todd answered, "but I can't help loving him,
+and he has promised to be my right hand for the rest of my days.  I
+had a hard time making Dr. Peabody agree to my schemes, but I am a
+very determined woman, once my mind is made up, and so he had to give
+in finally."
+
+"What have you made your mind up to this time, Ann?" Miss Carter
+inquired, from the other side of the room.
+
+"A red-headed boy," Mrs. Todd laughed.  "I have seen enough of all my
+friends with children to think about and I've made up my mind to have
+one too.  I wanted Janet, but I knew you'd find her some day,
+Marjorie, and so I found Peter.  He's alone and so am I.  I think we
+are going to have a very good time together--raising sheep," she
+added with a twinkle in her eye.
+
+"Isn't it wonderful about Peter?" Janet asked as she walked home
+beside her aunt.
+
+"Indeed it is, my dear," Auntie Mogs agreed.  "Ann is a darling under
+her bruskness, and she is very fond of you, dear."
+
+"Well, I love her too," Janet replied; "she has been so good to me."
+
+Miss Carter put her arm through hers and looked down at her with
+serious eyes.
+
+"It would be difficult to imagine any one being anything else.  Dear
+little girl," she added tenderly, "you are very like your beautiful
+mother.  Do you think you could be happy with Phyllis and me?  We
+want you very much indeed."
+
+"Oh, Auntie Mogs," Janet said in a queer little voice, "I want you
+too."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX
+
+TWINS INDEED
+
+Janet and Phyllis stood in the middle of Janet's room and looked at
+each other.  There was nothing apparently that was strange in their
+appearance.  One had on a dark blue, chiffon, afternoon dress and the
+other a white piqué with a black belt.
+
+They joined hands and stood before the mirror, and then they both
+began to laugh very hard.  Boru, who had been dozing on the floor in
+a patch of sunlight, got up and came over to them.  A keen observer
+might have thought it odd that he chose the blue chiffon dress to rub
+up against instead of the white one.
+
+[Illustration: A keen observer might have thought it odd that he
+chose the blue chiffon dress to rub against instead of the white one.]
+
+Phyllis noticed it and laughed again.
+
+"Funny how fond Boru is of me, isn't it?" she asked.  Then they went
+down stairs together.
+
+Auntie Mogs was busy arranging some flowers in a bowl.
+
+"Phyllis, help me with these, will you, dear!"
+
+The white dress stepped forward and then stood still, and the blue
+chiffon was soon bending over the table.
+
+Martha came into the room, carrying a plate of tea biscuits.
+
+"Put these on the side table, Miss Janet, please," she said, and the
+white dress did as she asked.
+
+"What is the matter with you children!" Auntie Mogs asked.  "You are
+so quiet."
+
+"Nothing at all," they both answered together.
+
+Tom came in and looked around hurriedly.
+
+"Nobody here yet!  Then I'm going to have a cooky, a piece of cake
+and some candy.  Janet, dear little sister of mine, give me one of
+those biscuits, or two if you insist."  The white dress offered him
+the plate and two brown eyes looked at him hard as he helped himself.
+But he filled his pockets unconcernedly and turned toward the table.
+
+"Phyllis, other little sister of mine, have you a flower for my
+button hole!  I'm not going to be at your party, but I want to look
+festive none the less."
+
+The blue dress stood very close to him as the flower was carefully
+poked into place.
+
+"You are both very quiet this afternoon, it seems to me," he observed
+critically, looking from one to the other.  "What's the matter?"
+
+The girls began to laugh, and they kept it up until they had to lean
+on each other for support.
+
+"Well, evidently something is very wrong indeed, but I didn't mean to
+remind you of it.  Are you going to do this often during the
+afternoon?"
+
+Only suppressed gurgles answered him, and he marched off to his own
+room in disgust.
+
+It was not long before the guests began to arrive.
+
+Miss Carter met them at the door, and the girls both shook hands with
+each one and then went off for tea or cake, and each time the guest
+said, "Thank you, Janet," to the white dress, and "That's very sweet
+of you," to the blue one.  And every now and then both girls would
+disappear into the hall, laugh silently and return to their posts.
+
+The Blakes were among the first arrivals, and Mrs. Todd was with
+them.  Mildred and Alice were a little surprised that the wearer of
+the white dress came up to them and said "hello!" in the friendliest
+way.
+
+"Will you have a cup of tea and a biscuit?  You ought to be hungry
+after that long walk, or did you drive over?  Oh, but of course you
+didn't; I forgot you were tired of driving."  The white dress
+fluttered away to return a minute later with tea.
+
+"Here you are; can you manage all the plates?"
+
+"Why, of course," Mildred replied.  "How nice it must be for you to
+have your sister here," she said, smiling.
+
+"Oh, it is rather nice."
+
+"Rather nice!" Alice exclaimed.  "I should think it would be a
+perfect blessing."
+
+"Now, why a blessing?"
+
+"Why--why because it is some one for you to be with."  Alice was
+amazed.  "You must have been awfully lonely before she came?"
+
+"Lonely--I?  How silly!"
+
+"Well, but you never went with any of the girls except us now and
+again, and naturally every one thought you must be lonely.  Alice
+isn't the only one who thought so," Mildred said vehemently.
+
+"Then every one was wrong.  I never was lonely for a minute.  I had
+too many things to think about.  Of course it is nice having a sister
+that understands you, but even without her I would not be lonely."
+The white dress drifted away at a sign from the hostess, and Alice
+and Mildred were left looking at each other in pained surprise.  They
+were wearing their hair rolled up and tied at the back of their necks
+for the first time, and they couldn't imagine why Janet had said
+nothing about it.
+
+"How queer she is to-day," Mildred said.
+
+"And to think we always thought of her as lonely!  I guess she didn't
+come to see us any oftener because she didn't want to," Alice replied.
+
+Across the room, Miss Clark was talking to the wearer of the blue
+dress.
+
+"Isn't it beautiful to think of your being here with Janet?" she
+exclaimed.
+
+"Yes, it is splendid."
+
+"I suppose you will be carrying her back to the dreadful city with
+you before long?"
+
+"Yes, I think we will go in a few weeks.  School begins, you see, and
+we mustn't be too late getting back."
+
+"What a change it will be for dear Janet!" Miss Clark continued.  "I
+can't say I altogether approve."
+
+"But why?"
+
+"Well, it will change her, and I hate to think of her getting
+cityfied and filling her head with notions."  Miss Clark did not
+specify just exactly what notions were.
+
+"Of course you are very dear and sweet," she continued, "but you are
+not at all like our Janet; though you look very much alike, I would
+never confuse you for an instant."
+
+"Are you quite sure!"
+
+"Indeed I am, and I don't want to hurt your feelings when I say that
+I hope you will not let Janet change too much."
+
+"Why, I think it will do her good to go to the city.  She will meet
+lots of nice girls and go to school, and certainly anything would be
+better than being alone so much of the time as she is here.  I hope
+she learns to be like other girls when she gets to town."
+
+"Ah, well, I am afraid I can't agree with you," Miss Clark said
+sadly.  The blue dress hurried off to pass the cake to Mrs. Todd, who
+was sitting alone in a corner.
+
+"Stay with me, child," Mrs. Todd said when she had helped herself.
+"I want to look at you.  I thought this afternoon that you were like
+your father in manner,"--her blue eyes searched the brown ones.
+Suddenly she frowned.  "Hello, that's odd.  No, I can't be wrong.
+You little imps you, you've--"
+
+"Oh, do hush, please; some one might hear you, and not a soul has
+even suspected, not even Auntie Mogs.  How did you guess?" Janet
+demanded.
+
+"Eyes," Mrs. Todd said shortly.  "Yours have little tiny flecks of
+gold in them, like your mother's.  Phyllis's are clearer, less
+dreamy, like her father's.  I won't give you away."
+
+"Oh, thanks; you can't imagine what fun it is.  I am hearing all
+sorts of things about myself, and I can't wait to compare notes with
+Phyllis."
+
+Opportunity came a little later when they met in the kitchen.
+Phyllis repeated her numerous conversations, and Janet told her that
+Mrs. Todd had guessed.
+
+"But she has promised not to say anything," she added.
+
+"Good; don't let's change even for dinner.  I believe we could fool
+Tommy and Auntie Mogs all evening," Phyllis chuckled.
+
+"It's lots of fun being you," Janet whispered, as they went back into
+the dining-room.
+
+"Well, I love being you; it makes me wish I really were," Phyllis
+answered.
+
+Dinner passed without their game being discovered, though their
+occasional fits of laughter mystified Tommy and Auntie Mogs.  They
+might have gotten safely to bed without their knowing if it hadn't
+been for Boru and Galahad.
+
+They came out into the garden after dinner, pretending not to notice
+each other, for although Tom had succeeded in making them eat from
+the same dish, they were by no means friends.
+
+Janet and Phyllis were walking up and down the center path.  Sir
+Galahad purred softly and looked up at his mistress.  Phyllis leaned
+down and picked him up in her aims.  Janet let her hand rest on
+Boru's head.
+
+Tom came out of the house just as they made a tableau by the old
+sundial.
+
+At first he did not notice anything odd, but after a minute he said:
+
+"There's something wrong with the picture.  I think it's your
+dresses.  They don't match your animals.  Hold on a minute.  I've got
+it!" he exclaimed.  "You've swapped clothes."
+
+"And you just found it out," Phyllis teased.
+
+Tom studied them for a minute and shook his head solemnly.
+
+"It's no wonder either; you are as alike as two peas in a pod, except
+for the way you talk.  What a lot of larks you will be able to have,
+but I shouldn't wonder if you found it embarrassing when you got a
+little older.  Perhaps I had better brand you with your initials," he
+suggested--then he added slowly, "Yes, I think on the whole it would
+be a lot better for all concerned if I did."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX
+
+GOOD-BY
+
+One morning at the close of the visit Mrs. Page sent for Janet to
+come to her.  When she was seated in the chair by the bed, the old
+lady looked at her for a long time before she said anything.  When
+she did speak, it was to ask a startling question.
+
+"Janet, do you love me?" she inquired shortly.
+
+Janet stared at her in surprise.
+
+"Well, do you or don't you?" Mrs. Page demanded.
+
+"Why, grandmother, of course I do," Janet replied quickly.
+
+"Why?"
+
+"Because you have always been kind to me and taken care of me, I
+suppose," Janet said doubtfully.
+
+"Is that the only reason?"
+
+"N-no, I love you because you are my grandmother."
+
+"Do you love me as much as you do your Aunt Marjorie?"
+
+"Of course, but--"
+
+"But what!"
+
+"In a different way."
+
+"What do you mean by different way?"
+
+"Why, I hardly know how to put it into words,"--Janet hesitated.  "I
+love to be with Auntie Mogs and I like to have her put her arm around
+me and kiss me."
+
+"I see," Mrs. Page spoke dryly, and laughed a short unpleasant laugh.
+
+"And you love me for the opposite reasons, eh!" she inquired.
+
+"I don't think they are opposite reasons," Janet replied.  "I love
+you--well, respectfully, and I like to think of your being here.  I
+think perhaps I'm proud that you are my grandmother."
+
+Mrs. Page seemed to think over what she had heard.
+
+"Well, it may surprise you to hear it," she said at last, "but I love
+you.  I love you very dearly.  I have been a very selfish old woman
+and perhaps I have not been very gentle with you.  Tom says I
+haven't.  Certainly I have never kissed you and put my arm around
+you, but I have always loved you.  I want you to remember that.  You
+have always been very patient with me too, and I realize it.
+Sometimes I've wished you would lose your temper, but now I'm glad
+you didn't.  Phyllis is more like her father than you are, but I
+suppose that serves me right.  I thought that I could love her the
+first day I saw her.  I do love her, but not as much as I love you.
+You are the finer of the two and some day you'll prove it."
+
+She turned over and faced the wall Janet rose to go.
+
+"When I die,"--Mrs. Page spoke from the depth of the pillow--"I am
+going to leave everything I have to you.  I am telling you this
+because you are going away, not because I think I am going to die.
+Now you may go."
+
+Janet left the room, a queer feeling of regret in her heart.  She
+wanted to take her grandmother in her arms and kiss her as she knew
+Phyllis would have done, but a restraint, born from the custom of
+years, held her back, and she closed the door behind her, softly, as
+she had always done.
+
+Phyllis was nowhere to be found, so Janet went up to the "widow's
+walk" to think over what her grandmother had said.  She found Tom
+already there, smoking his pipe and reading.
+
+"Hello, what did grandmother want?" he inquired lazily.  "You were
+with her an awfully long time.  Phyllis got tired of waiting for you
+and went off for a walk with Harry Waters."
+
+"Tom,"--Janet spoke very seriously, and Tom put down his book to
+listen--"when I go to the city with Phyllis and Auntie Mogs may I
+come back and see grandmother whenever I want to?"
+
+"Why, certainly you may; what makes you ask?" Tom replied.
+
+"Because I think grandmother is sorry I am going; really sorry, I
+mean, not just angry; and I think I ought to come back and see her
+every once in a while," Janet told him.
+
+"Bless your heart, I think you are right.  Auntie Mogs and I were
+talking about the same thing only last night, and she said you could
+all come up whenever she wanted you."  Tom pulled her down beside him
+and rumpled her hair.  "Now are you satisfied?" he asked, laughing.
+
+Janet nodded.
+
+"Tell me all over again just what the plans are!" she said as she
+settled herself comfortably.
+
+"I should think you would know them all by heart,"--Tom laughed.
+"First of all you and Phyllis will have to be separated for a few
+days.  I don't see how you will ever bear it, but you must try.  Then
+Auntie Mogs and Phyllis will go down to the city and get ready for
+your arrival.  To hear Phyllis talk you would think that the walls of
+your room were going to be hung in gold and that no one could see to
+it but herself.
+
+"But to resume.  As soon as everything is ready for your ladyship I
+will take you down.  I can picture your excitement now when you see
+Auntie Mogs' library, and when you are comfortably settled I will
+take a train West and start in rebuilding my modest shanty so that it
+will be ready to receive you in the spring."
+
+Janet looked out over the water and tried to picture all Tom had
+said, but she gave it up.
+
+"Do you know, Tommy," she said suddenly, "I made up my mind on this
+very spot to write you that letter.  Doesn't it seem funny to think
+that we are sitting here now together?"
+
+"It does," Tom agreed slowly, "the only pity is that you didn't write
+it before."
+
+
+The remaining days passed rapidly, and the date set for the departure
+came all too soon.
+
+"Of course it's only for a week," Phyllis said, as they stood on the
+station platform, "but I feel as though it were years."
+
+"So do I," Janet replied sorrowfully.  "I wish I could go home and
+sleep until Thursday."
+
+"Make Tommy amuse you every minute, and don't you dare to forget me
+even for a half a second," Phyllis warned her.  "Oh, dear, here comes
+the horrid old train!  Kiss me again for good luck."
+
+Janet kissed her, and then turned to her aunt.
+
+"Good-by, Auntie Mogs," she said tearfully.
+
+"You two babies!"  Miss Carter looked down at the two doleful faces
+before her and laughed.  "It's dreadful to be separated, especially
+when you are twins, isn't it?  But try and brace up, both of you, and
+it will soon be over.  Good-by for a little while, dearest child.
+Tommy, take good care of her, won't you?" she added, as she said
+good-by to him.
+
+"The very best; and we'll be down in one short little week," he
+promised.
+
+They boarded the train, and Janet insisted on waiting until the last
+puff of smoke curled up out of sight.
+
+"It is going to be the longest week of my life," she said dismally.
+
+
+The house without Phyllis was unbearable, and Janet rowed over to the
+Enchanted Kingdom to find consolation.  She knew that the workmen
+would be in possession the next day, and she wanted to have it all to
+herself once more.
+
+She patted the books and said good-by to all her favorites.  As she
+knelt to read the title of one of them she noticed the volume that
+she had found Peter reading their last memorable day together.  She
+took it from its shelf and opened it idly.  Pictures of sheep and
+diagrams of gates and fences did not interest her very much, and she
+was just about to close it up when she had a sudden idea.
+
+She turned to the back of it, tore out a page that had nothing on it,
+and with Peter's own pencil, which she found on the floor under the
+sofa, she started to write.
+
+When she had finished her note read as follows:
+
+
+"_Dear Peter:_
+
+"I am saying good-by to the Enchanted Kingdom, for I am going away
+next week.  Of course I will write you letters to boarding school,
+but I wanted to leave this for you to find the first time you come
+back.
+
+"We had lots of good times together, didn't we?  I suppose the next
+time we see each other we won't want to pretend, so this is a last
+good-by to Lord Carrot Tops from
+
+  "THE PRINCESS OF THE
+  ENCHANTED KINGDOM."
+
+
+When it was written, she folded it up and stuck it between the leaves
+of the sheep book.  Then she stood up to go.
+
+"Good-by, my wonderful Kingdom," she said.  "I will always love you
+better than any room in the world."  She tiptoed to the window and
+climbed out swiftly.
+
+As she ran down the hill, her eyes smarted and she did not look back.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI
+
+CONCLUSION
+
+An ordinary train pulled in on an ordinary day at the Old Chester
+station.  A man and a girl, with soft brown eyes blurred by unshed
+tears, entered the Pullman car and took the seats that the porter
+showed them.  Then the car started again, and the girl leaned out of
+the window.
+
+"They are all there," she said.  "Harry, Mrs. Todd, Mildred and
+Alice, and Martha.  I can't believe I'm really going away from them."
+
+"But you are, little sister of mine; you are going to a brand new
+world, and I am anxious to hear what you and another little sister of
+mine are going to do in it."
+
+"It's more her world than mine," the girl reminded him.
+
+"Yes, just as this was more your world than hers, but she came to
+your world and liked it," the man replied.  "Just as you are going to
+like her world."
+
+"And before you know it, both worlds are going to be 'our world.'"
+
+The girl, who was Janet, looked out of the window and smiled, and the
+train seemed to hurry them along.
+
+
+
+THE END
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: Left end paper]
+
+
+
+Illustration: Right end paper]
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 75755 ***
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+<link rel="icon" href="images/img-cover.jpg" type="image/x-cover">
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+<meta charset="utf-8">
+
+<title>
+The Project Gutenberg eBook of Janet--A twin, by Dorothy Whitehill
+</title>
+
+<style>
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+</head>
+
+<body>
+<div style='text-align:center'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 75755 ***</div>
+
+<p><br><br></p>
+
+<p class="capcenter">
+<a id="img-front"></a>
+<br>
+<img class="imgcenter" src="images/img-front.jpg" alt="She jumped and looked up and directly into the grey eyes of the mysterious boy.  (<i>See Page 68</i>)">
+<br>
+She jumped and looked up and directly into the grey eyes <br>
+of the mysterious boy.  (<i>See <a href="#p68">Page 68</a></i>)
+</p>
+
+<h1>
+<br><br>
+  JANET<br>
+</h1>
+
+<p class="t2">
+  A TWIN<br>
+</p>
+
+<p><br></p>
+
+<p class="t3">
+  BY<br>
+<br>
+  DOROTHY WHITEHILL<br>
+</p>
+
+<p><br><br></p>
+
+<p class="t3">
+  ILLUSTRATED BY<br>
+  THELMA GOOCH<br>
+</p>
+
+<p><br><br></p>
+
+<p class="t3">
+  GROSSET & DUNLAP<br>
+  PUBLISHERS NEW YORK<br>
+</p>
+
+<p><br><br><br></p>
+
+<p class="t4">
+  Copyright, 1920,<br>
+  by<br>
+  BARSE & CO.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p><br></p>
+
+<p class="t4">
+  MADE IN U. S. A.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p><br><br><br></p>
+
+<p class="t3b">
+  CONTENTS<br>
+</p>
+
+<p class="noindent">
+  CHAPTER<br>
+</p>
+
+<p class="noindent contents">
+  I &nbsp;<a href="#chap01">A Glimpse of Janet</a><br>
+  II &nbsp;<a href="#chap02">On the Widows' Wale</a><br>
+  III &nbsp;<a href="#chap03">Mrs. Todd Intervenes</a><br>
+  IV &nbsp;<a href="#chap04">Janet's Kingdom</a><br>
+  V &nbsp;<a href="#chap05">Nor Like Other Girls</a><br>
+  VI &nbsp;<a href="#chap06">The Fair</a><br>
+  VII &nbsp;<a href="#chap07">A Stranger in the Kingdom</a><br>
+  VIII &nbsp;<a href="#chap08">Under Arrest</a><br>
+  IX &nbsp;<a href="#chap09">The Mysterious Owner</a><br>
+  X &nbsp;<a href="#chap10">Peter</a><br>
+  XI &nbsp;<a href="#chap11">Another Letter</a><br>
+  XII &nbsp;<a href="#chap12">Janet's Passenger</a><br>
+  XIII &nbsp;<a href="#chap13">The Greatest Surprise in the World</a><br>
+  XIV &nbsp;<a href="#chap14">A Long Day</a><br>
+  XV &nbsp;<a href="#chap15">The Day at Last</a><br>
+  XVI &nbsp;<a href="#chap16">A Day Together</a><br>
+  XVII &nbsp;<a href="#chap17">At The Rectory for Tea</a><br>
+  XVIII &nbsp;<a href="#chap18">A Full Cup of Happiness</a><br>
+  XIX &nbsp;<a href="#chap19">Twins Indeed</a><br>
+  XX &nbsp;<a href="#chap20">Good-By</a><br>
+  XXI &nbsp;<a href="#chap21">Conclusion</a><br>
+</p>
+
+<p><br><br><br></p>
+
+<p class="t3b">
+ILLUSTRATIONS
+</p>
+
+<p class="noindent">
+<a href="#img-front">She jumped and looked up and directly into the gray eyes
+of the mysterious boy</a> ... <i>Frontispiece</i>
+</p>
+
+<p class="noindent">
+<a href="#img-051">For a long minute there was silence, and then Mrs. Page
+did something she was rarely ever seen to do; she
+smiled</a>
+</p>
+
+<p class="noindent">
+<a href="#img-135">"You're not teasing me, are you?" she asked, and her
+voice trembled</a>
+</p>
+
+<p class="noindent">
+<a href="#img-197">A keen observer might have thought it odd that he chose
+the blue chiffon dress to rub against instead of the
+white one</a>
+</p>
+
+<p><br><br><br></p>
+
+<p><a id="chap01"></a></p>
+
+<p class="t2">
+JANET, A TWIN
+<p>
+
+<p><br><br></p>
+
+<h3>
+CHAPTER I
+<br><br>
+A GLIMPSE OF JANET
+</h3>
+
+<p>
+It was an every-day sort of a looking road,
+broad and dusty and flat.  It ran straight
+across the landscape and ended abruptly in a
+merger of blue sky and sparkling sea.  On either
+side of it sandy soil dotted with clusters of
+dwarfed scrub oaks stretched out into limitless
+space.  There was an uninteresting sameness
+about its sunny dustiness that discouraged all
+hope of adventure.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+But on a late September afternoon it was the
+setting of a little scene that marked the turning
+place in the life of Janet Page.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The drowsy quiet was broken first by the short,
+excited bark of a dog, a crackle of leaves and a
+snapping of twigs in the scrub oak, and then
+several things happened in quick succession.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A long snake scuttled into the road, a wiry little
+Irish terrier bounded after it, followed by a whirling
+fury of starched petticoats, long slender legs
+and an immense red bow.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This was Janet.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A tiny cloud of dust curtained them all for a
+minute; when it settled, it disclosed a rigid tableau.
+Janet held the dog's collar in one strong little
+brown hand, and with the other and the aid of
+one foot she grasped the snake.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Do something!" she demanded excitedly, as
+she turned angry eyes toward a fat, roly-poly
+figure that still remained partially hidden by the
+scrub oak, watching the scene with an expression
+of fear and distaste in his pale blue eyes.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This was Harry Waters.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"What do you want me to do?" he asked sulkily.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Janet was too much occupied to look at him,
+but her voice expressed the contempt she felt.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"You might take Boru," she suggested.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Harry made a wide detour and, snatching the
+dog, retreated hurriedly back to the side of the
+road.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"You're not going to kill him," he said nervously,
+and he pointed a trembling finger at the
+wriggling snake.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+For answer, Janet picked up a large stone.
+Harry turned his face away.  He wanted to put
+his fingers in his ears so that he would not hear
+the soft thud that followed, but the frantic dog
+made that impossible.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Come on back," Janet said at last; "he's
+quite dead, and I've thrown him into the bushes,
+so you won't even have to look at him."  Her
+voice sounded very grown up and patronizing, and
+Harry justly resented it.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Now look here, Janet Page," he exploded;
+"you needn't put on airs.  It's not such a big
+thing to kill a snake anyway," he finished lamely.
+"I could have done it only I didn't see any sense
+in it; even if it had bitten Boru, it wouldn't have
+hurt him any."  Harry was trying hard to justify
+an act that he hardly understood himself.  He
+was a nice boy, two years Janet's senior, and until
+to-day he had never let her forget his advantage.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He tried to assert it now.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"You see, I'm older than you are and I've got
+lots more sense.  I knew that a snake like that
+couldn't really hurt a dog and so I just&mdash;"  He
+paused, and under Janet's cool gaze he blushed
+very slowly, right up to the roots of his hair.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Why don't you tell the truth?" she asked
+quietly.  "You know you are afraid of snakes."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Well, what if I am?"  Harry shifted his feet
+uncomfortably.  "I can't help it, can I?
+Anyway, your grandmother says&mdash;"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Never mind what my grandmother says,"
+Janet interrupted angrily.  "I know it all by
+heart.  She says you are a very mannerly little
+boy; that's because you never forget to take off
+your hat when you go into her room.  And she
+says you're respectful; that's because you always
+say 'yes, ma'm; no ma'm; thank you, ma'm,' and
+she says you always look tidy, and that's because
+you never climb trees and always wear shoes and
+stockings, no matter how hot it is, and&mdash;"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Can't help it if my mother makes me, can I?"
+Harry blazed out.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Janet paused to consider.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"No, I don't suppose you can," she said at last;
+"only somehow I wish you were different."  Her
+gaze traveled slowly from his round-toed boots to
+his neatly brushed hair; a dreamy look came into
+her eyes, and the little flecks of gold in the
+soft-brown iris caught the sun's rays and glistened.
+She sighed profoundly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"But if you couldn't kill a snake," she said,
+speaking more to herself than to him, "why, you
+couldn't ever kill a dragon, you see; nor ride a
+coal-black charger, nor fight for your lady's
+favor&mdash;"  Her brow wrinkled in a puzzled frown,
+but it cleared almost at once.  "I was forgetting,"
+she laughed; "you wouldn't want to anyway,
+so it doesn't matter; that is, not so very
+much."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She looked around her for Boru; he was busily
+investigating the remains of the snake in the
+bushes, but at her whistle he trotted obediently to
+her heel, and together they walked off down the
+road.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Harry, after a miserable minute of indecision,
+followed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+They walked in silence, Janet a little ahead,
+until they reached the road that ran along the
+waterfront and passed the white gate of the old
+Page house.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Aren't you going to go with me any more!"
+Harry asked forlornly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Janet stopped and looked at him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Maybe."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"When?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Don't know."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Well, I don't care if you don't; you're just
+a girl anyway."  Harry's lip trembled ever so
+slightly and he turned on his heel and hurried
+off, trying to hold his head high.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Janet swung on the gate for a few minutes and
+watched him until a bend in the road hid him from
+view, then she went up the long flight of stone
+steps.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The Page house crowned the terrace above.  It
+was big, somber and very old.  To Janet it seemed
+to be very tired, too, as though it had waited and
+watched a long time for the sea, whose waves beat
+incessantly on the shore below, to yield some secret
+now long forgotten by the living world.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Four stern columns guarded the square porch
+and the old-fashioned, ivory-white door with its
+leaded fan lights and heavy knocker.  Janet
+slipped noiselessly into the wide hall that reflected
+the glow of polished mahogany and soft afternoon
+sunlight.  Just as she tiptoed across the thick rag
+rugs and was half way up the stairs, the big
+grandfather clock boomed three, and as if in echo
+to it a voice, quavering but still clear and
+penetrating, called:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Is that you, Janet?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Janet had a sudden and unheard of wish not to
+answer, but she conquered it and replied at once:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Yes, grandmother, it's me."  Before the
+words had had time to float down the stairs she
+was conscious of her mistake.  "Drat the
+personal pronoun anyway," she said to herself; "now
+I will catch it."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Janet, I called you," the voice came again, and
+Janet started guiltily.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I'm coming, grandmother," she answered,
+and walked primly back downstairs.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Mrs. Page's room was on the first floor at the
+back of the house away from the sea and overlooking
+a trim little garden.  An old-fashioned
+sleigh bed stood between the windows, and in the
+very middle of it a little old lady, wearing an
+immense cap, sat propped up against half a dozen
+pillows.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This was Mrs. Page, Janet's grandmother.  She
+was perhaps the most feared and certainly the
+most respected woman in Old Chester, and
+although she had been bedridden for as many years
+as Janet could remember she took a lively interest
+in the affairs of the community, and no important
+step was ever taken until Cap'n Page's widow
+was consulted.  Her advice had a way of sounding
+very much like a command.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Janet knew the room by heart.  She could have
+told the location of everything in it with her eyes
+blindfolded, so she wasted no time in looking about
+her but went straight up to the bed and sat down
+on the low chair, where all Mrs. Page's callers
+sat.  It was placed so that she could see them
+without twisting her neck; a thing she particularly
+disliked having to do.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"You called me, grandmother?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Two steely blue eyes opened slowly, and seemed
+to bore into the soft depth of Janet's brown ones.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I did; there can be no doubt of that; nor, I
+may add, of your reply."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+For perhaps the first time in her life Janet
+interrupted her.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I know I said me instead of I, but I was thinking
+of something else and I forgot," she exclaimed
+impatiently.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"And may I ask what you were thinking of?"
+Mrs. Page inquired in surprise.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Janet frowned and shook her head.  "It's not
+the slightest use to, for you'd never, never
+understand.  You see, it was something entirely
+different from all this."  She looked around the
+immaculate room and shook her head again, this
+time in despair.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Mrs. Page lifted herself on to one elbow and
+looked at her grand-daughter carefully for a full
+minute.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Janet," she said severely, "what has come
+over you?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There was a long pause, for Janet did not reply.
+She was watching a butterfly out in the garden
+and trying to decide what it was he was whispering
+to that big floppy rose.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Mrs. Page settled back into her pillows and
+pulled the coverlet well up under her chin.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"You may go," she said, pointing a bony finger
+toward the door.  "I am about to write to your
+brother.  I regret that I will have to tell him that
+you are not only careless but rude."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Yes, grandmother."  Janet stood up, and
+after she had carefully straightened the chair
+upon which she had been sitting she walked quietly
+out of the room.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Once in the hall, with the door closed, a tiny
+sigh escaped her.  She leaned up against the old
+clock and stared at a patch of sunlight on the rug;
+Two big round tears rolled down her cheeks
+unnoticed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Boru came over inquisitively from his place by
+the stairs and licked her hand.  She dropped to
+her knees beside him and hugged him impulsively.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Come along, old fellow," she whispered.
+"Let's go up to the 'widow's walk' and think it
+all out.  I guess grandmother is right; something
+has come over me."
+</p>
+
+<p><br><br><br></p>
+
+<p><a id="chap02"></a></p>
+
+<h3>
+CHAPTER II
+<br><br>
+ON THE WIDOWS' WALK
+</h3>
+
+<p>
+"But just what is it?" she mused a few
+minutes later, as she settled herself
+comfortably and pulled Boru's shaggy head
+down to her knee.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The "widows' walk" was Janet's favorite place
+in which to think things out, for it was on the flat
+roof of the house, away from any possible
+interruptions.  Martha, the old servant, had long ago
+given up attempting the rickety stairs that led
+to it.  It was in itself a rather dangerous spot.
+Many of the boards that went to make the platform
+were broken or badly rotted from long
+exposure to wind and rain.  The railing that ran
+around it was in the last stage of decay.  But
+there was something about it, perhaps the feeling
+of being up among the tree tops, that made Janet
+disregard its dangers.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As a rule, she was content to sit and gaze out
+to sea and "pretend."  The name, "widows'
+walk," opened up so many avenues of imaginings.
+She often saw the ghosts of the poor distracted
+women of long ago, pacing up and down, their
+eyes always turned toward the sea, searching for
+a familiar masthead.  Old Chester had once been
+a famous fishing village, and the roof of every
+house along the shore was topped by some sort
+of observatory.  Sometimes it was a square glass
+cupola, but more often it was a wooden walk,
+such as crowned the Page house, and because in so
+many, many cases the looked-for boats never did
+return to harbor, these walks unhappily came to
+be called "widows' walks."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+To-day, however, Janet had no time for fancy.
+Something inside her head and her heart was
+demanding to be put into words.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I wonder what is the matter with me!" she
+said again.  "I feel awfully different.  I suppose
+I'm unhappy.  Am I, do you think!"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+If any one had accused Janet of talking to herself
+she would have resented it hotly, but it was
+characteristic of her to pour out her troubles to
+the ever-patient and understanding Boru.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I'm lonely, for one thing," she confided as she
+pulled one velvety soft ear.  "Of course any one
+but you would say that was silly, for I have Harry
+to play with, and then there are the Blake
+children."  Two well-behaved, very clean and very
+shiny girls filled her imagination for an
+instant, but she dismissed them with a frown.
+"They don't count, because they simply won't
+play the way I want to.  Harry is a boy, and I
+do&mdash;no, I did like him a little better, but you
+know, old fellow, that after the way he acted
+to-day about the snake, I just&mdash;well, he is a
+scare-cat and that's all there is about it."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Boru's eyes, almost as brown as his mistress's,
+looked up in solemn confirmation of her last remark.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Her thoughts wandered for a minute and then
+came back to the original idea.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I guess lonely isn't just exactly the word,
+but it's something a lot like it.  I want some one
+to be with who is more like me&mdash;"  She broke
+off suddenly, "I wish I had a sister," she
+whispered softly.  Her arm tightened around Boru's
+neck, and she buried her head in his shaggy coat.
+Then quite suddenly she sat bolt upright, and her
+eyes flashed.  "I'm mad, too; mad all the way
+through at everything and everybody except
+you,"&mdash;Boru acknowledged the exception with an
+affectionate lick&mdash;"and I think the person I'm the
+very maddest at is my big brother Thomas.  He's
+not a bit the kind of a brother to have."  She
+jumped up suddenly, and the breeze coming in
+from the water took the skirt of her gingham dress
+and flapped it as it would a sail.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Boru, do you know what I am going to do!"
+she demanded very seriously.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Boru was a little surprised and disturbed at
+being so unceremoniously upset but he cocked one
+ear expectantly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I'm going to write and tell him so," she
+announced defiantly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Her determination did not leave her even when
+she was seated at her big desk, where everything
+was arranged in perfect order for letter writing.
+Janet had written her brother at stated intervals
+during her thirteen years, but each and every
+letter had always been carefully read and
+corrected by her grandmother.  Stiff and formal
+notes were the result.  As for answers, she had
+never received any, as far back as she could
+remember, but a brief typewritten note reached her
+grandmother twice a year and stated, rather than
+said, that Thomas was well and that the ranch
+in far-away Arizona was as successful as could
+be expected under the conditions of the present
+year.  True, he never forgot to send his love to
+Janet, but Janet, from early childhood, had had
+a very decided idea about that sort of love.
+To-day she meant to make that idea known.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+With a great deal of care and precision she
+selected an especially clean sheet of paper and a
+square and very businesslike envelope, put a new
+gold pen in her penholder and set to work.  The
+first words she wrote were "Dear Thomas," then
+she stopped.  There were so many things she
+wanted to say.  She looked to Boru for inspiration
+He was gazing thoughtfully at a fly that
+was crawling along the floor; the instant it started
+to fly he pounced on it.  Janet laughed.  "Thanks,
+Boru; that is just what I'll do myself; I'll gobble
+Thomas up all at once."  She turned back to her
+desk and wrote under the "Dear Thomas:
+</p>
+
+<p><br></p>
+
+<p>
+"I have been meaning to write to you for ever
+so long and to say just what I wanted to, and so
+I might as well tell you right away that grandmother
+is not going to see this letter at all.  It's
+just from me to you, and I'm not going to be
+particular about grammar or blots.  The most
+'special things I have to say are all questions, and
+then some other things that are not very nice.
+Perhaps I'd better start with those.  The first one
+is that I think you would be a lot nicer if you
+called yourself Tom or Tommy, instead of
+Thomas.  Of course I don't know what you look
+like, for the only picture we have of you is a baby
+one that I know you would perfectly hate, but I
+think you are short and frown a lot, and I hope
+you haven't a beard but I'm afraid you have.  I
+just told Boru, that's my dog, but you probably
+wouldn't like him, that you were not a bit what a
+big brother ought to be, and I really don't think
+you are, and I might as well say that you would
+have been much more of a comfort to me if you'd
+been a sister.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"The questions I want to ask you are: What
+do you do in Arizona, and are you ever coming
+home, and do you ride horseback, and don't you
+like to be with lots of people instead of just with
+a few that some one else chooses for you, and
+what would you think of a boy who was afraid of
+snakes?  If you say that he's a sensible boy&mdash;that's
+what grandmother would say&mdash;I'll never
+like you, never.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"If I only knew you and you were nice like the
+boys in the books I read, how many things we
+could talk over!  I could ask you about all the
+things that really matter&mdash;the things that
+grandmother won't even let me mention.  Thomas, I'm
+really not too young to be told things.  I'd grow
+up all in a minute if I could be with girls my own
+age.  But I don't expect you'll understand, so I
+won't write any more.  I've said some of the
+things I wanted to and that makes me feel a little
+tit better."
+</p>
+
+<p><br></p>
+
+<p>
+She hesitated over the ending, and finally
+decided just to sign her name.  Then without
+reading over what she had written, lest her resolve
+weaken, she folded up the paper and put it into
+its envelope.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Boru's tail thumping on the floor made her
+conscious of steps outside her door, and she hastily
+finished writing the address and slipped the letter
+into her pocket just as Martha opened her door.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Now, Miss Janet, not dressed for your tea,
+and it almost six o'clock, and Mrs. Waters with
+your grandmother and wanting to see you!  Tut,
+tut!"  Martha shook her gray head in real
+despair.  She was a kindly old woman, who had
+served faithfully all her life, but because it was
+so simple for her to do what was expected of her
+always she had never understood how hard it was
+sometimes for others; but she was never cross and
+usually contented herself with saying, "Tut, tut!"
+in her mild old voice at all Janet's failings.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"What does Mrs. Waters want me for?" Janet
+asked.  A vision of Harry's mother retailing the
+afternoon's adventure with the snake made her
+heart sink.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I couldn't say, my dear," Martha replied
+placidly.  "Your grandmother sent me to get you.
+Here now, brush up your hair a bit.  Are your
+hands clean?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Janet submitted to being tidied up, and then
+hurried downstairs to her grandmother's room.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Mrs. Waters was seated in the visitor's chair,
+her back to the door, but she turned around as
+Janet entered and smiled a welcome.  Mrs. Page
+spoke:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Janet, what is all this I hear about your knowing
+how to take care of sick dogs?" she inquired
+crossly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Janet hesitated.  She did know a good deal
+about the care of all animals, but she was at a
+loss as to how to explain her knowledge to her
+grandmother.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Well, do you or don't you know anything about
+them?" Mrs. Page insisted impatiently.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Yes, I do know about them."  Janet's reply
+came so quickly that it surprised herself.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Her grandmother looked at her for a long
+minute and then nodded her head.  "Very well; go
+with Mrs. Waters and do what you can for her
+dog," she said sharply, and then to indicate that
+the interview was at an end she turned her back
+on her visitors.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Mrs. Waters took Janet's arm and hurried out
+of the room.  She was a timid little woman, very
+easily silenced, and she still spoke in a half
+whisper when they were out of the house.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"It's Roy, my dear, our English setter; he has
+hurt his paw, and the veterinary is away," she
+explained.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Janet gave a mighty sigh of relief.  Harry had
+not told tales.  She smiled at his mother reassuringly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Poor old fellow.  I hope I can do something
+to help him."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Oh, I'm sure you can.  Harry says you are
+wonderful with animals," Mrs. Waters replied.
+"Roy is such a valuable dog," she added.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+They reached the Waters' cottage, just off the
+main street of the little village, and Janet followed
+Mrs. Waters around to the barn.  Before the door
+was opened, she could hear the low moan of an
+animal in pain.  Once inside, she knelt down
+beside Roy and patted him.  He gave her the
+affectionate welcome, always awarded a true dog
+lover.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She examined his paw and found the trouble
+to be a deeply embedded splinter.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"May I have a darning needle? she asked.
+Mrs. Waters hurried to the house to get it.  Janet
+busied herself filling a basin with clear spring
+water, and she took the towel from its roller on
+the kitchen porch.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Here it is, my dear," Mrs. Waters said, "and
+a bottle of peroxide.  You don't mind if I don't
+stay, do you!  I'd be sure to faint."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Janet smiled.  "No indeed.  I can get along
+quite well alone," she said, and knelt to her task.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+For the next few minutes she was absorbed in
+her work.  The splinter was in deep, and it was
+hard to make Roy lie still.  She was about to
+give up in despair when a voice, almost at her
+elbow, said:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Here, let me help."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She turned quickly, startled, and saw a boy
+about fifteen, very shabbily dressed in old blue
+overalls and a torn straw hat.  His hair, burnt by
+the sun, was almost red, and his eyes were a clear
+gray.  Janet was too astonished to speak, but
+with a nod she accepted his offer to help, and they
+worked in silence until the splinter was out and
+the wound carefully bathed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I guess I'll let him lick it," Janet said, putting
+aside the bandage Mrs. Waters had given her.
+The boy nodded.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Best way," he said.  "Do you know horses
+as well as dogs!" he inquired slowly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"No, we haven't any, you see," Janet replied,
+as she gathered up the things and started for the
+house.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Too bad."  The boy spoke with a drawl that
+had nothing of laziness in it but a good deal of
+dreamy calculation.  He leaned over and patted
+Roy.  "Good night, old fellow," he said, and
+without a word more to Janet he disappeared as
+quietly as he had come.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Janet went on into the house, wondering who
+he could be, but for some reason she did not ask
+Mrs. Waters, perhaps because that good lady was
+too busy thanking her.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I think you are so clever, dearie," she said
+warmly.  "I wonder where Harry can be.  It's
+dark, and he ought to see you home."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Oh, don't bother Harry," Janet protested.
+"I'll run all the way and I'll be there in no time.
+I'll be down to see Roy to-morrow."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As soon as she was out of sight of the cottage
+she did run.  It was quite chilly, and the salt
+wind in her face made her blood tingle, and all
+the worries of the day faded away with the last
+glow of the sunset.  It was not until she was
+undressing for bed, several hours later, that she
+remembered her letter.  Her time had been taken
+up thinking about the strange boy who had come
+so quietly to her aid.  When she went to the
+pocket of her dress to look for it, it was not there.
+</p>
+
+<p><br><br><br></p>
+
+<p><a id="chap03"></a></p>
+
+<h3>
+CHAPTER III
+<br><br>
+MRS. TODD INTERVENES
+</h3>
+
+<p>
+"What are you in such a hurry with
+your breakfast for, child?"  Martha,
+her hands on her big hips, stood
+in the doorway between the dining-room and the
+kitchen, and looked at Janet with mild curiosity.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was a gray, misty morning, with a salty taste
+and feel to everything.  Janet looked up from
+her place where, with the assistance of Boru,
+she was finishing the last strip of bacon on her
+plate.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I want to go over to the Waters' to see how
+Roy is," she explained only half truthfully, for
+her thoughts were almost entirely centered on the
+hope of finding the letter she had lost the night
+before.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Well, dearie me, that's no reason for bolting
+your food," Martha protested, but she let the
+matter drop and went back into her kitchen.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Without waiting to stop at her grandmother's
+room, Janet hurried out of the house and started
+for the village.  She kept her eyes on the road,
+but the Waters' cottage was reached without a
+sign of the missing white envelope.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Harry was lurking in the doorway of the barn,
+and Janet called a cheery greeting to him.  There
+was no sign of the boy with the torn straw hat.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"How's my patient" she asked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Ah, he's all right."  Harry was still a little
+resentful, for he was thinking of the snake.  Janet
+had completely forgotten it.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Roy, at the first sound of her voice, got up from
+his place in the hay and wagged his tail.  Janet
+knelt and inspected the paw.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"It's a whole lot better, isn't it, old fellow?"
+she asked as she patted him.  "Keep it clean and
+don't walk on it," she advised seriously.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Harry, watching her, laughed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"You'd think Roy was a human being to hear
+you go on.  He doesn't know what you're talking
+about," he said.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Janet did not reply, but she smiled into the
+dog's eyes, and Harry had an uncomfortable
+feeling that they were both laughing at him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As she talked, Janet made a careful search for
+the letter but it was nowhere to be seen, and with
+a sinking feeling at her heart she realized that
+some one must have found it.  But whom?  She
+knelt on the floor beside Roy, and the thought
+worried her brain.  If Mrs. Waters had it she
+would, of course, take it to Mrs. Page and
+then&mdash;she shrugged her shoulders.  It was foolish to
+worry over it anyway, until something happened.
+It would be a simple matter to write another, but
+somehow the spirit that had prompted her to
+revolt the day before was gone.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"What are you doing anyway?"&mdash;Harry interrupted
+her musings.  She gave a characteristic
+little shrug and jumped up.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Nothing much," she replied, laughing.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Harry had been doing some thinking himself
+for the last few minutes, and he had come to the
+decision that it never paid to get mad at Janet,
+for no matter how cross you acted she never even
+bothered to notice you.  So it was with a very
+different tone of voice that he asked as she started
+for home:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Do you care if I go along with you?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"No, come on if you want to," Janet replied,
+and together they walked down the path.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Let's stop at the post office," Janet suggested,
+her thoughts, in spite of her determination to
+forget it, still on the letter.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As they neared the little, low, red-brick building
+almost covered by dark green ivy that served as
+post office and general store for Old Chester, they
+noticed a horse and cart with bright yellow wheels
+drawn up at the curb.  The harness was new and
+shining, and the horse, a beautiful sorrel with
+slender legs, tossed his head impatiently.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Why, who does that belong to?" Janet exclaimed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Dunno," Harry was not particularly interested.
+"Guess it's Mrs. Todd's.  I heard mother
+talking about her last night.  She is visiting at
+the rectory, 'cause she's a cousin or something of
+Mrs. Blake's."  The door of the post office opened
+and he lowered his voice.  "Here she comes now."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Janet looked up and saw a tall, mannish-looking
+woman, dressed in a rough serge suit and
+heavy boots, coming toward them.  She had on a
+soft gray felt hat without any trimming, and she
+carried a market basket over her arm.  Her eyes
+were small but they were so very blue and
+penetrating that Janet felt they must be making holes
+in the back of her head.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Hello, whose children are you?" she demanded
+rather than asked as she put her basket into the
+cart She turned to Harry.  "You're Harry
+Waters.  I know but you."  She scrutinized
+Janet, and suddenly her face softened and she
+put one big hand on her slender shoulder.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"You're a Page," she said.  "The Pages all
+have straight short noses.  Wait a minute and let
+me think.  Haven't you a sister?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Janet shook her head and smiled.  It was a
+merry smile, for she suddenly realized that she
+liked this queer, outspoken woman very much.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"No, I haven't a sister," she replied.  "I wish
+I had.  I have a brother and a grandmother, and
+I think that's all, except Boru."  She looked
+down at the dog who was sniffing at the stranger's
+skirts.  "Your horse is a beauty," she added
+shyly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Like him?  So do I.  Suppose you drive me
+home; that is, to the rectory.  I am staying there,
+and my name is Ann Todd.  Here you are!
+Jump in, Harry.  If you can wind up those fat
+legs of yours you will just fit in the back."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Janet had hard work not to show her surprise,
+for it was even greater than her delight.  She
+had never, in all her short life, met any one who
+out off their sentences as though they were
+clipping threads and who made up their minds so
+quickly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+They reached the rectory before she could think
+of anything to say, and then all she could stammer
+was, "Oh, thank you ever so much; it was simply
+thrilling."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Alice and Mildred Blake were sitting in the
+tiny little flower garden, both busy with yards of
+green bunting which they were sewing together
+in long strips.  They looked up in surprise as they
+saw Janet and Harry.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Oh, Janet, will your grandmother really let
+you; isn't that wonderful!" they exclaimed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Janet was utterly bewildered.  "What are you
+talking about!" she demanded.  "Will my
+grandmother let me do what!"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Alice and Mildred looked at each other in
+confusion, and then at Mrs. Todd.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"We thought&mdash;" Alice began.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Cousin Ann and mother said&mdash;" finished Mildred.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Mrs. Todd laughed heartily at their embarrassment
+and put her arm around Janet.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Perhaps I can explain," she said.  "The girls
+are talking about the church fair.  Their mother
+said something last night about your grandmother's
+never letting you take any part in it,
+and I said that I would undertake to see that you
+came this year, and so I will."  Her jaw snapped
+with such decision as she said these words that
+Janet almost jumped.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"That's awfully nice of you," she replied
+politely, "but grandmother's mind is rather hard
+to change.  I never try."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Why won't she let you?" Alice asked timidly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I hardly remember,"&mdash;Janet laughed.  "It's
+so long since I ceased to come.  I was ten then
+and I thought it would be such fun, but&mdash;well,
+I didn't, and I've never asked since.  I think
+being out late was one of the reasons."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Humph!" was all Mrs. Todd had to say, but
+a few minutes later she offered to drive Janet
+home.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"And I'll stop in and say 'how do you do,' too,
+while I'm there," she decided.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+On the way, as they bowled along the soft sandy
+road, Janet worried a little.  It was luncheon
+time, and her grandmother never saw visitors
+until after three o'clock, but it would be quite
+useless even to try to explain this to Mrs. Todd,
+for in her own way she was just as positive and
+determined as the eccentric Mrs. Page.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Grim as ever,"&mdash;Mrs. Todd laughed as the
+house came into view.  "It's twenty years since
+I opened that front door but, bless my soul, I know
+that everything is going to be just the same."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Why, did you ever live here!" Janet looked
+at her companion in surprise.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I did, and I was in this house almost as much
+as I was in my own.  Your father and I were
+the best of friends."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Oh!" was all Janet had time to say, before
+Martha appeared at the door.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Mrs. Todd nodded to her and tied the horse to
+the garden gate and walked slowly up the narrow,
+moss-grown walk, a whimsical smile on her thin
+face.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Martha was speechless, and Janet had to laugh
+as she watched her curl one end of her apron into
+a hard little knot.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Well, Martha,"&mdash;Mrs. Todd held out her hand&mdash;"don't
+look as though you had seen a ghost."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Martha managed to say something, but she was
+quite powerless to stop the visitor from striding
+into the house and walking unannounced into
+Mrs. Page's room.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Janet sat down on the stone seat in the garden
+and waited.  Boru stretched out on the path at
+her feet and panted after his run.  Not a sound
+came from the house.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Janet did not try to imagine what was going
+on in her grandmother's room.  She was
+conscious that a big change had come into her life,
+and she dimly realized that in the future she
+would spend more time in thinking than she had
+ever spent before.  It seemed as though she was
+conscious of the world around her, and instead of
+just accepting it she felt that she was a part of it.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Janet Page," she said aloud, and stared hard
+at the old sun-dial.  Suddenly Boru barked, and
+she jumped as though she had been wakened from
+a dream.  The dog rushed to the corner of the
+garden, and Janet looked up just in time to see
+the rim of a torn straw hat disappear over the wall.
+</p>
+
+<p><br><br><br></p>
+
+<p><a id="chap04"></a></p>
+
+<h3>
+CHAPTER IV
+<br><br>
+JANET'S KINGDOM
+</h3>
+
+<p>
+Janet did not have time to investigate
+further, for at that moment Martha beckoned
+her mysteriously into the house.  It was
+plain to be seen that the old servant was greatly
+disturbed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"What's the matter!" Janet inquired in a
+whisper, for she caught some of the suspense.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Oh, Miss Janet, whatever shall we do?" Martha
+exclaimed.  "Mrs. Todd walked into your
+grandmother's room, and they have been arguing
+ever since.  Your grandmother will have a turn
+I know, and yet I don't dare to interrupt them.
+What shall I do?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was a proof of the Great Change to be consulted,
+and Janet smiled with something like pride.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I shouldn't do anything if I were you," she
+replied quietly.  "Perhaps they are not arguing
+any more.  They may just be talking; they're old
+friends, you know."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Martha shot a quick glance toward the closed
+door.  "Old friends," she said, and then, thinking
+better of it, she did not finish the sentence, but said
+instead, "Sit down to your luncheon, child, do; it's
+getting cold and there's no reason to wait."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Janet nodded and went into the dining-room.
+She took a long time over her chops and sweet
+potatoes, but she finished without hearing the door
+to her grandmother's room open.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Martha was almost in tears.  "Your grandmother
+has had no luncheon," she protested.
+"Dearie me, what shall I do?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Take my advice and wait until she calls you,"
+Janet advised.  "You know she doesn't like to be
+disturbed.  I'm going out," she added.  "No,
+Boru, you can't come to-day; stay home, like a
+good dog."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Boru buried his head in his paws and with a
+very mournful expression watched her leave.  He
+knew that there was one mysterious place to
+which he was never allowed to accompany his
+mistress, and he resented it.  He was right in
+guessing that she was going there to-day.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Janet left the house by the door that led to
+the steps and down to the sea road.  The water
+looked sparkling blue and inviting, and she
+hurried along until she came to a small dock, very
+much the worse for age.  She untied a row boat
+and found two broken oars that were hidden in
+the tall grass beside the road.  There was no one
+in sight as she pushed off, and only a few sails
+were visible flapping smartly out beyond the harbor.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Her cheeks were flushed as she sent the old boat
+skimming over the water, for she was on her way
+to her secret kingdom.  Though she had sailed to
+it many times there was always the chance of
+discovery, and that added zest to the adventure.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The point of land toward which she was heading
+was quite a distance off, and looked to be
+rather a desolate island.  It was, in reality,
+however, a part of the mainland, for the bay came in,
+and the land around it was shaped like a big hook.
+There were a few fishing huts along the shore, and
+farther inland low farms nestled into the hills.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Janet chose a certain cove to land in and pulled
+her boat safely up on shore, and then she started
+off at a brisk walk.  At this particular point of
+the beach the sand dunes were very high, and she
+was screened from sight except from the water
+front.  She walked for about a quarter of a mile
+and then began to climb.  Up above her on a
+rising knoll of ground a little way beyond the
+sand dunes was an old gray house.  It was large
+and very rambling, but it was tumbling down.
+The roof sagged at one end, and the two big
+chimneys were crumbling to ruin.  There was not
+a sign of life anywhere about it or in the many
+ramshackled farm buildings that evidently
+belonged to it.  All the windows were boarded up
+but one, a very small one that led into the cellar.
+Janet pushed it open gently and slid down as
+far as she could and then dropped.  It was very
+dark and very musty.  She groped her way to the
+rickety stairs as quickly as she could.  The door
+at the top opened with a groan as she pushed, and
+she was in a long, low-ceilinged kitchen.  Rain
+had come down through the leaky roof and rusted
+the stove, the furniture was covered with dust, and
+a forlorn china cup with its handle broken lay
+dejectedly on one corner of the table.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Janet glanced hurriedly about her, to make sure
+that no one had been in the room since she had,
+and then hurried into the front hall.  Some heavy
+pieces of furniture were partly covered by torn
+and dirty sheets; they looked like ghosts in the
+dim light that filtered in through the boarded
+windows.  Janet, in spite of the many times that she
+had passed them, could not repress a shiver, and
+she gave a sigh of relief as she closed the door of
+another room behind her.  She was in her kingdom
+at last, and she surveyed it with sparkling
+eyes.  It was a long room with a low ceiling that
+ran the length of the house.  In the center along
+one side was a huge fireplace.  Each one of the
+six windows had a broad window seat.  There
+was very little furniture, and none of it was
+covered by dust sheets.  In consequence, the stuffing
+was coming out of several of the chairs and a
+puddle of water had sopped into the big horsehair
+sofa.  The only human looking thing in the room
+was a pair of gloves on one end of the table.  They
+were badly mildewed and they looked very limp
+and lifeless, but they had belonged to some one
+of the mysterious owners of the house, and Janet
+always nodded to them with mock respect.  It was
+the books that made the room a kingdom.  Rows
+and rows of them lined the walls from floor to
+ceiling.  Some of them were damp and moldy but they
+were all readable, and that was all that mattered
+to Janet, though she sometimes cried over a
+broken binding and patted it quite as she would
+have stroked a hurt puppy.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Well, my darlings, I have come back to you,"
+she said as she slipped to her knees before a
+corner bookcase, "and I want you to be very kind to
+me and take me far, far away to&mdash;"  She let her
+hand wander over the backs of the books until it
+rested on one, "Greece," she finished, as she read
+the title.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She made herself as comfortable as possible
+in one of the window seats, and for an hour she
+was so engrossed in the old fables and the stirring
+tales of the gods that she forgot the time.  It was
+only when the light through the chink of the boarding
+grew too dim to see that she realized with a
+start that it was getting late.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"And I never looked up about Roy's paw in that
+animal book!" she exclaimed.  Had Mrs. Page
+heard her, she might have understood where she
+had learned so much about the care of dogs.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Janet hurriedly put her book back and went to
+the bookcase across the room to find what she
+wanted.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"That's funny," she said.  "I thought I left
+it&mdash;why, I did; here's the place where it belongs."  An
+empty hole on the bottom shelf confronted her,
+and looked as if the smiling row had lost a tooth.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Without exactly knowing why, Janet was frightened.
+She had looked upon this room as so
+particularly hers for so long that there was
+something uncanny in the thought that some one else
+had dared to trespass.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Perhaps I put it back somewhere else."  She
+tried to comfort herself with this thought, but she
+could not get rid of the queer feeling that some
+other hands were touching her loves, and that
+other eyes were seeing into her enchanted pages.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She puzzled over it as she rowed home, but it
+was impossible to come to any conclusion.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Martha was waiting for her in the hall; her
+face was even whiter than it had been earlier in
+the day.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Miss Janet, you're back, thank goodness;
+your grandmother has been calling for you all
+afternoon."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"When did Mrs. Todd leave!" Janet enquired.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"She hasn't left at all," Martha gasped.
+"She's sat in there the whole blessed day.  Only
+an hour ago she came into my kitchen as smiling
+as you please, and said she and Mrs. Page would
+have a cup of tea and some toast and jam.  I took
+it in, and, well, Miss Janet, it's beyond me; indeed
+it is!"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"But, Martha, why shouldn't they have tea?
+Grandmother always has it for her guests."  Janet
+laughed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Martha sighed profoundly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"If you knew all that I know of those two and
+then to see them smiling and laughing together,"
+Martha shook her head, unable to give vent to her
+feelings in mere words.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Janet raced upstairs and changed her dress,
+and in a very few minutes she was knocking at her
+grandmother's door.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Oh, it's you, is it, dear child!" Mrs. Todd
+called as she entered.  "I was hoping you would
+get back in time to drive me home."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Ann, don't presume too far," Mrs. Page said
+tartly.  "Janet, where have you been?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Janet decided that the change in her
+grandmother was not as great as Martha had led
+her to suppose, so she answered as she
+always did.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I have been out most of the time."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"To whom are you speaking!" Mrs. Page inquired.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Janet sighed and blushed a little; it was not like
+her grandmother to find fault before people.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I'm sorry, 'I have been out most of the time,
+grandmother,'" she corrected, but a second later
+she almost laughed aloud for she was sure she had
+heard Mrs. Todd say "fiddlesticks" under her
+breath.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I wanted you all afternoon," Mrs. Page went
+on.  "However, we will let that pass.  Mrs. Todd
+wishes you to help this year at the church fair
+and I have given my consent under one
+condition&mdash;that you are home here by nine o'clock."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Ten," corrected Mrs. Todd crisply.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"What did you say, Ann?" Mrs. Page's eyes
+flashed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I said ten," Mrs. Todd repeated.  "Ten was
+the hour we agreed on.  And now I must be going,
+as my eyes are not what they used to be and these
+new roads puzzle me.  I must ask you to let Janet
+drive me home."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+For a long minute there was silence, and then
+Mrs. Page did something she was rarely ever seen
+to do; she smiled.
+</p>
+
+<p class="capcenter">
+<a id="img-051"></a>
+<br>
+<img class="imgcenter" src="images/img-051.jpg" alt="For a long minute there was silence, and then Mrs. Page did sometning the was rarely ever seen to do; she smiled.">
+<br>
+For a long minute there was silence, and then Mrs. Page <br>
+did sometning she was rarely ever seen to do; she smiled.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"You are a very smart woman, Ann Todd, and
+I'm a very old one.  Have your own way, but
+remember your promise," she said.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The drive through the twilight was wonderful,
+for Mrs. Todd let Janet do the driving while she
+sat back and talked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"You're a funny youngster," she said when
+they were half way to the village.  "You haven't
+asked me a single question."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"About grandmother, do you mean?" Janet
+laughed.  "I didn't have to.  You see, you made
+her let me go and that's all that matters."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Aren't aren't you curious to know how?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Janet shook her head.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Well, I'll tell you.  I bullied her.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Your grandmother is a very remarkable woman,"
+she added after a silence that lasted until
+they were turning into the driveway of the
+rectory grounds.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I think she is too," Janet said loyally, "and
+every one is sure to like her when they know and
+understand her."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Mrs. Todd got out at the carriage block.  "Bless
+the child," she said almost tenderly, but a second
+later, as she was going up the steps, she said in
+her usual brisk manner, "Come 'round to-morrow
+and see me; we'll have a chat."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Janet gave the horse over to the hired man and
+walked slowly home.  She was so absorbed in her
+thoughts that she reached the end of the garden
+wall before she knew it.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The sound of an automobile made her hurry to
+the side of the road.  Motors were not very
+common in Old Chester, for it was away from the
+beaten track and the roads were very bad.  Janet
+was a little ashamed of her interest in them, but
+she could never resist staring at them.  The one
+that was approaching now had powerful searchlights,
+and she watched them, fascinated.  It
+looked as though they were sweeping right on to
+her very feet.  Suddenly they fell across the
+corner of the garden wall.  It was only for a minute,
+but it was long enough to illuminate a patch of
+ground and to bring out into sharp relief a torn
+straw hat and a thick book bound in dull blue,
+embossed with a gold dog.
+</p>
+
+<p><br><br><br></p>
+
+<p><a id="chap05"></a></p>
+
+<h3>
+CHAPTER V
+<br><br>
+NOT LIKE OTHER GIRLS
+</h3>
+
+<p>
+"My dear, you look tired out!" Mrs. Blake
+exclaimed the next morning, when
+Janet, very flushed and blown, presented
+herself at the rectory.  "What have you
+been doing?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Oh, it's an awfully windy morning, but I'm
+not really tired," Janet replied.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Yes, it's blowing a gale and it must be hard to
+walk," Mrs. Blake agreed.  "It's bad enough
+down here, but it must be dreadful up at your
+house.  I can't be glad enough that we are not on
+the shore; the sound of the waves would depress
+me so," she added as she gave a little shudder and
+held the door open for Janet to come in.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Janet did not bother to tell her that she had
+battled with those same waves in a leaky boat not
+half an hour ago, for she knew Mrs. Blake would
+not understand the importance of replacing a
+certain book in a certain shelf, nor would she see
+anything funny in the sight of a torn straw hat lying
+beside a pair of old gloves.  But Janet had a very
+vivid imagination, and she had rowed over that
+morning to the Kingdom in order to replace the
+animal book and further to confuse the mysterious
+boy, she had left his hat on the library table.  Her
+only regret was that she would not be there to see
+his expression when he found it.  There could be
+no doubt now that he knew the secrets of the
+deserted house&mdash;the hat and book proved it.  But
+Janet, remembering the look in his gray eyes and
+the way he had patted Roy, could not find it in
+her heart to be angry.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A bright fire burned in the rectory living room,
+and Alice and Mildred were sitting beside it.
+They were still working over the green bunting.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Janet's heart sank.  She hated to sew, for her
+fingers, in spite of Martha's patient teachings,
+insisted on acting like thumbs.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"What would you like to do, my dear?" Mrs. Blake
+inquired sweetly.  "Will you help the girls
+or would you rather do something else?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I'll do whatever you like," Janet said
+hesitatingly, "but I think perhaps I could do
+something else better than I could sew.  I'm not very
+good at sewing, you see."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Alice and Mildred looked up in shocked surprise.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Don't you like to sew?" Mildred said incredulously.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Janet flushed.  "No, I don't," she said bluntly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"How odd!" Mildred and Alice exclaimed
+together.  "We love it."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Daughters!" Mrs. Blake warned, for she had
+caught the suggestion of scorn in their voices, and
+she was quick to notice Janet's flush.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At that moment the door from the dining-room
+opened, and Mrs. Todd entered.  Her cheeks were
+flushed, and her narrow little eyes seemed brighter
+than ever.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Morning everybody," she greeted, smiling at
+Janet.  "You look very cozy in here, but you also
+look very stuffy.  What's the matter, Janet!"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Nothing, only I'm afraid I'm not going to be
+much of a help," Janet confessed.  "I don't like
+to sew, you see."  Janet always said "you see"
+when she was embarrassed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Neither do I,"&mdash;Mrs. Todd laughed.  "Had
+to do too much of it when I was a child."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Perhaps we can find something else for Janet
+to do," Mrs. Blake interposed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Why, of course, we can.  Come with me,
+Janet.  We'll rig up the fishing pond."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Janet waited until she was well away from the
+library before she asked what a fishing pond was.
+She was used to doing all the explaining and all
+of the leading when it came to playing with other
+girls, she had played so seldom with them, and
+this new and scornful attitude of the Blakes made
+her unreasonably angry.  She knew that if she
+were competing in climbing trees or rowing&mdash;anything
+that took courage&mdash;she would be their
+superior.  But when it was a question of sewing,
+she had to admit herself beaten.  The thought
+made her very unhappy, for above everything
+else in the world Janet wanted to be like other
+girls.  Not the Blake girls, but the girl heroines
+she had read of and dreamed of as friends in her
+Kingdom.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Mrs. Todd noticed the worried expression on
+her face and did her best to dispell it by giving
+her something else to think about.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"A fish pond," she explained in answer to her
+question, "is a very easy way of making people
+spend money.  You put up a screen and sell little
+wooden fish poles for ten cents.  The buyer goes
+fishing over the screen and some one ties a
+present to the end of the line."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Mrs. Todd watched Janet closely, and laughed
+with delight as the frown deepened on her
+face.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Well?" she inquired, "what do you think of
+it!"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Not very much," Janet answered truthfully.
+"Isn't there a better way?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I should think there would be,"&mdash;Mrs. Todd
+chuckled.  "If you can suggest one we'll change
+it and surprise them all."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Why not let them really fish?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"In water!  What would you have them catch?
+Pincushions and tidies wouldn't be improved by a
+ducking."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Janet thought for a minute.  They were in the
+Sunday-school rooms, and she was sitting perched
+up on the high platform.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Why can't they catch things that come from
+the sea!" she suggested.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"What, for instance!"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Oh, shells and coral and fishes and stones.
+They are every bit as sensible as pincushions and
+so much prettier."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"No doubt about that,"&mdash;Mrs. Todd laughed&mdash;"but
+where shall we get them?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Oh, we have just loads of them up in the attic;
+queer old shells from all over the world that my
+great-grandfather, I think it was, brought home
+with him."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"But, my child, you can't give those away,"
+Mrs. Todd protested.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Why not?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Your grandmother&mdash;"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Oh, she wouldn't mind; she can't bear them.
+You know, she hates anything that reminds her
+of the water."  Janet looked at her companion
+wonderingly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Queer, isn't it?" she said.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Mrs. Todd looked at her with a peculiar light
+in her steely eyes.  "Not under the circumstances,"
+she said softly, but though Janet waited
+she did not say any more.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I asked grandmother once, oh, long ago, if I
+might play with those shells,"&mdash;Janet returned
+to the subject in hand&mdash;"and she said I might do
+anything I liked with them as long as I kept them
+out of her sight."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Mrs. Todd seemed to consider the idea.  Finally
+she said,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Well, bring them along with you this afternoon,
+and if they are of no value we'll use them
+and surprise the neighborhood."
+</p>
+
+<p><br></p>
+
+<p>
+"They certainly are beauties," she said, when
+after luncheon Janet had returned with a box full
+of queer old shells and rough bits of coral.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"They must have come a long way, to judge
+by the looks of them."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Well, I think my great-grandfather used to
+sail all the way 'round the world," Janet replied.
+"Do you think they will do?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Mrs. Todd looked at her.  "Do, child!  Why,
+they will cause so much excitement that our booth
+will be by far the most popular.  The only reason
+I hesitate is that I am afraid that some day you
+will be sorry you were so generous."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"But how silly,"&mdash;Janet laughed.  "These are
+only a few of what we have.  There are heaps
+left in the attic."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Settled,"&mdash;Mrs. Todd laughed.  "And now,
+Miss Original, will you please tell me what other
+ideas you have lurking in the back of your brain?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Now you're teasing,"&mdash;Janet laughed.
+"There's nothing else to think of, except the pond
+itself, and that ought to be easy.  A big tub of real
+sea water with pebbles and sand banked around
+it, and perhaps we could borrow some of
+Mrs. Blake's palms.  She has so many, and, oh, well,
+we can make it look&mdash;now, you're laughing at
+me."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Not a bit of it," Mrs. Todd denied emphatically.
+"I am laughing with you, and there's all
+the difference in the world between the two.  But
+I would like to know just where you got all your
+imagination."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+For a minute Janet was tempted to tell the
+secret of the Kingdom, but with a start she realized
+that it was no longer just her secret alone
+and that in telling it she would almost be guilty
+of betraying a confidence.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The Sunday-school room was gradually filling
+up with people.  Janet knew them all and bowed
+politely to each in turn.  For the most part the
+women from the farms, who were bringing in their
+donations of pies and cakes, stared at her with
+ill-concealed curiosity.  Although she did not know
+it, Janet was often the topic of conversation and
+gossip at sewing bees.  Women with daughters
+often spoke of her as "that poor lonely child,"
+and thought of her as different from other girls.
+It was a decided shock to see her in eager
+consultation with Mrs. Todd&mdash;a most important
+person&mdash;her cheeks ablaze and her eyes sparkling,
+and having quite as good a time as any ordinary
+girl; and acting for the most part with far less
+affectation than their own children.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+But though Janet did not show it, she was
+conscious of the eyes upon her, and it did make
+her uncomfortable.  She was very much relieved
+when Mrs. Todd stopped in the middle of a
+sentence and said:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Stuffy; let's go out and see about finding our
+landscape."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Once outside, Janet drew a breath of relief.
+Harry Waters was passing, and she hailed him
+with so much enthusiasm that he decided that he
+was forgiven and he responded joyfully.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Want to help me this afternoon?" Janet
+inquired.  "I want a big box of sand, and Mrs. Todd
+says we may drive her horse and cart to the shore.
+You get a box," she directed in her old manner.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Harry was too delighted to be back into favor
+again to make any objections and dashed off at
+once.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Mrs. Todd nodded her head slowly and laughed.
+"Boys are better fun than girls, eh?" she inquired.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Heaps," Janet replied, as she disappeared
+into the barn to assist in the harnessing of
+Durward, Mrs. Todd's horse.
+</p>
+
+<p><br><br><br></p>
+
+<p><a id="chap06"></a></p>
+
+<h3>
+CHAPTER VI
+<br><br>
+THE FAIR
+</h3>
+
+<p>
+The Sunday-school room was packed with
+people, but to an observant eye it was
+noticeable that the greatest number were
+in the corner under a silk canopy that looked like
+an Arab's shelter.  Hanging beside it on the wall
+was a sign, printed in orange and blue, that read,
+</p>
+
+<p class="t3">
+  COME AND FISH<br>
+  IN THE INDIAN OCEAN<br>
+  A SURPRISE FOR EVERYBODY<br>
+  10 CENTS A LINE<br>
+</p>
+
+<p><br></p>
+
+<p>
+Beyond the tent a group of high palms pointed
+the way to the beach, where a huge tub filled with
+water and reflecting myriads of little pebbles was
+surrounded by a stretch of sand.  Sticks with
+strings and hooks attached stood ready, and to
+one side a mysterious mound covered by a silk
+scarf invited the curiosity of the passersby.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Mrs. Todd stood a little to one side and kept
+looking at her watch.  Mrs. Blake came over to
+her, and it was plain to be seen that they were
+both worried.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"What do you suppose is keeping her?" Mrs. Blake
+exclaimed.  "It is after four o'clock, and
+we must begin with the pond.  Really, I think it
+is most inconsiderate of her to keep us waiting.
+Of course, if Mrs. Page has changed her mind&mdash;"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Mercy Page never changed her mind in her
+life," Mrs. Todd snapped.  "It is something very
+different than that, and I have a strong suspicion
+what it is."  She looked at a group of giggling
+girls who were whispering to each other in one
+corner, and had one of them turned at just that
+moment they would have wanted to run away,
+for Mrs. Todd looked very stern and forbidding.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Let some one else start it," she said.  "I'll
+help them; she may come after all; who knows."
+</p>
+
+<p><br></p>
+
+<p>
+But Janet at that particular moment was rowing
+with all her might, and she was rowing in the
+opposite direction from the church fair.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Something glistened in both of her eyes and
+she stopped every now and then to brush it away.
+Nothing in the world could have induced her to
+turn around.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She was hurt and very angry, and the one
+thought in her confused little mind was to forget
+there ever was such a thing as a church fair.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This is what had happened.  Harry and she
+had been busy in the early part of the afternoon
+putting the finishing touches to their work, when
+Janet found she wanted a pair of scissors.  A
+number of girls were decorating a booth across the
+room and she went over to borrow theirs.  She
+was hidden from them by a curtain of bunting.
+Just as she was about to speak, she heard one of
+them say,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I don't care if she is Janet Page, I don't like
+her.  She's not a bit like other girls."  And
+another voice answered, "I don't either; she's so
+bossy."  "Plain stuck up," a third voice added.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Janet flushed crimson and fled.  Harry remembered
+that she looked awfully queer, he said, when
+he told Mrs. Todd later, "She said she was going
+and not another word," he finished.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Janet had indeed gone.  She felt as though the
+world was falling about her ears.  Try as she
+could, she could not keep the hot tears from coming.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The brisk row did her good, and she started
+up the sand dunes with her usual expectant step.
+By the time she was in sight of the house, she was
+laughing at herself.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I may be different but I am not as bad as all
+that, and besides I don't like those girls any
+better than they like me, so we're even."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She decided to read about Mr. Micawber in
+"David Copperfield."  He always cheered her up
+when she was downhearted.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The quiet of the old house soothed her feelings.
+She walked slowly around to the cellar window
+and opened it softly.  Just as she was about to
+slip through it, a piece of tin hit her sharply on
+the nose.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<a id="p68"></a>
+She jumped and looked up and directly into the
+gray eyes of the mysterious boy.  He was sitting
+on the edge of the sloping roof not fifteen feet
+above her.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Hurt you?" he called down.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Not much," Janet answered, rubbing her nose,
+for it smarted.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Yes, it did; it's bleeding.  Say, I'm awfully
+sorry.  Wait a jiffy and I'll be down."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He slid near the edge and jumped to the ground
+almost beside her.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+They looked at each other and then burst out
+laughing.  Janet held her handkerchief up to her
+face and regarded him over the corner of it.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"What were you doing up there?" she inquired.
+"You nearly scared me to death."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Well, I was kind of scared myself," the
+mysterious boy admitted.  "I was fixing the roof up
+a bit.  It leaks onto the books now you know,
+and I just happened to look down at you, I was
+so surprised that I let the tin drop.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I found my hat," he added after a minute, and
+grinned sheepishly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Whatever made you leave it by our fence?"
+Janet inquired.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Did you see me jump over your wall the other day?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Yes."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Well, I was bringing it to you then&mdash;"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"And my dog barked at you."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"No,&mdash;that is, he did, but that isn't what scared
+me.  Your dog and I are great friends.  It was
+the woman that came out of the house.  I couldn't
+explain before her so I bolted."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Explain what?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I wanted to show you something about taking
+a splinter out of a dog's paw and a way to put on
+a bandage so that it won't come off."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Janet laughed, and he joined in.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I was after the same book the other day and
+I couldn't imagine who had taken it and then I
+found it beside your hat and I knew you must
+come here too."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Have you been coming long?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Two years."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Oh, I've been here six months, but I found it
+the first week I was here."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Where do you live?" Janet inquired.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The boy pointed down the hill.  "At Vicker's
+farm," he answered.  "I'm staying there all this
+winter."  He laughed self-consciously.  "I'm
+supposed to be weak or something, so Doc sent me
+here."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Who's Doc?" Janet inquired.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"He was Dad's best friend, and now I guess
+he's mine.  He sort of looked out for me after
+Dad&mdash;after Dad went."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Janet looked up at him quickly, for his voice
+had trembled.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I'm sorry," she said softly.  "Let's go in
+and look up that part in the animal book."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She started to slide into the cellar, but he
+stopped her.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I know a better way than that.  Come around
+here."  He led her to the old porch and took
+down two boards from one of the windows.  Janet
+crawled through and found herself in the Kingdom.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Oh, that is a lot better.  Wonder why I never
+thought of it.  It saves going through the spooky
+kitchen, and I just perfectly hate that ghostly
+hall."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+They sat down together on the floor and were
+soon engrossed by the book before them.  From
+discussing dogs and horses they turned to other
+subjects, and before she realized it Janet was
+telling him why she had not gone to the fair.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She looked at him after she had finished.  He
+was frowning.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"It was rough, I'll grant you," he drawled
+slowly, "but you should have stayed and faced
+the guns.  There's never any sense in running
+away."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Janet felt very much ashamed of herself all at
+once, and a dozen reasons why she should have
+stayed rushed into her mind.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"It was cowardly of me," she exclaimed, "and
+I'm going back this very minute."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Good for you; it won't be much fun, but you'll
+be glad you did it, I guess.  Say," he added after
+a pause, "will you be back to-morrow?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Will, if I can."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"And, say, you don't mind about my coming
+here, do you?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Janet had crawled through the window but she
+called back over her shoulder, "No, I'm glad."  A
+red head appeared in the opening.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"My name's Peter Gibbs," he called.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Mine's Janet Page."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Good night, Janet."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Good night, Peter."
+</p>
+
+<p><br></p>
+
+<p>
+As the people came back to the Sunday-school
+room after the supper that had been served in the
+gymnasium, many of them were astonished to
+see Janet with Harry by the tent.  Mrs. Blake
+was particularly so.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Why, Janet, where have you been?  We were
+so worried about you!" she exclaimed.  "And
+what have you done to your nose?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I cut it, Mrs. Blake," Janet answered, "and
+I am sorry to be late."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Why, you poor child; what a pity.  It doesn't
+matter at all about your being late."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Well, Janet, we thought you were lost, but I
+see you've found yourself,"&mdash;Mrs. Todd came up
+and interrupted her cousin.  Janet looked at her
+blue eyes and knew she understood something of
+what she had gone through.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Yes, Mrs. Todd," she replied gravely, "I
+think I have."
+</p>
+
+<p><br><br><br></p>
+
+<p><a id="chap07"></a></p>
+
+<h3>
+CHAPTER VII
+<br><br>
+A STRANGER IN THE KINGDOM
+</h3>
+
+<p>
+Janet halted in her climb up the steep bank
+at the back of the deserted house and
+smiled down at the ground.  The perfect
+outline of a bare foot made a path ahead of her
+straight to the steps of the porch.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was one of the warm, golden days that come
+sometimes in the fall, as though the summer,
+being sorry to go, sent it to bid a last regretful
+good-by.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A week had passed since the fair, and during
+that time Janet had made many trips to her
+Kingdom and she and Peter had become fast friends.
+They read their favorite books aloud to each other
+and played a game of "pretend" that would have
+been impossible to two people who had not both
+understood the meaning of loneliness.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+To-day Janet found Peter deep in a thick,
+uninteresting-looking book, but as she appeared in
+the window he closed it and jumped up.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Good morning, Princess," he greeted.  "I
+thought you were never coming, I chopped wood,
+fed the chickens and did all I could think of so
+that I wouldn't be missed."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I couldn't get away a minute sooner,"&mdash;Janet
+made a comical face.  "Mrs. Blake came to see
+grandmother yesterday, and of course she had to
+tell her that she was so surprised to learn that I
+didn't like to sew.  Grandmother didn't say much,
+but this morning she made me hem some dish
+towels, for of course she knows I can sew passably
+well when I want to.  Now she'll show them to
+Mrs. Blake the next time she comes."  A note of
+affection crept into her voice as she added,
+"Grandmother's like that."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"What are you reading?" she inquired a minute later.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"A book about sheep," Peter replied.  "It's
+kind of dull, but I like it.  I imagine sometimes
+that I&mdash;" He hesitated and blushed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"What?" Janet encouraged.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Nothing, anyway you'd laugh at me if I told
+you."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I would not!"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Well&mdash;"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Well, what?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Oh, it's just a crazy notion of mine, but I like
+to think sometimes that I own this place, and then
+I plan what I'd do with it, and one of the plans
+is to turn it into a sheep farm,"&mdash;he laughed
+nervously&mdash;"I guess I'd better stop dreaming though
+and get to real work now."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Janet noticed that he laid stress on the word
+"now," and she looked at him inquiringly.  He
+pretended not to notice her.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Peter," she said finally, "it isn't nice to be
+mysterious.  What <i>is</i> the matter with you?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Peter ran his fingers through his red hair but
+he did not reply.  Instead, he put the big book
+back on its shelf and went over to the window.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"It's awfully dark in here, don't you think?
+And it's so bully out of doors.  Let's go fishing,"
+he suggested.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Janet nodded.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"All right; we won't catch anything but it will
+be fun anyway.  Come ahead."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Peter led the way toward the shore and up to
+a dark green canoe.  Janet was properly excited;
+she had never been in a canoe before.  None of the
+girls she knew were at all interested in boating
+except to go off in sailing parties for picnics, and
+because the bay was very often rough and always
+dangerous none of the boys were allowed to have
+them.  She smiled as she remembered Mrs. Waters'
+terror when Harry, the summer before,
+had screwed up his courage to ask for one.  Yet
+here was Peter acting as though the most ordinary
+thing in the world was to go fishing in one.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"What a beauty!" she exclaimed.  "Is it yours?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Peter shook his head.  "No, I found it over in
+our barn and I asked Mr. Blunt if I could use it.
+He didn't think much of the idea, but he said if
+I could make it watertight I could have it and
+welcome.  A summer boarder left it here a couple of
+years ago.  Here you go; let me help you in.
+Sorry I haven't any pillows," he apologized.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Janet looked up at him and laughed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"What under the sun would I do with a pillow?"
+she exclaimed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Stick it behind your back, of course.  It makes
+it lots easier.  That is, most girls tuck 'em in all
+around, and they seem to like it."  Peter sometimes
+gave Janet a feeling that he was years and
+years older than she by the way he talked of
+things, people and places.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"How do you know?" she inquired as she settled
+herself gingerly on the floor of the canoe.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Seen them, by the dozens."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Where!"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Any place where there are canoes and
+girls,"&mdash;Peter grinned.  "Dad and I always
+paddled wherever and whenever we could, and we
+used to laugh sometimes."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"What at?"  Janet was making no effort to
+hide her curiosity.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Peter was busy turning the canoe around and
+did not answer at once.  Janet watched him,
+fascinated.  He paddled so softly and yet with so
+much strength that they skimmed along over the
+water as though they were flying.  Once out into
+the bay and headed for the mouth of a small
+creek, where Peter decided was the place to fish,
+he returned to the subject.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"When I said just now we laughed," he
+explained, "I was thinking of last summer.  Dad
+and I took a trip up the Delaware River and of
+course we passed lots of summer places on the
+way, and we'd see fellows, about eighteen, out
+with girls all dressed up and sitting all packed in
+with pillows.  They looked all right, but I would
+hate to have had them with us in some of the
+storms we pulled through and some of the rocks
+we had to pass."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I see,"&mdash;Janet laughed, then she said hurriedly,
+"Peter, what an exciting life you have had.
+I wish you'd tell me some more about it."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Peter shrugged his shoulders.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Not so very," he said; "you see there was
+only Dad and me, and Dad was a civil engineer
+and he had to be on the go most of the time.
+Wherever there was a bridge being built or a
+railroad put through or a dam built he was always
+there, and so naturally I was too.  That is, I
+shouldn't say naturally, because lots of people,
+especially women, thought it was very strange,
+but Dad said I was all he had left and he wasn't
+going to have me shut up in a school where he
+could never see me, so along I went, and I tell
+you I had some grand old times.  But it's all over
+now and I guess I'll go to work."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Where!" Janet asked softly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Out West, I guess.  I like it out there, and
+Dad knew a lot of ranch men that would give me
+a job.  Dad always wanted me to be an engineer,
+but that was before&mdash;"  In spite of himself his
+voice broke a little, and he paddled with extra zeal.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Oh, Peter, I'm sorry."  Two big tears stood
+in Janet's eyes.  "I wish I hadn't asked you so
+many questions and started you remembering."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Oh, I'm always doing that anyway,"&mdash;Peter
+tried to laugh.  "And I wanted to tell you about
+Dad anyway.  Do you still feel like fishing?" he
+inquired, abruptly changing the subject.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Not 'specially," Janet admitted, "I'd rather
+just paddle."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Want me to teach you how!"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Oh, would you!"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Of course.  Here, wait a minute and we'll land
+and change places.  I wish I had another paddle,
+then you could paddle bow."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The exchange of seats was made and the lessons
+began.  Janet was an apt pupil, and Peter,
+remembering his father's instructions of long ago,
+did as well as instructor.  Black clouds rolled up
+in the west without their noticing them, and it
+was not until a faint peal of thunder sounded
+that they realized that a storm was coming up.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Queer at this time of year, isn't it?" Peter
+asked, as Janet made for the bank and he took the
+paddle again.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Janet shook her head.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"We have pretty bad ones sometimes in the fall;
+sort of breaking up of summer, the fishermen say,
+and to-day has been hot, you know."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Well, there's no time to lose for it's coming
+fast.  That creek's a bad place; the trees hide
+the sky."  Peter took long firm strokes, and they
+were soon out into the bay.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was not long before the storm broke.  A
+zig-zag of lightning and a sharp growl of thunder,
+and then the rain&mdash;great drops of it.  The canoe
+bobbed up and down, but Peter managed to send
+it forward with every stroke.  Janet, though she
+would never have admitted it, was thoroughly
+frightened, and Peter, kneeling in the stern, very
+calm and even smiling, began to assume in her
+eyes the guise of a hero.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+After several strenuous minutes that seemed
+like as many hours they landed just below the
+deserted house.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Let's go up and wait until it stops," Peter
+suggested as he turned the canoe over.  "You
+can't possibly row home in this."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Janet nodded, and they trudged up the hill.
+They were laughing when they reached the
+window.  Once in the Kingdom with the rain shut
+out, they felt very secure.  Peter pointed up to
+the ceiling.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"It doesn't leak any more, thank goodness."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Janet felt her nose and smiled.  "Then I
+don't suppose I ought to mind this," she said.
+"It's still black and blue, and nobody can
+understand how I ever managed to cut it just there."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Well, you can't expect me to say I'm sorry."  Peter
+laughed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"You might say that you wished we had met
+under different conditions," Janet suggested, but
+Peter wouldn't agree.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"It was just right the way it was," he insisted.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I suppose so; anyway we'd never have had
+such fun together if we had been introduced.  Just
+imagine, 'Janet, I want you to meet Mr. Peter
+Gibbs'; how silly it sounds."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Instead of 'Your royal highness, Princess of
+the Enchanted Kingdom, allow me to introduce
+myself, Lord Carrot Tops.  My calling-card is a
+piece of tin, Bingo!  Of course I didn't say all
+that but I thought most of it."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Peter laughed and Janet joined in.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Anyway the tin calling-card part is true," she
+said.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+They both laughed on heartily and then stopped
+short, their eyes on the doorway of the room.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A short fat little man, wearing a heavy gold
+watch chain and an old fashioned soft black hat,
+stood frowning at them.
+</p>
+
+<p><br><br><br></p>
+
+<p><a id="chap08"></a></p>
+
+<h3>
+CHAPTER VIII
+<br><br>
+UNDER ARREST
+</h3>
+
+<p>
+"Here's a pretty kettle of fish!" he
+exclaimed, bobbing his head up and
+down; "what do you mean breaking
+into some one else's house like burglars?  Don't
+tell me you were hiding from the rain for I won't
+believe you."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Neither Peter nor Janet made any attempt to
+tell him anything.  They were both too startled.
+They stood frozen to the spot on which they stood.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Nothing to say, eh?" the old man went on in
+his excited, squeeky little voice.  "Well, that's
+just as well.  You'll come along with me now,
+both of you."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Are you the owner of this house?"  Peter was
+himself again, and Janet marveled at the quiet
+manner in which he spoke.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Never you mind about that; you'll soon enough
+know."  The old man bustled toward them.  Peter
+stepped in front of Janet.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Are you the owner of this house?" he
+demanded again.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Now look here, young fellow, don't give me
+any of your impertinence, but come along quick."  The
+quieter Peter's voice got the more excited
+grew the little man.  "What are your names, eh?
+Tell me that," he squeaked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"We will do nothing of the kind," Peter said
+firmly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"What, what, what!  You tell me at once and
+no more nonsense," the old man fairly spluttered.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"We refuse to tell our names to any one but
+the owner of this house."  By now, Peter was
+thoroughly enjoying himself, and he winked ever
+so slightly at Janet.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Janet was chuckling to herself, but not at Peter.
+She was wondering what would happen if she
+did tell her name.  From past experiences she
+knew that from blustering the old man would
+apologize and offer to take her home.  But he might
+insist on arresting Peter, and loyalty made her
+keep silent.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The old man was getting very angry at Peter;
+he even stamped his foot and his big gold chain
+jingled.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"You come straight along and tell the owner
+then," he exploded, "and you'll be sorry you
+didn't tell me first.  I can promise you.  I'm a
+sheriff, and you are both under arrest.  Now then,
+what have you got to say?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Peter and Janet looked at each other, and Peter
+laughed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"We have nothing to say until we see the
+owner," he said.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The sheriff turned on his heel.  They followed
+him through the hall and out of the back door, of
+which he had the key.  A buggy was standing in
+the woodshed, and they all got in.  The rain had
+stopped and soft mud spattered them as they
+drove along.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I'm awfully glad he isn't the owner," Peter
+whispered in Janet's ear.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Oh, so am I," she agreed, "but of course I
+knew he couldn't be and look like that."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The sheriff did not notice them in any way.  His
+ridiculous little fat face tried to look grim, but
+only succeeded in looking funny.  He was thinking
+very hard and wondering if the owner would
+approve of his actions.  He had not bothered to
+explain, when he said he was a sheriff, that he was
+a retired one, without the slightest right in the
+world to make an arrest.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Where does the owner live?" Peter inquired,
+breaking a silence that had lasted a mile.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Never you mind where," the sheriff retorted;
+"all that concerns you is that you will find the
+owner at my house to-day."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Peter and Janet exchanged glances.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"We're in for it," Peter whispered, "but it
+can't be very bad, and anyway we will see him
+at last."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I'm almost sorry," Janet sighed.  "He was
+always such a thrilling mystery to me.  Do you
+suppose those are his gloves on the library
+table?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Peter did not have time to reply, for they were
+turning in at the gate of a big farm, and the
+sheriff whipped up his horse to make a gallant
+approach.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Once on his own land he regained his assurance,
+and he opened the door of the tool house as though
+it were a dungeon cell.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"You'll wait in here," he directed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There was nothing else to do, so in they went,
+and Janet heard the key grate in the rusty lock
+with a queer sinking feeling.  But a look at
+Peter's face made her swallow her fears and
+manage a little laugh.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"What do you suppose will happen next?"
+she asked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Nothing very terrible," Peter assured her.
+"You see, we never did any harm to anything,
+and if we explain about the books, it ought to be
+all right."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"That will depend on the owner,"&mdash;Janet's
+voice sounded frightened in spite of herself.
+"If he is nice, he will understand, and I suppose
+he is if he owns the Kingdom; still, why doesn't
+he live in it?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Why, that's the mystery,"&mdash;Peter laughed.
+"We will find out soon enough.  Mr. Sheriff is
+probably telling all about us now, and I guess he
+is not saying anything to help our case much."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Janet was silent for a minute, then she drew a
+long heartfelt sigh.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Oh, Peter, do you realize that we can never
+go to the Kingdom again?  It isn't enchanted any
+more; it's just a house that belongs to a man that
+probably has a bald head and whiskers."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I hadn't thought of that," Peter said gravely.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The door opened, and the little man stood
+before them again.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Come with me," he said, and led the way to
+the house.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"He's not nearly so starchy," Janet whispered;
+"maybe he is nice after all."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Of course he is," Peter assured her.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+They passed through a big clean kitchen, full
+of shiny pots and pans, and then into a dark
+little hall.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Wait here," their guide directed, as he shoved
+them into a little room that looked like an office.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+They waited, and a minute or two later the door
+opened.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It would be hard to say just what either Peter
+or Janet imagined the owner of the deserted
+house to resemble.  Janet, when she thought of
+the place as belonging to any one but herself,
+usually pictured a modern King Arthur who
+would admit her claims as princess without
+hesitation.  Peter knew that it was a house that his
+father would have loved, and he thought of the
+owner as a quiet gray-haired man in consequence.
+They were neither of them prepared to see a
+woman.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Mrs. Todd!"  Janet after a stupefied second
+fairly shouted the name, and it was Peter's turn to
+be astonished.  He looked from one to the other
+and blushed a little; he realized it might be
+difficult to explain to a woman, for Peter knew
+nothing about women.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Mrs. Todd did not say anything.  She stood in
+the doorway and laughed and laughed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Is it really your house?" Janet stammered,
+and she nodded.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Yes, it's my house, and perhaps you can tell
+me, for Mr. Simpson's benefit, what you two were
+doing in it."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Peter looked at Janet, and she started the
+explanation.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"We weren't doing anything just when he
+found us," she said, "except waiting for the rain
+to stop, but this wasn't the only time we've been
+there.  You see, I found it first, oh, ages ago, and
+I used to row over and read in the Kingdom&mdash;I
+mean the library&mdash;"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"What did you call it?" Mrs. Todd interrupted.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Oh, that was just my name for it.  I always
+thought of it as 'The Enchanted Kingdom'
+because of all the wonderful books first and then
+because it was so old and deserted and spooky."  Janet
+looked at Peter and he nodded encouragement.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I only met Peter the other day; it was the very
+day of the fair.  I came over because&mdash;"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I know; go on about Peter," Mrs. Todd put in.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"He was fixing the roof, and he dropped a
+piece of tin down on my nose, and then, well, of
+course we began to talk, and he said he had found
+the books, too, and so we went into the Kingdom,
+and it was Peter that made me go back to the
+fair in spite of&mdash;"  Janet stopped, confused.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Mrs. Todd surveyed the two before her.  There
+was nothing left of her laughter but the tiniest
+twinkle in her bright blue eyes.  She snapped
+open her old-fashioned watch, looked at the time,
+and snapped it shut again.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"It's late," she said.  "Janet, I'll drive you
+home.  Where do you live?"&mdash;she turned to
+Peter.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"At Blunt's farm.  I work there," he
+answered her.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Humm, well, you won't have far to go.  Good-by.
+I'll see you again, and thanks for mending
+my roof," she added, as Peter hurried to the door.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He smiled at her over his shoulder.  Janet went
+with him as far as the gate.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"It's funny, isn't it!" she laughed; "and of
+course she understands."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Guess she does," Peter admitted.  "Good-by."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Until next time," Janet added.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Maybe," Peter hesitated and then finished,
+"Do you remember asking me what the matter
+was this morning?  Well, it's this.  Doc is going
+to Europe, and I won't let him leave me any money
+'cause I know he needs it all himself, so I've got
+to get work, and I think I'll be starting soon."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"But, Peter, I'll see you before you go," Janet
+exclaimed in dismay.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Maybe," Peter drawled as he had done the
+first time she had ever seen him.  "Anyway
+good-by for now."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Janet watched him walk down the road until the
+twilight shadows swallowed him up.  There was
+something that felt like a lump in her throat.
+</p>
+
+<p><br><br><br></p>
+
+<p><a id="chap09"></a></p>
+
+<h3>
+CHAPTER IX
+<br><br>
+THE MYSTERIOUS OWNER
+</h3>
+
+<p>
+"And now, you amazing child, tell me all
+you know about Peter."  Mrs. Todd
+let her horse trot along unguided
+through the dusk and settled back in her seat, with
+a look of amused expectation on her face.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Janet plunged into a recital of Peter's life, or
+at least that portion of it that she knew, and
+before very long the amusement changed to
+interest and then to pity.  Mrs. Todd was a splendid
+listener and a very understanding woman.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"What kinds of books does he like to read?"
+she asked, when Janet paused for breath.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Everything in the library," Janet told her.
+"He laughs just as hard at 'Alice in Wonderland'
+as he does over 'Robinhood and his Merrymen,'
+but of course he likes Robinhood best, especially
+the part about Little John.  He likes the 'Idyls
+of the King' too, and he just eats up history.
+To-day I found him reading a stuffy old book about
+sheep.  I think he would like to raise, or do
+whatever it is you do to, sheep, but of course he can't
+now because of Doc."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"And who is Doc?" Mrs. Todd inquired.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Again Janet explained as best she could, and
+this time it was Mrs. Todd's eyes that were wet.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Hum," she said after a little pause, "perhaps
+sheep would be a good idea, I never thought of it
+myself.  I'll talk to Peter about it."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Janet sighed a long, happy sigh.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"It's the most perfect fairy tale that ever came
+true," she said.  "Of all the people in the world
+that I would have chosen to be the mysterious
+owner of the Enchanted Kingdom, you would be
+the first, only I simply can't understand why I
+never knew or why you never lived in it."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Mrs. Todd sighed too, but hers was not a happy
+sigh.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"My dear child," she said, "that is a very long
+and a very disagreeable story, but perhaps I can
+tell you enough of it for you to understand why
+I left my home and Old Chester.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"When I was not so very many years older
+than you, say about eighteen, your grandmother
+decided that I was to marry your father Tom, and
+my parents thoroughly agreed to the plan.  Your
+father and I, however, did not.  In fact I might
+say that we thoroughly disapproved.  We were
+the very best of friends, but we were both in love
+with other people; Tom with your beautiful
+mother and I with Mr. Todd.  You know quite
+well how your grandmother acts when anybody
+goes against her wishes, so I need only say that
+my father was just about as stubborn and they
+had both determined on the match.  Now then! to
+make a very long story short, I ran away with
+Mr. Todd, and that made them both, your grandmother
+and my father&mdash;my mother, bless her dear
+heart, understood&mdash;very angry.  Your grandmother
+said that I was never to enter her house
+again.  I never did until the other day when I
+went with you.  My father was just as severe
+and told me that I could never come home with
+my husband.  Well, of course, there was never
+any idea of my returning without him, and so we
+stayed away and traveled in every country under
+the sun and had the happiest three years imaginable,
+and then he died."  There was a long pause
+before Mrs. Todd continued her story.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I went home after that with my baby boy and&mdash;oh,
+my dear child, you will think this a very
+dismal tale, but it's best to finish it.  My baby
+died the next year, and I left the house, I thought,
+forever.  It was mine for my father had died the
+year after my marriage and left it to me, but for
+so many years I had been unhappy there that I
+determined never to come near it again.  That
+was thirty years ago and I have just come back.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"To-day I determined to go and see how the
+old place looked, I was afraid it would be in ruins.
+On my way I stopped in at the Simpsons and
+there my courage failed.  So, I sent Mr. Simpson
+up to look at it and see if there was any chance
+of repairing it.  I thought perhaps if it were
+patched up and swept out and tidied a bit it would
+not be as hard to return.  Now I know I was a
+very silly and sentimental old lady, and I will go
+myself to-morrow morning and see about hurrying
+up the work of repairs.  With two caretakers I am
+sure it has not suffered too much."  Mrs. Todd
+stopped as shortly as she had begun and picked
+up the reins and chirruped to the horse, as though
+to say the conversation was finished now and forever.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Janet knew it was, and without quite
+understanding it she realized the effort it had taken
+to tell it.  She wanted to say something to
+Mrs. Todd, but she knew there was nothing that could
+be put into words, so she sat silent for the rest
+of the drive.  This was the second "story" she
+had heard that day, and the combination of the
+two opened up a world beyond Old Chester and
+gave her a sudden glimpse of life, its sorrows,
+its struggles, its joys and, above all, its victories.
+The knowledge made her restless, but it made her
+happy and above all expectant.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+If big things happened to the Mrs. Todds and
+the Peters in the world, surely big things would
+come to her.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Mrs. Todd stopped at the garden gate of the
+Pages and held out her hand.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Good night, child," she said.  "Don't think
+too much of all I have told you, or, if you do,
+remember this: no matter how much sorrow there
+is in this old world of ours, there is never a
+minute of it that is not worth the living.  And now,
+good night; go to your Enchanted Kingdom whenever
+you like, it is more yours now than it ever
+was."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Janet held the big firm hand tight, but all she
+could find to say was "thank you."  There were
+a hundred questions that she wanted to ask, and
+she finally found the words for the most important
+of them all.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Mrs. Todd," she asked softly, "did you know
+my mother?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Mrs. Todd looked at her intently for a long
+time and then she looked at the light that always
+burned in Mrs. Page's room.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Yes, my child, I did, and I loved her; but
+then everybody did with the exception of&mdash;" she
+hesitated; "no, that's not quite fair, so I won't
+finish.  Some day, with your grandmother's
+permission, I will tell you all I can about her, and
+now hurry in and eat your dinner or Martha will
+be having one of her nervous spells."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Janet laughed, and squeezed Mrs. Todd's hand
+a little harder before she let it go.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"All right," she promised, "I just suddenly
+realized that I am as hungry as a bear."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then Mrs. Todd did something that would have
+surprised her friends.  She leaned out of the
+carriage and kissed Janet.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Martha was on the verge of a nervous spell,
+Janet found her looking out of the front hall
+window.  She tiptoed up behind her and said "boo."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Miss Janet, you're home at last; wherever
+have you been!" Martha exclaimed.  "I have
+been worried to death over you out in that storm."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Oh, but I wasn't out in all of it,"&mdash;Janet
+laughed.  "I've been driving with Mrs. Todd."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I might have known that," Martha said,
+exasperation written large on her face.  "Ann
+Hitchens was always one to upset things.  Here
+we've been living in peace for years and the
+minute she comes back, oh, deary me, everything's
+a-flutter and topsy-turvy, I wish she'd go away
+again, I do indeed."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"But she won't," Janet replied happily.  "She
+is never going away again, and I am so glad I
+could dance."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Martha sniffed, and when Martha sniffed it
+was never necessary for her to put her meaning
+into words.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Well, don't dance into your grandmother's
+room," she advised.  "Walk like a little lady and
+go at once.  She has been worrying about you
+all afternoon."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Contrary to all expectations, Mrs. Page had
+nothing to say about the lateness of the hour.  She
+greeted Janet as usual, told her to wash her hands
+and eat her dinner; then she turned her face to
+the wall, her way of saying good night.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Janet was about to leave the room, but
+something made her pause at the foot of the bed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Grandmother," she said slowly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Well!" Mrs. Page sat up and looked at her.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Grandmother," Janet began again, "I am
+sorry if I worried you by being out late."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Who told you I was worried?" Mrs. Page demanded.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Martha," Janet said.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Martha talks too much," Mrs. Page snapped.
+"I was worried, but you are back now so don't
+talk any more about it."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Janet left the room, closing the door very softly
+behind her.  In the hall she studied the grandfather's
+clock with apparent interest, but it is a
+question whether she saw it at all.  She was
+realizing for the first time in her life that her
+grandmother was a very old lady.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Martha called her, and she went in to her dinner.
+</p>
+
+<p><br><br><br></p>
+
+<p><a id="chap10"></a></p>
+
+<h3>
+CHAPTER X
+<br><br>
+PETER
+</h3>
+
+<p>
+Martha was cleaning house; rugs were
+hanging in the kitchen yard and clouds
+of dust testified to the strength of her
+arm.  Indoors all the chairs were turned over,
+and white sheets covered the rest of the furniture.
+Janet and Boru fled to the "widow's walk" to
+escape.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I hate house cleaning," Janet complained; "if
+I ever have a house of my own I will go away on
+a trip and not come back until there's enough
+dust to make things look comfy again."  Boru,
+who had a marked respect for Martha's broom,
+folded his paws over his nose and looked sympathetic.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I wonder what will happen to-day," Janet
+went on; "everything has been so exciting for the
+last few weeks that I love to wake up in the
+morning.  I wonder if it wasn't all a dream about
+Mrs. Todd and that absurd little man and Peter.  I
+don't really believe that I ever paddled that canoe
+yesterday at all."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A whistle interrupted her musings, and she
+leaned over the railing and saw Harry Waters
+at the garden gate.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"What do you want?" she called.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was a little time before Harry could locate
+her, but when he did he beckoned.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Come on down."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"All right, wait a minute,"&mdash;Janet sighed.
+Harry was not the form of excitement she would
+have chosen for the day, but he was better than
+talking to Boru or listening to Martha's beating
+the rugs.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Hello," she greeted when she had joined him
+in the garden.  "How's Roy?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Oh, he's all right.  He caught a rabbit the
+other day."  Harry bragged as though the credit
+were his.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I think that was horrid of him.  That's just
+the trouble with those hunting dogs,"&mdash;Janet
+flared up&mdash;"they are always catching some poor
+little animal that never did anybody any harm.
+If Boru ever did such a thing I would whip him
+good and hard, I can tell you."  Boru hung his
+head; no doubt the memory of countless innocent
+rabbits weighed heavily on his doggish conscience.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Ah, shucks," Harry grumbled; "that's just
+like a girl.  They make a fuss and even kiss a
+dog if it gets a splinter in its paw, but the minute
+one does something worth while they want to whip
+it."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Well, I don't like to think of a little dead
+bunny.  They're so soft and snuggly,"&mdash;Janet
+defended herself; "and I don't care who knows
+it."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Scared!"  The word was hardly out of
+Harry's mouth before he regretted it.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Janet eyed him with so much scorn that words
+were unnecessary.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"If I were you, Harry," she said at length,
+but Harry interrupted her.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Oh, I know what you're thinking of, but that's
+different," he protested; "my mother says so.
+Anyway, I didn't come over here to argue," he
+finished crossly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Janet wanted to ask him what he had come over
+for, but she was just a little ashamed of the way
+she had been acting.  After all, Harry was an
+old friend of hers, and it wasn't his fault that
+he was fat and always complaining.  She gave
+herself a little shake and smiled.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"It is silly to scrap; let's go for a walk," she
+suggested.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"All right, if you want to," Harry agreed, "but
+I came over to tell you that there's a letter for
+you at the post office, and Miss Clark says you
+haven't been for mail for over a week, and there
+are some letters for your grandmother and a
+newspaper.  I'd have brought them to you but the old
+crosspatch wouldn't let me.  She said I'd lose
+them on the way, and she was responsible for the
+U.S. mail.  I don't think much of Miss Clark
+any&mdash;"  Harry stopped rambling, and stared at
+Janet.  "Now what have I done!" he demanded.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Janet marched off down the road, and he followed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Gee, but you're queer lately!" he grumbled.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Janet stopped to look at him.  Her cheeks were
+bright red, and her eyes danced with excitement.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Harry Waters," she said, "if I were a dog
+I think I'd bite you."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The rest of the way to the village Harry had
+hard work keeping up with her.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At the post office, Miss Clark insisted on asking
+innumerable questions about Mrs. Page.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"You didn't come for the mail for such a long
+time that I said to my sister last night, 'I wonder
+if Mrs. Page has had a turn,' so this morning I
+told the Waters' boy to tell you that there were
+several letters in your box&mdash;"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"May I have them, please,"&mdash;Janet tried politely
+to stem the tide, but Miss Clark did not
+even notice the interruption.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Time was when one letter a week was all most
+folks looked for, but, lands sakes, nowadays with
+all these advertisements and picture postcards,
+your box is full before you know it.  Did you say
+your grandmother was sick?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"No, she is quite well, thank you.  Er&mdash;may
+I&mdash;?" Janet tried again, and Miss Clark did walk
+over to the box.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Well, that's a blessing," she said over her
+shoulder.  "I do think that when a body must lie
+abed all day that they ought to have good health
+except for that.  Now when my aunt Lucy&mdash;  Why,
+I do declare&mdash;"  Miss Clark interrupted
+herself this time&mdash;"I clean forgot to tell you there
+was a letter for you.  It's from your brother.
+Now that seems odd; he always writes to your
+grandmother, but this certainly is for you.  I
+can't imagine why it slipped my mind.  I've been
+thinking about it all week."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"May I have it, please?"  Janet held out her
+hand, and with apparent reluctance Miss Clark
+gave her the little bundle of letters.  She took
+them, said a hasty thank you, and escaped from
+the post office before there was time for any more
+conversation.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She studied the envelope with its Arizona
+postmark and made sure that it was directed to her.
+Then she tore it open to find a penciled note inside
+that read:
+</p>
+
+<p><br></p>
+
+<p class="noindent">
+"<i>Dear little Firebrand sister of mine:</i>
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I am almost everything that you accused me
+of being, except my appearance, and that is a
+little better than you feared.  To prove it to you
+I am going to come in person to see you and then
+we can talk over all those worrying things you
+spoke of.  Until I get there please try and think
+a little better of me than you have through all
+your short, little life, and please believe that I
+am heartily ashamed of myself, but that I
+solemnly promise to make up for it in the future.
+</p>
+
+<p class="noindent">
+  "Your affectionate big brother,<br>
+  &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"TOMMY."<br>
+</p>
+
+<p><br></p>
+
+<p>
+Janet read the letter over three times and then
+she sat down on the carriage block and read it
+again.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Harry watched her and shook his head.  He
+had no doubts now that Janet was anything but
+an ordinary, and by ordinary he meant queer
+and unreasonable, girl.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Now, what's the matter!" he asked again, this
+time very forlornly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Matter?" Janet's laugh rang out happily.
+"Not a single thing in all this wide wide world,
+Harry!" she exclaimed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Then what are you crying about?" he demanded.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Janet brushed away the two big tears that had
+filled her eyes, and jumped up.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I'm not crying, silly," she denied hotly.
+"Anyway you wouldn't understand.  I'm going
+home.  Good-by."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Well, I'm darn glad I can't," was Harry's
+parting, and he walked off in the opposite direction.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Janet read her letter all the way home.  It was
+such a surprise, for she had quite given up all
+hopes of ever finding the letter she had written
+a month before.  She had never entertained the
+idea of receiving an answer, and such an answer,
+full of every sort of promise.  And he was
+coming, and coming soon.  She consulted the
+postmark and found that the letter had been in the
+post office six days.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The sight of Martha still patiently beating rugs
+was unbearable.  She hurried into the house and
+took the rest of the mail to her grandmother.  As
+she handed them to her, she saw to her surprise
+that one of them was from her brother.  Perhaps
+he was writing to tell her that he was coming
+home, and that would make it unnecessary
+for her to mention her letter.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"A letter from your brother," Mrs. Page said
+solemnly.  "Please wait, Janet, and I will read
+you what he says."  She opened the letter with
+her customary precision and read it first to
+herself.  Apparently she thought better of her
+promise to read it aloud, for she folded it up and put
+it back into its envelope.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Your brother is well," she said at last, "and
+he is coming home.  This letter is a week old
+so that I imagine he will be here before long.
+Please tell Martha not to make so much noise in
+the hall and don't say anything to any one about
+Thomas's proposed visit."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"But, grandmother, why in the world not!"
+Janet could not help saying.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Because I dislike gossip," Mrs. Page snapped.
+"When he comes all the village will know it; that
+will be soon enough."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Yes, grandmother."  Janet left the room, but
+she forgot to tell Martha not to make so much
+noise.  The house was unbearable, and she
+decided that even if she could not share her secret
+with Mrs. Todd, it would be a comfort to go and
+see her and talk about the Enchanted Kingdom.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She was hardly on her way with the idea fixed
+in her mind when she heard horse's hoofs coming
+toward, and after a minute she saw Mrs. Todd
+in her carriage.  She stopped her horse at sight
+of Janet, and beckoned to her.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Janet jumped in beside her.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I was just coming to see you," she said.
+"Have you been over to your house this morning!"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Mrs. Todd was plainly upset about something.
+She was frowning, and there was not a spark of
+fun in her eyes.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"No, child, I haven't," she answered.  "I went
+over to find Peter early this morning, and the
+Blunts told me he had gone away.  They said he
+had told them that he was going west and that he
+could not leave any address, but he left a letter
+addressed to Dr. Peabody in Boston.  Now I
+happen to know Jack Peabody.  He was a very dear
+friend of my husband.  Of course I haven't seen
+him in years but I am going up to Boston this
+afternoon and give him Peter's letter, and
+between us we ought to be able to find the boy.  It's
+dreadful to think of his hunting for work and with
+no money."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I think it's splendid," Janet said shyly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"That's because you are a silly, romantic child
+with your head full of story-book nonsense,"
+Mrs. Todd said briskly.  "What I wanted to see you
+about was to ask you if that foolish boy gave you
+any hint as to where he was going."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"No, indeed, he didn't," Janet said.  "I didn't
+even dream he was going.  Oh, Mrs. Todd, do you
+think you really can find him!" she asked suddenly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"There, there, child, don't worry your head
+about it," Mrs. Todd comforted.  "Of course we
+can.  Peter's hair is too red to allow him to run
+away unnoticed."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Janet tried to smile, but it was difficult.  The
+more she thought of Peter's going, the more she
+realized how much she would miss him, and half
+the joy in her brother's return was lost when she
+realized that she could not introduce him to Peter.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Do you think you could manage Clinker,"&mdash;Mrs. Todd
+was speaking&mdash;"if you do I wish you
+would drive over to Simpsons' this afternoon and
+give him a letter for me."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Why, I think I could drive him," Janet replied.
+"I'll just let him walk and I'll be awfully
+careful of him."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Very well, then, that's settled."  Mrs. Todd
+spoke with her usual briskness, and a little of
+the laughter returned to her eyes as she added,
+"It will be a sorry dose for our friend the
+ex-sheriff, but I think it will do him good."
+</p>
+
+<p><br><br><br></p>
+
+<p><a id="chap11"></a></p>
+
+<h3>
+CHAPTER XI
+<br><br>
+ANOTHER LETTER
+</h3>
+
+<p>
+At two o'clock Janet was waiting in front
+of the rectory.  She was to drive
+Mrs. Todd to the station and then go on to
+Simpsons' and deliver the letter.  Alice and
+Mildred came out on the steps to see them off, and
+their faces mirrored their thoughts.  Mrs. Todd
+had never let them drive Clinker, and they could
+not understand why Janet should be allowed the
+privilege.  There was an air of mystery about
+their cousin's sudden departure, and Janet
+holding the reins and watching Clinker's ears
+importantly added to it.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"When are you going to bring the carriage
+back?" Alice inquired.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Oh, I won't be late," Janet answered evasively.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Mrs. Todd's "Hurry along now, child, or we'll
+miss the train," put a stop to further questions.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I do hope you won't be away very long," Janet
+said softly when they were on their way.  "Something
+exciting, that I can't tell you about, is going
+to happen, and I think I will simply die if
+you are not here."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Mercy, child, you sound mysterious,"&mdash;Mrs. Todd
+laughed.  "Why can't you tell me about it?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Janet did not reply; it would sound so rude to
+say, "Grandmother won't let me."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Mrs. Todd understood her silence and laughed
+again.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Well, I can see that I'll have to come back and
+find out for myself then," she said; "when is it
+going to happen?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Soon, I hope," Janet told her.  "It can't happen
+too soon for me."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Mrs. Todd considered for a moment.  "Of
+course I haven't the slightest idea when I will
+come back.  It all depends on when we find that
+boy.  Oh, but I shall give him such a talking to
+when I find him.  Why couldn't he have waited
+until to-morrow and saved all this fuss?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"It was really to save fuss that he ran away,"
+Janet reminded her.  "Poor Peter!  I just hate
+to think that maybe he's hungry, but just the same
+it was a splendid thing for him to do."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Splendid, fiddlesticks!" Mrs. Todd ejaculated,
+as they drew up to the station platform.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She said good-by very briskly, and Janet
+watched her, preceded by a porter carrying her
+bags, get into the parlor car.  Clinker did not
+approve of the noisy engine, and she turned his
+head and started off before the train pulled out.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was a long drive to the Simpsons', and she
+let the horse set his own gait, and so it was well
+over an hour later before they reached the
+Simpsons' place.  Janet, remembering the style in
+which Mr. Simpson had driven in the day before,
+touched up Clinker with the tip of the whip and
+the cart swung into the gateway and rolled briskly
+down the drive.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Mr. Simpson came out of the barn at the sound
+of Clinker's hoofs, and was as startled as Janet
+could have wished.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"How do you do, Mr. Simpson!" she said in
+her sweetest manner.  "I have a letter for you
+here from Mrs. Todd.  She asked me to deliver
+it to you."  She held out the envelope, and
+Mr. Simpson, after carefully wiping his hands on his
+overalls and finding his glasses, took it from her.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Where's Mrs. Todd herself?" he asked sulkily.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"She had to go to Boston, so she won't be able
+to come over to the house to-day," Janet explained.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Mr. Simpson eyed her suspiciously, then he read
+the letter.  Janet watched his face, and at the
+sudden change of expression, she could not
+repress a smile.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Are you Widow Page's granddaughter?" he
+inquired at last.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Janet nodded and tried to look solemn.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Did you and that boy from Blunts' know all
+the time that the owner of that house was Mrs. Todd!"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This time Janet shook her head.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Did you have permission to go there when you
+liked!"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"No."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Did you know I weren't no real sheriff!"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"No."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Weren't you scared!"  The question was
+asked with so much anxiety, that Janet could not
+find it in her heart to disappoint the little man
+before her.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Indeed I was," she said.  "I was frightened
+to death.  You see, you looked so very severe that
+I thought at first you were the owner.  It was
+lucky for us, wasn't it, that Mrs. Todd did own
+it, for of course she didn't mind a bit."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Mr. Simpson stroked his chin slowly and tried
+to hide the smile of satisfaction on his round face.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Waal," he said condescendingly, "I'm sorry I
+scared you, though I must say neither of you
+looked very frightened; but, you see, I had to do
+my duty as a one-time officer of the State."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Of course," Janet agreed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I hope you'll tell Mrs. Page that I am sorry
+my duty lay in the direction it did," he continued.
+"I wouldn't like to have her put out with me."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I'll tell her," Janet laughed, and added, as
+she turned Clinker around, "I am going to the
+house on the hill now, so please, if you happen in
+as you did yesterday, ring the bell and let me
+know you're coming.  I'd hate to be frightened
+that way ever again."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Mr. Simpson was now thoroughly sure that he
+was not the object of ridicule, and he beamed upon
+Janet and all the autumn landscape.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Don't you worry, little lady," he chuckled;
+"now that I know who you are I won't never
+question your right to be any place in this county,
+and any time I can do you a service you just call
+on me and you'll find I'm your man."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Janet thanked him graciously and drove off,
+without giving herself away by even a smile.
+Once on the road and out of earshot, however, she
+laughed so heartily that Clinker pricked up his
+ears and started to run.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"There, there, old fellow, I didn't mean to
+frighten you,"&mdash;she quieted him&mdash;"take your
+time and do stop frisking.  It would be too awful
+for words if you ran away and dumped me anywhere.
+Think what Alice and Mildred would say."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Clinker obligingly settled into a trot, and they
+were soon at the entrance to the Enchanted
+Kingdom.  Janet had never before approached it from
+the land side, and she was surprised at the broad
+sweep of driveway before her.  The house and
+barns looked more imposing from this side too.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"It is truly a fairy castle," she said aloud.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Clinker submitted to being tied under one of
+the sheds, and Janet hurried around to the front
+porch.  Mrs. Todd had offered her the key
+Mr. Simpson had, but she had said she would rather
+go in the old way.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Everything was very still, and somehow she felt
+the loneliness of it all more than ever.  The roof
+seemed to sag dejectedly, and a few dead autumn
+leaves swishing in the wind against the front door
+added to the unnatural dreariness.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She shivered a little before she slipped through
+the window.  She wanted more than anything else
+in the world at that moment to hear Peter's cheery
+"hello."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Once in the library, she went straight to the
+books and ran her hand over them as if to find
+consultation in their worn backs.  She finally
+selected a little book bound in red.  It opened
+readily, more readily than usual, at a little poem.
+Janet sat down on the floor and started to read
+aloud to herself.  There was something in the
+rhythm that always comforted her when she was
+lonely.  Surely Mrs. Browning had understood
+much when she wrote "Little Ellie."  Janet read
+it idly:
+</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+  "Little Ellie sits alone<br>
+  'Mid the beeches of a meadow,<br>
+  By a stream-side on the grass.<br>
+  And the trees are showering down,<br>
+  Doubles of their leaves in shadow<br>
+  On her shining hair and face.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+  "She has thrown her bonnet by<br>
+  And her feet she has been dipping<br>
+  In the shallow water's flow;<br>
+  Now she holds them nakedly<br>
+  In her hands all sleek and dripping<br>
+  While she rocketh to and fro."<br>
+</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+  "Little Ellie sits alone,<br>
+  And the smile she has been using<br>
+  Fills the silence like a speech,<br>
+  While she thinks what shall be done<br>
+  And the sweetest pleasure chooses<br>
+  For her future within reach."<br>
+</p>
+
+<p><br></p>
+
+<p>
+Many and many an afternoon Janet had read
+the beginning of the little poem and then chosen
+the sweetest pleasure for herself and lost the
+rest of the day in dreams.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She looked up from the pages with a sigh, then
+her eyes fell on a folded piece of paper lying on
+the floor beside her.  She picked it up and opened
+it.  Idle curiosity gave place to excited interest
+as she read:
+</p>
+
+<p><br></p>
+
+<p class="noindent">
+"<i>Dear Princess:</i>
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I am sorry to go away without another
+good-by, but I must.  Doc was coming here to see
+me, and I knew if he talked to me I would give
+in and that wouldn't be fair to either of us, and
+Dad would never approve.  I'm awfully glad you
+know the owner of the 'E.K.,' for now I can
+always think of you there.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I left the canoe on the bank below your house,
+and I rowed your boat back.  When I get a job
+in the West I will write and tell you about it if
+you want me to, and of course some day I will
+see you again.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Good-by again, and thanks for being such a
+good little pal.
+</p>
+
+<p class="noindent">
+"PETER GIBBS."
+</p>
+
+<p><br></p>
+
+<p>
+Janet's eyes were blurred long before she came
+to the end of the letter, and as she finished
+reading two big tears splashed on to the book in her
+lap.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She stood up and looked about the room forlornly;
+the old gloves were gone from their accustomed
+place on the table.
+</p>
+
+<p><br><br><br></p>
+
+<p><a id="chap12"></a></p>
+
+<h3>
+CHAPTER XII
+<br><br>
+JANET'S PASSENGER
+</h3>
+
+<p>
+Janet left the house by the cellar window
+instead of the easier way.  It would be
+hard to explain her reasons, but it was
+noticeable that when she had safely climbed out
+and stood on the ground by the window, she leaned
+over and picked up something and put it away
+hastily in the pocket of her dress.  A great many
+years were to pass before she showed it to
+another soul.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Come along, Clinker," she said briskly, as she
+went to the shed.  "It's high time we were
+starting."  She jumped into the cart, and Clinker, only
+too delighted to start for home, set off at a brisk
+pace.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was a long way by road back to the village,
+and it was dusk before they neared it.  As they
+came within sight of the railroad station Janet
+heard a train pulling in, and remembering
+Clinker's dislike for locomotives she slowed up to wait
+until it left the station.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was the train from Boston, and she could
+not help wishing that Mrs. Todd and Peter were
+on it.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When the last puff of the engine was lost in the
+distance, she drove past the station very slowly.
+Of course there was no sign of Mrs. Todd or
+Peter, and she drove on, disappointed in spite
+of herself.  A short stretch of wood made the
+road quite dark ahead of her for a way.  Clinker
+pricked up his ears as they entered it but Janet
+did not pay any attention to him and was therefore
+thoroughly startled when a voice, coming
+apparently from nowhere, called:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Wait a minute there, will you!"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She pulled Clinker to a sudden stop and waited.
+A man walked out of the shadows and came up
+to the cart.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I beg your pardon," he said, taking off his
+hat.  "I didn't see it was a lady driving."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Well, but what difference does that make?"
+Janet answered awkwardly.  "Won't I do?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The man laughed and showed a set of the
+whitest teeth Janet had ever seen.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Well, as a matter of fact," he explained in
+his low voice, "I was going to ask for a lift."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Janet looked at him for a minute and decided
+she liked him, and therefore it would not be
+necessary to treat him the way she usually treated
+strangers.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Why can't I give you one?" she asked,
+laughing too.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Well, now, that's mighty nice of you, and I'm
+very much obliged," he said.  "My bag is a little
+too heavy to make walking any fun."  He got
+in with surprising quickness, and Janet started
+Clinker by a word.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"That's a mighty fine horse you've got there,"
+he said quietly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Yes, isn't he a beauty!  His name's Clinker,"
+Janet replied.  "He doesn't belong to me, though.
+I only wish he did."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+They were out of the wood by now, and she
+turned to look at her passenger.  He was, to judge
+from the way he had to pull his knees up, a very
+tall man and certainly he was handsome.  His
+face was burned a dark tan, and his eyes were
+set far apart and deep in his head.  His hat covered
+most of his hair, but Janet knew it was brown
+like his eyes.  There were lines at his temples
+that proved, if proof were necessary, that he
+laughed a good deal.  He had big broad shoulders
+and nice long lean hands, that looked as though
+he could do almost anything with them.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Well?" he asked, laughing, and Janet realized
+she had been staring.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I really couldn't help it, you see," she
+apologized, very much confused.  "Why, I've
+forgotten to ask you where you wanted to go?" she
+added.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"To a hotel if there is one," the man replied.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Oh, but there isn't," Janet laughed.  "We
+have a boarding house where most every one stays.
+The post mistress keeps it, but I'm afraid you
+won't like it very much."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The man considered for a minute or so, and then
+smiled and shrugged.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Then I must take the chance of being mistaken
+for a tramp in these dusty clothes and go straight
+home."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Where's home?" Janet inquired.  "I don't
+like to be inquisitive, but we are almost to Main
+Street now."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Not at all, I didn't realize I hadn't introduced
+myself.  I'm Tom Page; perhaps you know my
+little sister Janet."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Whatever Janet did no one will ever know, but
+Clinker, and he showed his disapproval of it by
+almost jumping over the shafts.  If Tom had not
+caught the reins and made him come to order he
+might have succeeded in running away.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Well, well, what happened?" he inquired,
+when Clinker was walking quietly again.  "I
+didn't see anything to frighten the animal, did
+you?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I&mdash;I did it," Janet gasped.  "Can't you see!
+I'm Janet, and you&mdash;oh, I know I'm dreaming."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"You!"  It was Tom's turn to be surprised.
+"Why, you can't be.  Janet is just a youngster
+and you are a very grown up young person."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"But I'm Janet just the same, and, well&mdash;how
+do you do, Tom; I'm very glad to see you."  She
+held out her hand.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Bless your heart!"  Tom put his arm around
+her and in spite of Clinker gave her a hearty kiss.
+"What luck for us to meet like this!"&mdash;he laughed&mdash;"and
+I had pictured it so differently, and you
+are just about fifty times as nice as I thought you
+were going to be."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Well," Janet sighed happily, "you certainly
+are heaps nicer than <i>I</i> thought you were going
+to be."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+They turned the corner by the rectory, and
+Clinker, without asking any one's permission,
+turned in at the gate.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"We will have to leave the horse here," Janet
+explained.  "He belongs to Mrs. Todd.  I was
+just doing an errand for her."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Mrs. Todd."  Tom was thoughtful.  "I seem
+to remember her&mdash;oh, yes,"&mdash;and he laughed.
+"I'd like to meet her."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"But she's in Boston," Janet replied.  "She's
+only visiting at the rectory."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Well, you'd better let me out anyway," Tom
+suggested.  "I don't want to meet anybody
+to-night.  You rustle along, and I'll wait here."  He
+jumped out, and Janet hurried to the barn,
+where the hired man was waiting to unhitch
+Clinker.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Mrs. Blake came out on to the back porch.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Is that you, Janet?" she called.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Yes, Mrs. Blake, I was a little delayed in
+getting home.  I hope you haven't been worried,"
+Janet replied.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Only a little uneasy," Mrs. Blake confessed;
+"won't you come in and see the girls?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Oh, not to-night, thank you.  I must really
+hurry home."  Janet spoke with so much concern
+that Mrs. Blake did not urge her, and after a
+hurried good night she was able to join Tom.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"It's quite a long walk home," she apologized.
+"I wish I could have driven all the way.  Won't
+you let me help you with that bag!"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Tom laughed his hearty, good-natured laugh,
+and caught his little sister by the arm.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"You little featherweight!  I could carry you
+and the bag and never know you were there.  But
+we'll take it easy, and that will give us more time
+to talk.  First of all, how is grandmother?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Oh, she's well; that is, of course, she is in
+bed always, but I think she feels all right
+otherwise," Janet replied.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Yes, of course.  I was forgetting.  Let me
+see, who else is in the house?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Why, just Martha and me; that's all."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Any friends?  Your letter sounded as though
+you were lonely."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I am sometimes," Janet confessed; "that is,
+I used to be.  Lately I haven't had time because
+there's been Peter and Mrs. Todd."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Who's Peter?" Tom inquired.  "The boy
+that was afraid of snakes?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Certainly not," Janet denied hotly; "that was
+Harry Waters."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Tom started to ask a question, thought better
+of it, and said instead:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"How about girls?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Janet did not reply at once.  Her own mind was
+far from made up on the subject, and it was
+difficult to answer Tom.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I don't know any girls, really," she replied
+slowly.  "The ones I have met didn't like me
+much, and I didn't like them.  When I wrote that
+letter to you I thought I wanted a girl friend
+more than anything else in the world, but now I
+guess boys are better; anyway, they don't say
+mean things behind your back."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"All girls are not alike, little sister of mine.
+There are lots of girls in the world that are just
+like you and you'd like them, even better than
+you like boys."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There was a long pause, and finally Janet said:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Tom, do you remember what I said in my letter
+about wishing you were a sister instead of a
+brother?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Even to the exact words,"&mdash;Tom laughed.
+"You said that I would be much more of a
+comfort to you as a sister.  That's what made me
+come on at once.  I wanted to prove that brothers
+are some use in the world."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Don't tease," Janet begged.  "I only reminded
+you of it so that I could say I was sorry."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"But you would like to have a sister too,
+wouldn't you?" Tom asked anxiously.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Oh, of course,"&mdash;Janet laughed.  "I'd like to
+have one too, but not in place of you."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Then <i>that's</i> all right,"&mdash;Tom gave her arm a
+tight squeeze.  "Isn't that our house?" he
+inquired, as the light from Mrs. Page's room
+twinkled in the distance.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Why, yes, but how did you know?" Janet
+asked, surprised.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Oh, I was ten years old before I left for
+school," Tom explained.  "You were a tiny baby
+then."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Janet lapsed into another thoughtful silence.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Tom," she said seriously, "why didn't you
+ever come back!"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Tom's voice was very gentle as he answered
+her:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"That, little sister of mine," he said, "is one
+of the many things I am going to tell you about
+after I have talked to your grandmother."
+</p>
+
+<p><br><br><br></p>
+
+<p><a id="chap13"></a></p>
+
+<h3>
+CHAPTER XIII
+<br><br>
+THE GREATEST SURPRISE IN THE WORLD
+</h3>
+
+<p>
+Janet tiptoed down stairs and stole softly
+out into the garden.  It was very early in
+the morning, and even Martha was still
+asleep.  But there was no sleep for Janet.  Her
+eyes had been wide open since the first streak of
+pale light had fallen slantwise across her floor.
+For hours she had tossed restlessly, and at last,
+unable to stand it any longer, she had dressed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was the morning after Tom's arrival.  Janet
+thought over the events of the night before and
+frowned.  As soon as they had entered the house
+he had gone straight to his grandmother's room,
+and she had not seen him since.  She and Martha
+had sat up until after ten and then, very much
+against her will, she had gone to bed and listened
+for a long time to the murmur of voices in the
+room below.  At first her grandmother's querulous
+tones had predominated, but after a while
+Tom's low rumble sounded comfortingly in her
+ears, and she had slipped off to sleep.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This morning, as she thought about it, she tried
+to imagine all that had been said behind that
+closed door, but she found it impossible.  Why
+there should be anything to discuss, she couldn't
+imaging.  Other people lived without an air of
+mystery surrounding them, and at this moment
+of Janet's life she envied those people with all
+her heart.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Once several years before she had asked her
+grandmother to tell her about her mother and
+father.  Mrs. Page had told her there was nothing
+to tell, and had forbidden her ever to speak
+of the subject again.  She had looked so gray
+and sick as she said it that Janet had been
+frightened, and she had never ventured to refer to it
+again except to Martha, and all Martha could tell
+her was that her mother had been a dear patient
+saint and her father the finest man that ever lived.
+Janet had tried to picture them from this description,
+and up until a year before she had been contented.
+Now she wanted to know more.  Mrs. Todd,
+too, had made her think.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She looked up at Tom's window impatiently,
+and as she looked the shade moved and Tom put
+his head out.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Hello!" he called down softly.  "I knew
+you'd be up with the birds.  Wait a jiffy, and
+I'll be down with you."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Janet threw him a kiss and told him to hurry.
+She listened, smiling, as she heard him splash in
+the bathtub.  It was not many minutes before he
+was beside her, and they were seated on the old
+stone garden bench.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"How is my little grown-up sister this morning?"
+he inquired, as he kissed her.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Tommy, please tell me everything," Janet
+begged.  "I want to know so badly."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Poor youngster,"&mdash;Tom patted her shoulder
+affectionately&mdash;"so you shall, but first let me have
+a look at you, I hardly saw you last night."  He
+turned her face toward him and smiled down into
+her eyes.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Janet, what would you say if I told you that
+you had a sister?" he asked slowly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"But&mdash;why, how silly!  I wouldn't, believe
+you,"&mdash;Janet laughed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Not if I told you quite seriously?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Janet jumped up from her seat and faced her
+brother.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Tommy, what do you mean?" she asked wonderingly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Not only an ordinary sister," Tom continued,
+"but a twin sister."  He studied her anxiously.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Janet was more bewildered than ever.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"But I couldn't have, Tommy, and not know it."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"It does sound unreasonable," Tom agreed,
+"but it's true.  Do you want me to tell you about
+her?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Janet put her hands on his shoulders and looked
+at him, still doubtful and a little frightened.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"You're not teasing me, are you?" she asked,
+and her voice trembled.
+</p>
+
+<p class="capcenter">
+<a id="img-135"></a>
+<br>
+<img class="imgcenter" src="images/img-135.jpg" alt="&quot;You're not teasing me, are you?&quot; she asked, and her voice trembled.">
+<br>
+&quot;You're not teasing me, are you?&quot; she asked, and her <br>
+voice trembled.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Tom stood up and put his arm around her, and
+they walked slowly down the garden path.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"No, honey, I'm not teasing you," he said
+quietly.  "Let me try and explain.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I will have to say some things about grandmother
+that I would rather leave unsaid, but you
+must try and understand that although she is a
+very unreasonable and selfish old lady she did
+what she thought was right."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Of course,"&mdash;Janet nodded her head.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I thought that you must know all about mother
+and father, I never dreamed she would refuse to
+answer your questions, and of course I knew you
+would ask questions as soon as you began to think.
+I've been a very selfish brother and I am heartily
+ashamed of myself, I should have come home ages
+ago, but we'll let that pass now.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"You know Mrs. Todd?" he paused, and Janet
+nodded.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Well, a long time ago grandmother decided
+that she was to marry father, but father was in
+love with mother then; very, very much in love
+with her."  Tom smiled as he added, "And he
+married her.  Grandmother was furious, but she
+adored father and before long she forgave him
+and he and mother came here to live.  I guess
+grandmother had to like mother in spite of herself,
+but she could never quite forgive her for not being
+the girl she had chosen.  I was born, and then
+ten years later you and Phyllis came along."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Phyllis, oh, what a lovely name!" Janet exclaimed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"It was mother's name too," Tom told her, and
+went on with his story.  "One day when you were
+just tiny tots father and mother went out for a
+sail.  It was windy, and grandmother tried to
+persuade them not to go, but mother laughed at
+the idea of danger and they went."  Tom paused
+and stroked Janet's soft hair.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"They never came back, dear," he said gently.
+After a little he went on: "When grandmother
+heard it she almost lost her mind from grief, and
+she was sick for a long time.  When she got better
+she had a fixed idea in her head that it was
+mother's fault and she would not let any one
+mention her name before her.  Aunt Marjorie,
+mother's sister, came down, and of course she
+wanted to take you and Phyllis home with her,
+but grandmother wouldn't let her.  She let her
+have Phyllis, because she had been named for
+mother, but she kept you.  Aunt Marjorie was
+very angry and when she left grandmother told
+her never to come back and never to write to you
+or to me.  Of course there was nothing for Aunt
+Mog to do but to agree.  However, she didn't
+keep her promise, for she used to write to me at
+school and send me all kinds of things to eat.  But
+I never saw her.  Grandmother sent me away to
+school, and because I was noisy in the house she
+wouldn't let me come home for vacations.  I was
+glad of it, for some of the boys always took me
+to their houses and I had a much better time.
+After I finished college I went west and for a
+while I was so busy on my ranch that I forgot
+I had any sisters.  I used to write to grandmother
+now and again, as you know, and I sent my love
+to you, you were quite right to object to that kind
+of love," he added, laughing.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"But how could you tell I wasn't the horrid
+prim thing that wrote those letters that
+grandmother corrected,"&mdash;Janet was quick to defend
+him against himself.  "Did you ever write to
+Phyllis!"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Only at Christinas and after a while I
+stopped doing even that.  She was just a little
+kid and I was so far away.  Aunt Mog writes me
+whenever they move and change addresses.  Bless
+her heart, I shouldn't wonder if perhaps she'd
+guessed that some day we would all want to be
+together.  You'll love Aunt Mog; she's a dear."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Janet walked back to the bench and sat down
+limply, her knees felt shaky.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"A sister," she said softly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"A twin," Tom corrected her, laughing.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"It's the same thing, only better," Janet
+answered, and then she laughed too.  "Oh, Tommy,
+I'm so happy I think I'm going to cry like an
+idiotic baby."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Cry ahead, I won't look," Tom promised, but
+Janet had too many questions to ask to waste
+time crying.  She swallowed hard, gave herself
+a little shake, and no tears came.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Am I going to see Phyllis soon?" she inquired.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Just as soon as I can get ahold of Aunt Mog
+and arrange for them to come down," Tom
+assured her.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Come down!" Janet exclaimed.  "Will grandmother
+let them?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Tom smiled a peculiar sort of a smile.  "Grandmother
+is going to <i>ask</i> them to come down," he
+said quietly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Janet looked at him in amazement.  It was
+hard to imagine her grandmother's giving in to
+anybody, but it was harder still to look at Tom's
+mouth and imagine anybody not giving in to him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As they had talked, Martha had been busy about
+the kitchen, and the sound of pots and pans and
+running water reached the garden.  Finally Tom
+sniffed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Muffins," he exclaimed, "and I am as
+hungry as a bear.  Come along and let's find
+breakfast."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Martha's excitement and bewilderment were
+such that it is a wonder everything was not burned
+for breakfast, but her ability as a cook was greater
+than any temporary shock, and the breakfast
+was delicious.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Tom and Janet did it full justice.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"It is such fun to have some one at the table
+to talk to," Janet said, and Tom had a sudden
+vision of her sitting alone year after year in the
+big dining-room, and once more he called himself
+a thoroughly selfish brother and choked a little
+over his coffee.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+After breakfast Janet went to her grandmother's
+door and knocked as she had always
+done.  It was all a little different this morning
+and she hesitated a second on the threshold before
+she went in.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Mrs. Page, propped up as usual by countless
+pillows, looked smaller and older than ever, and
+any feeling of resentment that Janet may have
+felt disappeared and an understanding sympathy
+took its place.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Good morning, grandmother?" she said as usual.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Have you seen your brother?" Mrs. Page
+asked a little shakily.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Yes, grandmother, and he told me
+everything."  Janet spoke very gently.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Well, what have you to say about it?  Come,
+speak up," Mrs. Page fidgeted with the bed
+clothes.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I haven't anything to say," Janet answered.
+"Of course I am awfully glad really to know
+Tom and I want more than anything in the world
+to see my sister."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"You do, eh?  Very well, you shall; but if you
+don't like her, don't blame me.  I've tried to keep
+you away from unhappiness but now you may do
+as you like."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Janet thought of the lonely yet happy years,
+and she laid her hand on her grandmother's that
+was nervously stroking the sheet.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I know you have, grandmother, and I am very
+grateful, truly I am; and of course I will love
+Phyllis," she added with a gay little laugh.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Tom was waiting for her in the garden with
+Boru.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Let's take a walk down to the village.  I want
+to send off a wire and then you can show me the
+sights," he suggested.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I'll take you over to the big house on the
+hill,"&mdash;Janet was eager to be off.  "Get your hat
+and let's start this minute.  Oh, dear, I've so
+many things to ask you and twice as many to tell
+you."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Thirteen years' worth,"&mdash;Tom laughed, and
+they set off.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was a glorious day, the wind blew the red-brown
+leaves in graceful swirls, and the sunshine
+melted everything to a misty gold.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was surely a never-to-be-forgotten day in
+Janet's life.  Tom told her thrilling stories of
+the West and his own ranch, and in return she
+confided all her secrets.  He was interested,
+especially in Peter, for he had heard of his father.
+He blessed Mrs. Todd secretly for her interest
+in Janet, and his wish of the night before to meet
+her took on a new significance.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At the end of the day the "thirteen years" had
+very nearly been bridged, and Tom's admiration
+for his little sister was only equalled by her love
+for him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Do you know, Janet," he said half seriously,
+as they climbed the steps from the shore, "I'm
+not nearly as sorry as I was that I have neglected
+you for so long.  Left to yourself you have certainly
+made a very acceptable little sister, and
+think how badly I might have spoiled you."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Oh, do stop blaming yourself," Janet cried;
+"what is the use of thinking about anything that
+is farther back than last night or perhaps two
+weeks ago?" she corrected herself, thinking of
+Peter and Mrs. Todd.
+</p>
+
+<p><br><br><br></p>
+
+<p><a id="chap14"></a></p>
+
+<h3>
+XIV
+<br><br>
+A LONG DAY
+</h3>
+
+<p>
+Some one was tapping the knocker on the
+porch below, and Janet stopped in her work
+to listen.  It was an unfamiliar sound, for
+most callers came to the house by way of the garden.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She tiptoed to the window and looked down.
+Alice and Mildred Blake stood below her.  She
+could see the tops of their brown felt hats.  A
+minute later she heard Martha let them in, and
+then call her from the foot of the stairs.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She looked about her in dismay.  She was getting
+the front room ready for Phyllis and Aunt
+Mog, and she did not want to be disturbed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Miss Janet," Martha called again, and this
+time Janet answered.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Just a minute, Martha; I'll be right down."  She
+flew to her room and brushed her tossled hair
+and took off the huge apron of Martha's that she
+was wearing.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Alice and Mildred came forward to meet her
+together.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Oh, Janet!" they exclaimed in chorus, "we
+have just heard that your sister is coming.  Isn't
+it exciting!  Miss Clark told mother, and she sent
+us over to ask you if you wouldn't bring her and
+your aunt&mdash;mother used to know her when they
+were girls&mdash;to tea just as soon as they come."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Why, that's awfully nice of you,"&mdash;Janet was
+a little taken back.  "I'd be glad to."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"When are they coming?" Alice queried.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"To-morrow," Janet told them.  "Tom went
+to New York last Monday and he sent me a
+telegram saying they would all be here to-morrow."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Yes, so Miss Clark said."  Mildred did not
+try to conceal the fact that her sister's question
+was asked purely to make conversation.  The
+date and hour had been circulated freely about
+the village as soon as Tom's wire had arrived.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"How is Mrs. Todd?" Janet asked, to save
+Alice further embarrassment.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The girls exchanged glances.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"It's lucky you spoke of her or we might have
+forgotten to give you a message she sent you in a
+letter to mother," Mildred said.  "She said to
+tell you that you could drive Clinker any time you
+liked and that she would be very glad to have you
+exercise him."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"How sweet of her!" Janet exclaimed.  "She
+knows I love to drive.  I'll come this very
+afternoon and take him out."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"We have our own horse, you know."  Alice
+spoke with condescension, although Janet knew
+quite well that only the rector ever drove the
+ancient gray mare that kept Clinker company in
+the rectory barn.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I was tired of driving long ago," Mildred
+upheld her sister.  "I wish father would buy an
+automobile."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Do you?" Janet asked.  "I don't believe I
+could ever love an automobile."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Mildred looked at her in surprise and turned
+to her sister.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"We must go, Alice," she said.  "Good-by,
+Janet; don't forget to bring your sister to tea."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"No, I won't, and thank you ever so much."  Janet
+watched her visitors until they reached the
+shore road below the house.  She marveled at
+the easy way in which they spoke of Phyllis and
+called her "your sister" when she herself found
+it so hard to grow accustomed to the relationship.
+Finally she went back to her work.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The room that Phyllis and her aunt were to
+have was long and low ceilinged.  It ran the
+length of the front of the house.  Six latticed
+windows opened to the south and looked over the
+bay below.  It was a quaint room, hung in faded
+chintz and furnished with heavy old mahogany.
+Janet was doing her best to make it shine.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I'll put some asters in a bowl on the table,"
+she said to Boru, who was watching operations
+from the doorway, "and then I think we will be
+all ready.  Are you going to like your new
+sister?" she asked laughingly, as she dropped to
+her knee beside him and rubbed her cheek against
+his shaggy coat.  "You must, you know, because
+she's my twin, but you mustn't love her as much
+as you do me."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Boru got up and walked away, as though he
+considered that the only way to answer such a
+silly remark.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Janet sat on the floor where he had left her
+and cradled her chin in her hand and gave herself
+up to sudden gloomy speculation.  Suppose
+Phyllis turned out to be like Alice and Mildred!
+The very idea chilled her, and she stared dismally
+at the pretty room.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I don't suppose she'll have to like me just
+because she's my sister," she said aloud; "perhaps
+she'll think I'm different too, or maybe she'll
+think I'm countrified.  Oh, dear, I almost wish
+she were not coming."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Boru came back and snuggled into her lap, and
+they sat quiet, both busy with their own thoughts
+until Martha interrupted them.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"There you are, Miss Janet.  I knew you'd
+be tiring yourself out with all this fixing.  Come
+down to your lunch now; do, like a good child,
+and let me do the rest."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Janet got up slowly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Oh, Martha, I don't feel a bit like eating,"
+she said dolefully.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"And no wonder, working yourself to death,
+poor lamb."  Martha's arms comforted her as
+they had done many times before, and from the
+shelter of one broad shoulder Janet confessed
+her fears.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Martha, what will I do if Phyllis doesn't like
+me?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Martha may be said to have snorted in disgust.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Not like you!" she ejaculated; "but, my
+lamb, she's bound to; she's your own mother's
+daughter and so, tell me now, how could she do
+anything else?"  She offered this method of
+reasoning as though it were sure to cast out any
+doubts, and Janet gladly accepted it.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"What a baby I am," she laughed, wiping her
+eyes; "look at Boru; he's disgusted with me, and
+no wonder."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Come now and have your lunch," Martha insisted;
+"you'll see how hungry you are after the
+first bite."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Janet was hungry, and her spirits brightened
+with every mouthful.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I wish it were to-morrow," she said, as she
+lingered over her cantaloupe.  "I think I will die
+of suspense if I don't find something to do.  I
+thought I was going for a ride, but look, it's raining."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"And a good thing too," Martha replied
+emphatically.  "I can't understand Mrs. Todd
+letting you drive that horse of hers.  Some day it
+will run away and kill you, and then I wonder
+what she will say."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Janet laughed in spite of herself at so dismal
+a picture, and got up from the table.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Well, I won't die to-day, that's sure," she
+said.  "I wish I could think of something really
+interesting to do."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Martha thought for a minute, and then a smile
+lit up her face.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Perhaps I can find something that will
+interest you," she said with some hesitation.
+"Now that you know all about everything there
+can't be any harm in it," she continued, lowering
+her voice.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"In what?" Janet inquired.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Martha beckoned to her mysteriously and led
+the way upstairs all the way to the big attic.  It
+was filled with old trunks and bits of broken
+furniture and pictures, Janet had passed them many
+times on her way to the "widow's walk" but she
+had never been curious enough to give them a
+second thought.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She watched Martha with interest as she pulled
+out a little old trunk from one corner.  From a
+bunch of keys that was hanging to one of the
+rafters she selected the right one, and gave it to
+Janet.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"There now, open that and see what you find,"
+she said mysteriously.  "Now I must get back to
+my work," she added briskly and bustled down
+the stairs, leaving Janet looking at the key in
+her hand.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Boru patted up the stairs and sniffed the trunk.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"What do you suppose we will find, old fellow?"
+Janet asked him, as she fitted the key in the
+lock.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At sight of the contents of the first tray she
+gave a little exclamation of delight.  It was filled
+with soft silks and laces, now yellow with age.
+Janet lifted them out gently and discovered that
+they were dresses.  Old-fashioned little things.
+There was a pale yellow one and a robin's-egg
+blue, made with hundreds of little tucks.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Janet smoothed them out with reverent fingers,
+for she knew they had belonged to her mother.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The next tray held odds and ends, and Janet
+sat down on the floor and lifted them out one by
+one.  Packages of letters that almost fell to
+pieces as she touched them, silk stockings of
+every color, and three pairs of tiny slippers.  She
+could hardly believe a foot was ever small enough
+to fit them.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She found a wooden box too, beautifully carved
+and filled with dozens of sheer handkerchiefs and,
+best of all, a pile of books.  She read their titles
+eagerly; "Pride and Prejudice" by Jane Austin,
+Scott's "Lady of the Lake," Shakespeare's "As
+You Like It" and a beautifully bound copy of
+Mrs. Browning's poems.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Then mother loved 'Little Ellie' too!" she
+exclaimed.  There was something very wonderful
+in the knowledge.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She put the books to one side and went on with
+her discoveries.  Toward the very bottom she
+found a chamois bag wrapped up in a yellow piece
+of paper.  Inside of it was a jeweler's black-leather
+case.  Janet's fingers trembled as she
+opened it.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Lying on a bed of blue velvet was a miniature
+set in a gold frame, and as she looked she gave
+a cry of astonishment.  A face almost exactly
+like her own smiled up at her.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Mother," she whispered softly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was dusk before she left the attic, but when
+she did go down stairs she went straight to Martha.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Did you know what was in that trunk?" she
+asked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Martha nodded.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I put them there myself," she said.  "Did
+you have a happy afternoon?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+For answer, Janet threw her arms around her
+and hugged her tight.
+</p>
+
+<p><br><br><br></p>
+
+<p><a id="chap15"></a></p>
+
+<h3>
+CHAPTER XV
+<br><br>
+THE DAY AT LAST
+</h3>
+
+<p>
+"If it rains to-morrow I think I shall die,"
+Janet said as she got ready for bed that
+night.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She need have had no fears, for the next day
+dawned clear, with just enough of autumn chill
+in the air to whip the color into your cheeks.
+Tom's telegram had said that they would arrive
+by the same train that he had come by.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Janet wished it had been an earlier one, but
+the day passed more quickly than she had hoped.
+In the morning she drove Clinker out into the
+woods and came back with the cart full of
+brilliant autumn leaves.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As she drove back through the village it seemed
+as though every one stopped her to ask when
+Phyllis was coming.  She told them all, and her
+excitement mounted every time she uttered the
+magic words but toward afternoon the fear that
+had depressed her the day before returned and
+she could not shake it off.  She felt suddenly very
+shy.  When train time came it was all she could
+do not to fly to the Enchanted Kingdom and hide,
+as she had done on the day of the fair.  She
+walked up and down the platform in a fever of
+excitement, and her hands were icy cold.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Old Mr. Jenkins came out from the ticket office
+to talk to her.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Quite a day for you, isn't it?" he asked with
+evident interest.  "Can't say as I ever heard of
+another case quite like it.  To have a twin sister
+that you never saw and didn't even know you had!
+I often wondered when you'd find it out."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Did you know all about it?" Janet asked in
+surprise.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I should say I did."  Mr. Jenkins nodded his
+head to give further weight to his words.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I wonder why no one ever told me," Janet
+said more to herself than to him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Mr. Jenkins chuckled.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I kinda guess all the folks that knew about
+it, knew your grandmother didn't want it told,
+and perhaps you've noticed folks have a way of
+doing things like she wants."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I suppose that was it," Janet agreed idly.
+"Isn't that the train?" she asked a minute later
+as a faint rumble became audible.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Mr. Jenkins consulted his watch.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Wouldn't wonder if it were," he said.  "I'd
+better be getting the mail bags ready."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Janet couldn't very well ask him to wait, but
+she watched his retreating figure with a sinking
+feeling around her heart.  At least he was
+somebody to talk to, and anything was better than
+being alone.  She could feel her heart pounding,
+and something in her throat seemed to interfere
+with her breathing.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Never did a train take so long to slow up and
+finally stop, but Janet found herself suddenly
+wishing that it would take twice as long.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The first person to alight was Tom, and he took
+time to wave to her before he turned to help down
+a slender little lady dressed in pearl gray.  Janet
+started forward to meet them, and then stopped
+short for she saw herself stepping off the train;
+eyes, hair, straight little nose, even to the
+solitary dimple in the left cheek.  She was carrying
+a basket and she was laughing at Tom.  Then
+she looked up and stopped too.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The Page twins stared at each other.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Janet!"  Phyllis was the first to regain the
+power of speech.  She dropped her basket into
+Tom's arms and ran forward.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The next thing Janet knew she was being kissed
+and hugged.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Oh, you adorable love!" Phyllis exclaimed
+rapturously.  "Isn't it all perfectly thrilling and
+fairy-taleish?  I could just eat you alive, I am so
+excited.  Please say right away that you are going
+to love me or I shall die of misery."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Poor Janet!  She had never heard so many
+adjectives in all her life and the speed with which
+Phyllis rattled on dumbfounded her.  Miss
+Carter, Aunt Mog, came to her rescue.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Phyllis, my love, do stop talking and give
+some one else a chance to say how do you do to
+Janet."  She laughed.  "Janet, my dear, I am
+your Aunt Mog, and I am, oh, so very happy to
+see you."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Janet kissed her and murmured, "Thank you."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Well, don't I get a kiss, little sister of mine?"
+Tom inquired in his deep, good-natured voice.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At the sound of it Janet found her tongue.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Of course you do!" she exclaimed.  "Oh, I
+am so happy, I can't think of anything to say,"
+she confessed shyly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"You precious love, that's just exactly the way
+I feel!"  Phyllis could not keep still another
+instant.  "There are all sorts of funny little chills
+miming up and down my back and&mdash;oh, for goodness'
+sakes, Tommy, what are you doing to Sir
+Galahad!" She snatched the basket away from
+Tom and lifted out a huge tortoise-shell cat with
+a big blue bow around his neck.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Boru, who had been sniffing at Tom's side, gave
+a sudden jump, and Janet caught him just in time
+to save the cat.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Get down, sir," she scolded, "and don't you
+dare to touch that cat.  Do you understand?"  Boru
+slunk away with his tail between his legs.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Poor kitty, did he frighten you?  I'm so
+sorry,"&mdash;Janet stroked the ruffled fur
+comfortingly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Phyllis laughed.  "What a time we will have
+with those two!" she exclaimed; "but they'll
+make friends sooner or later.  Sir Galahad is
+just as much to blame as your dog.  He has no
+manners when it comes to dogs.  Go back in your
+basket, you're in disgrace."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Let's make at least a start for home," Tom
+suggested.  "I'm hungry."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"There's a wagon to carry up your bags,"
+Janet said, "but I'm afraid we will have to
+walk."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Oh, yes, let's do start.  I'm simply crazy to
+see the house and grandmother and Martha.
+Here, Tommy, you carry puss, now that you have
+no bags.  I'm going to walk with Janet.  You
+and Auntie Mogs can bring up the rear."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"You are going to do no such thing," her aunt
+contradicted her smilingly.  "I don't want Janet
+deaf by the time we reach the house, and besides
+I want to talk to her myself."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She took Janet's arm and started off, and
+Phyllis and Tom followed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Phyllis doesn't always talk as much as this,"
+she said as they walked along; "she is just
+excited to-day."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Oh, but I love it," Janet said quickly.
+"She's&mdash;well she's everything she said I was."  She
+looked at her companion and smiled.  Miss Carter
+was a dainty little lady, Janet thought she
+looked as though she had just stepped down from
+a Dresden vase, her cheeks were such a soft shell
+pink and her eyes such a delicate china blue.
+Unconsciously she looked down at her feet; they
+were nearly small enough to fit the slippers in
+the trunk in the attic.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Oh, Janet, do tell me who lives in that cunning
+little house!" Phyllis called.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"The Waters," Janet told her; "that's Harry
+looking out of the barn door."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Phyllis laughed merrily.  "Oh, but he's fat,"
+she cried.  "Do you know him!"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Yes."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Like him?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Not much."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Why!"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Isn't he the boy who is afraid of snakes?"
+Tom asked, laughing.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Yes."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Well, I don't blame him for that!" Phyllis
+exclaimed.  "I'm scared to death of the crawly
+things myself, but I do think he is a little bit
+too fat."  She chattered on and succeeded in
+monopolizing the conversation until they reached
+the house.  At the first glimpse of it she went
+into ecstasies.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"It's perfect," she announced from the garden
+gate.  "Oh, Janet, do love me so that I can stay
+here always.  There's a real sundial!  Auntie
+Mogs, do look.  Tommy, you never told me about
+it.  And what ducky little white flowers!"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In the hall she was equally enthusiastic over
+the grandfather's clock and the big brass
+warming pan.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Martha met them at the door, arrayed in a stiff
+white apron, her face shiny with soap applied
+vigorously.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Before she had a chance to speak, Phyllis was
+shaking her hand.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"You're Martha," she said.  "I'm awfully
+glad to know you."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Martha turned to Miss Carter.  "She said that
+like Master Tom," she said.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Aunt Mog smiled.  "Yes, she is very like her
+father," she said.  "I see it so often.  It's queer,
+isn't it!  Janet is more like her mother."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"She is, indeed, ma'm, even in her ways."  Martha
+spoke proudly, and she looked at Janet
+affectionately.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Won't you be coming up to your room?  You
+must be tired."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+They all followed her upstairs, Phyllis leading
+the way and once more carrying her cat.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Tom brought up the rear, carrying the bags,
+which had arrived a few minutes before from the
+station.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I must change my dress before I see grandmother,"
+Phyllis said as she opened a big suitcase,
+"but I won't be a minute, so stay and talk
+to me while I wash in this adorable basin," she
+said to Janet.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Aunt Mog took off her hat and with a smile,
+which neither of the girls noticed, she slipped
+from the room and joined Tom at the foot of
+the stairs.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"It's quite perfect, as Phyllis says," she
+laughed, "and now suppose I go in and say 'how
+do you do' to Mrs. Page."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When the girls came down a few minutes later
+they heard voices and Tom's hearty laugh.  Janet
+sighed with relief and opened the door softly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Grandmother," she said in the hushed voice
+she always used in that room, "here is Phyllis."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Before Mrs. Page had had time really to look
+at her other granddaughter, Phyllis had kissed
+her warmly on both cheeks and was rattling on in
+her joyful way.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Grandmother, isn't this fun!" she demanded.
+"I'm so glad to see you.  Why, only just imagine,
+I never knew you existed until Tom came out of
+the skies and told me about you and Janet.  You
+can imagine, can't you, how surprised I was, and
+of course I've been simply crazy to see you ever
+since."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Phyllis dearest, be careful; I'm afraid you'll
+tire your grandmother with so much chattering,"
+Aunt Mog admonished gently.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Let the child alone, Marjorie," Mrs. Page
+snapped.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Oh, but I'm sorry," Phyllis was contrite at
+once, "I always forget, and you know you don't
+look a bit sick, grandmother, even though you are
+in bed.  Here, let me shake up your pillows for
+you.  They don't look half puffy enough to be
+really comfortable."  She suited the action to
+the word, and in the twinkling of an eye the
+pillows were re-arranged to her satisfaction.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Keep still a minute, child," Mrs. Page said
+not unkindly; "I want to look at you."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Phyllis smiled down at her, and stood as still as
+it was possible for her.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I wish you would all leave me now," Mrs. Page
+said when she had studied each of
+Phyllis's features in turn.  "Come in and say
+good night to me, child, when Janet comes."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+They left her, and the girls went into the
+garden.  Janet was too surprised to voice her
+thoughts, but Phyllis did not seem even to know
+that she had done anything out of the ordinary.
+She dismissed her grandmother with "she's really
+a love," and returned to more important subjects.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+By evening she knew all about the Enchanted
+Kingdom, Peter, Mrs. Todd and the Blake girls,
+and she had moved her suitcase into Janet's room,
+"for&mdash;" she said&mdash;"what is the use of having a
+sister if you can't sleep with her and talk over
+things with her in the dark."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Miss Carter and Tom, sitting in the living-room
+before the fire, heard the buzz of their voices
+late into the night.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"How alike they are," she said, smiling.  "And
+yet how absolutely different."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Tom nodded.  "And to think they're both my
+sisters; bless 'em, do you know, Auntie Mogs,
+I'm a very proud man this night!"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Auntie Mogs leaned over and patted his hand
+in understanding.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"They must never be separated again," she
+said with decision.
+</p>
+
+<p><br><br><br></p>
+
+<p><a id="chap16"></a></p>
+
+<h3>
+CHAPTER XVI
+<br><br>
+A DAY TOGETHER
+</h3>
+
+<p>
+Janet kept her eyes tight closed the next
+morning, long after she was awake.  She
+was afraid to open them lest the memories
+that had crowded into her consciousness should
+prove to be only dreams.  Phyllis was dancing
+inside of her eyelids, and she smiled at her and
+closed her eyes tighter to keep her there.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+After a long while she turned over very quietly
+and listened.  Some one was breathing softly on
+the other side of the big bed.  She opened her
+eyes very slowly and found herself looking
+straight into Phyllis's merry ones.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+They both laughed.  Janet from relief, Phyllis
+from sheer joy.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I've been watching you for perfect hours.  I
+thought you were never going to wake up.  I very
+nearly pinched you," Phyllis exclaimed.  "Isn't
+it time to get up!"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Yes, it's late, and, thank goodness, it's a
+beautiful day," Janet replied.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Phyllis bounded out of bed and pulled all the
+covers off of Janet.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Get up, you sleepy head, and I'll race you
+getting dressed!" she challenged.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Janet was up in a second and clothes flew in
+every direction.  Martha had left a big can of
+hot water in the hall outside their door, and
+Phyllis was giggling so hard when she tried to
+pour it into the basin that she splashed some of
+it on her bare toes.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Cricky, but that hurts!" she cried, sitting
+down on the side of the bed to nurse it.  Sir
+Galahad got up from his basket by the window to
+come over and see what all the noise was about,
+and at the same time Boru pushed open the door
+with his black muzzle.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+For an instant the two animals looked at each
+other, then Boru growled and Sir Galahad arched
+his back and hissed.  Janet and Phyllis just
+caught them in time to avoid a scrap.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Sir Galahad went back in his basket, and the
+lid was closed and Boru was shut out into the hall.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"What under the sun are we going to do with
+those two!" Phyllis demanded.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"They will just have to get used to each other,
+but I'm afraid it won't be easy," Janet replied.
+"Boru hates cats."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+They finished their dressing and consulted Tom
+at breakfast.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I tell you what to do," he suggested.  "You
+both go off somewhere this morning and leave the
+live stock with me, when you come back they will
+both be eating out of the same dish."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Janet and Phyllis exchanged glances and shook
+their heads doubtfully, but they decided to let
+him try, after they had made him solemnly promise
+not to let any harm come to either of them.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Where shall we go!" Phyllis demanded.
+"Shall we take a walk!"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"We might take a drive," Janet suggested.
+"Mrs. Todd sent me word that I could have
+Clinker whenever I wanted him."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Of course, that's the very thing!" Phyllis
+enthused.  "He is at the rectory, isn't he!  Let's
+go this very instant.  I'm crazy to see those Blake
+girls."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Janet had an unhappy moment of doubt.  Suppose
+Phyllis liked the Blakes, what would she do
+then?  But she led the way to the village.  She
+only showed that she was worried by being a little
+quieter than usual.  As Phyllis talked all the way,
+her silence was not noticeable.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Alice and Mildred must have seen them coming
+down Main Street, for they were at the gate to
+meet them.  Janet introduced them and waited.
+She expected Phyllis to enthuse as she had been
+doing ever since her arrival, but a surprise
+awaited her.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+From the laughing, bright-eyed youngster
+Phyllis changed all in the twinkling of an eye into
+a quiet self-possessed girl.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"How do you do?  I'm very glad to meet you."  She
+shook hands with Alice and nodded carelessly
+to Mildred.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"We are going for a drive," she went on, still
+walking toward the barn.  "That is, Janet is
+going to do the driving, and I am going to watch
+her in real envy."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Don't you know how to drive?" Alice inquired.
+"Mildred and I really don't care for it,
+we've done so much of it."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Janet watched Phyllis and waited, wondering
+what she would say to such a silly snubbing.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Phyllis looked at both the girls before her and
+a roguish grin tilted up the corners of her mouth,
+and then she laughed.  It was a merry little laugh,
+but it made Alice feel very small and very
+uncomfortable so that she would have given almost
+anything not to have made her last silly remark.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Aren't you coming in!" Mildred asked hastily.
+"We'd love to have you."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Not just now, thanks; we are going for a drive,
+you see."  Phyllis smiled and followed Janet into
+the barn, where the hired man was already
+harnessing Clinker.  Alice and Mildred stayed and
+talked until they were ready to go.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"You'll stop in on your way back, won't you?"
+Alice almost begged.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Oh, thanks, we will if we have time," Phyllis
+replied sweetly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Once on the main road and bowling along
+briskly, she laughed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"No wonder you don't like them!" she
+exclaimed.  "Of all the sillies!  Why, Janet, they
+are what old-fashioned books call stuck up."  She
+laughed until the tears rolled down her
+cheeks.  "I wish we could have them at school
+for about a month; they would learn so many
+things, and how I'd love to help teach them."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"If you think they're funny, what must you
+think of me?" Janet spoke, without thinking and
+regretted it at once.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Phyllis eyed her reproachfully.  "I don't think
+that's a very nice thing to say to your sister,"
+she said slowly.  "How could I think you anything
+but the most wonderful girl in the world
+when I've been longing for you all these years."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Longing for me?" Janet queried in surprise.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Yes, longing for you!" Phyllis returned with
+spirit, "and that's more than you can say about me."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"It's no such thing," Janet denied hotly.  "I
+have wanted a sister always.  Why, I wrote Tom
+and told him I wished he'd been a girl instead of a boy."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Oh, you darling, did you really?"  Phyllis
+returned to her gay self in a flash.  "Isn't it just
+like a story?  I wanting you, oh, so much, and you
+wanting me, and now here we are.  I don't see
+what in the world we are fussing about, do you?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Then let's stop," Janet said wisely.  "Shall
+I drive you to Mrs. Todd's house?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Yes, do; I want to see the big room you were
+telling me about.  Auntie Mogs has a lovely
+library, so you won't miss your Kingdom so very
+much when you come to town."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Come to town?" Janet inquired.  "But I'm
+not going to town, am I?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Of course you are," Phyllis insisted.  "I
+heard Tommy and Auntie Mogs talking about it
+on the train and again this morning.  Gracious,
+you don't suppose that now I've found you I'm
+going to ever let you out of my sight, do you?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"But how can I go to town?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Well, why in the world can't you?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"But grandmother?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Oh, don't worry about that.  Tommy will take
+care of it.  Anyway you're coming, and we are
+going to school together; and, oh, Janet,"&mdash;Phyllis
+broke off impatiently&mdash;"aren't you the
+least little bit excited about it?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Excited!  I could scream from excitement
+only I'm breathless, and my mind is all upside
+down," Janet replied, laughing.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Well, thank goodness!"&mdash;Phyllis was comforted.
+"I was afraid you really didn't want to
+come, and I was just having fits, for of course I
+told all the girls about you, and they are nearly
+as excited as I am.  Where have you been going
+to school?  I asked Tommy, but he didn't know."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I've never been to school, real school, in my
+life," Janet confessed.  "Grandmother has
+always had a tutor come every day from Swanet&mdash;that's
+the next town to us.  I don't suppose I
+know very much and I'll probably be years behind
+you, but perhaps I can catch up."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Years behind!  Nonsense, I haven't any
+brains," Phyllis said, "and I don't really care
+very much.  The girls at school that are really
+brainy are awfully stupid; that is&mdash;oh, you know
+what I mean."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+They were passing the Simpsons' house by now,
+and Janet saw a familiar figure standing in the
+roadway.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Why, what do you suppose Harry Waters is
+doing so far from home?" she inquired.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Phyllis looked and laughed.  "Oh, that's the
+fat boy we saw last night, isn't it?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Yes, but I never knew him to walk as far as
+this before,"&mdash;Janet was puzzled.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Let's give him a lift back," Phyllis suggested.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Janet called, and Harry waved in reply, but he
+did not come out to them.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"He's bashful," Janet laughed.  "I'll chase
+him."  She turned Clinker in at the gate, and
+although Harry did his best to retreat to the barn,
+they were soon beside him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"This is my sister Phyllis," Janet said.
+"Don't you want to drive back with us?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Harry hung his head and mumbled something
+about walking.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"What are you doing over here anyway?"
+Janet inquired.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Nothing," Harry replied sulkily.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Good."  Phyllis spoke for the first time.
+"Then there is no reason why you can't ride home
+with us; we were going on a little farther but we
+can do that another day, can't we, Janet?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was a new idea to Janet to put off going to
+the Enchanted Kingdom for the sake of Harry's
+company, but she nodded and let down the flap of
+the cart and Harry jumped in without another
+word.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Phyllis turned her back to the horse and talked
+to him, though it must be admitted it was a
+one-sided conversation, for Harry refused to say more
+than "yes" or "no" in answer to her numerous
+questions.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Janet, who knew him better than he knew himself,
+realized that he was angry, but she was too
+much occupied with her driving to give any
+assistance to Phyllis.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When they reached the edge of the village
+Harry insisted upon jumping down, and before
+they realized it he was lost to view in the scrub
+oak by the side of the road.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Phyllis turned around with an ejaculation of
+amazement.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Did you ever see such an extraordinary boy?
+What do you suppose is the matter with him?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Janet laughed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I can't imagine; it isn't like Harry to be
+mysterious," she said.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I thought I'd have to laugh the way he sat
+there and glowered at me."  Phyllis was frankly
+surprised that any one could withstand her
+charms.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Well," she added with a sigh, "I suppose,
+now that we have spoiled our chances of going to
+your Enchanted Kingdom we may as well stop
+in to say how do you do to the Blakes."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Janet was not enthusiastic over the proposal,
+but she agreed, with a nod, and after Clinker was
+safely in the barn they went around to the front
+porch and rang the bell.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Alice came to the door.  She was delighted to
+see them, and it was evident she had not expected
+them to return so soon.  She ushered them into
+the living-room where a cheery fire was blazing
+in the fireplace.  Mrs. Blake and Mildred were
+sewing before it, and Mrs. Blake greeted the girls
+with her usual sweet manner.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+They stayed until lunch time, and when they
+left they had given their promise to return the
+next day at four o'clock.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"We are not going to have a party," Mrs. Blake
+assured them, "but we want to ask some of
+the ladies in to meet you and your aunt," she
+spoke to Phyllis.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Are all the girls in Old Chester like the
+Blakes?" Phyllis inquired, laughing.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Janet made a little face.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"They are," she replied dismally.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Phyllis put her arm around her and hugged
+her tight.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"You poor darling," she said; "no wonder you
+wanted a sister.  Well, you've got one, and we'll
+have a good time at their party.  You see if we
+won't."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When they reached home a comical tableau
+greeted them.  Tom was sitting on the stone
+bench in the garden holding a plate of milk
+between his knees.  From one side Sir Galahad
+lapped daintily and from the other, one ear cocked
+suspiciously, Boru's pink tongue was greedily
+bespattering his black muzzle.
+</p>
+
+<p><br><br><br></p>
+
+<p><a id="chap17"></a></p>
+
+<h3>
+CHAPTER XVII
+<br><br>
+AT THE RECTORY FOR TEA
+</h3>
+
+<p>
+The dining-room table at the rectory was
+laden with sandwiches and baskets of
+cake.  Mrs. Blake sat at one end pouring
+tea, and Mildred and Alice took turns with the
+chocolate pot at the other.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Mrs. Blake had not been entirely truthful when
+she had said that she was not going to give a real
+party, for the people who walked in and out of
+the two rooms gave an air of festivity that was
+rivaled only by fairs and weddings in Old Chester.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Miss Carter dressed in the palest of gray
+satin gowns was busy renewing her many
+acquaintances, and Janet and Phyllis were the
+center of a laughing group of girls and boys.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Phyllis had on a dainty afternoon dress of dark
+blue chiffon, which contrasted oddly with the more
+elaborately made summer dresses on the other
+girls.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Janet wore her customary white piqué dress
+with its broad belt of black patent leather.
+Mrs. Page believed in simplicity, and as far back as
+Janet could remember she had always owned just
+such a dress.  It served to wear to church and
+to the occasional meetings of the Ladies' Aid
+Society that met in her grandmother's room.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She was conscious this afternoon that its plainness
+marked her among the other girls, and she
+looked at Phyllis with just a touch of envy in her
+soft brown eyes.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Aunty Mog from far across the room saw the
+look, and made a mental note of it.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There was a very small percentage of boys in
+comparison with the girls, but among these Harry
+Waters stood out.  His hair was brushed back
+sleek against his bullet-shaped head, and the
+dotted Windsor tie, that his mother had insisted
+on his wearing, accentuated his fatness.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Phyllis greeted him upon his arrival like an old
+friend and insisted on his talking to her, although
+it was very apparent that Harry was miserably
+embarrassed.  Janet, who was busy at that
+moment talking dogs to the old country doctor,
+watched them, and wondered that Harry still
+carried with him his air of mystery.  She
+determined to find out what was the matter with him
+before the end of the afternoon.  She had not
+long to wait, before Harry gave her a clew.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He refused refreshments!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"But, Harry, surely you're going to have
+something," Mildred insisted.  She spoke more loudly
+than she had intended, and all eyes turned toward
+her.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Poor Harry turned very red and stammered.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"But honestly, Mildred, I don't want it," he
+protested, almost in tears.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I don't know what is the matter with Harry,"
+Mrs. Waters confided to the women around her;
+"he won't eat a thing, and he's so quiet."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"But surely you'll have a piece of chocolate
+cake," Alice said and she held a plate temptingly
+before him.  But Harry was obdurate.  He shook
+his head, speech had left him minutes before, and
+looked about him for a means of escape.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Janet beckoned to him, and when they saw their
+chance they slipped into the pantry and took
+refuge on the back stairs.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Now," Janet said sharply, "tell me what the
+matter is?  I know you're not sick."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Gee, of course I'm not.  Can't a fellow
+refuse food without all this fuss?" Harry
+complained bitterly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Some could but not you; come on, tell me
+what's wrong.  If you don't, I'll guess anyway,"
+Janet threatened.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Harry eyed her dejectedly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I suppose you will," he agreed.  "Well, it's
+this then&mdash;I heard what your sister said last night
+when you were coming back from the station
+about&mdash;about&mdash;well, about me."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Janet thought for a minute and then she
+laughed.  It was not an unkind laugh however,
+and Harry reluctantly joined in.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Is that why you refused refreshments?" she
+demanded, and Harry nodded.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"And that's what I was doing out at Simpsons
+too," he added.  "I was walking to reduce.  I
+didn't want to ride home, but, gee, she wouldn't
+let me off&mdash;" he stopped abruptly, for some one
+was pushing open the door.  It was Phyllis.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Here you are, you scamps!" she whispered.
+"I've been looking everywhere for you.  Changed
+your mind about that cake, Harry?  I brought
+you a piece in case you had."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Harry looked miserably from the cake in her
+hand to her laughing eyes, and once more shook
+his head in refusal.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"All right then, I'll eat it."  Phyllis broke the
+large piece in half and handed one piece to Janet.
+"Here, Jan, you have to help me, and now listen
+both of you.  I've thought of the greatest idea
+that ever was."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She sat down between them on the step, and
+like Janet, rested her chin in her hand.  They
+looked so much alike that Harry could not help
+laughing.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"What's your idea?" Janet inquired.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Harry, can you keep a secret?" Phyllis demanded.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Sure I can.  I'm not a girl," Harry answered
+defiantly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Now what do you mean by that?"  Phyllis sat
+up very straight, her eyes bright with a challenge.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Well, you know girls can't keep secrets," he
+said crossly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Very well,"&mdash;Phyllis dismissed the subject
+airily and sat munching her cake with evident
+relish.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Aren't you going to tell us?" Harry asked
+sheepishly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"No, not you,"&mdash;Phyllis smiled at him sweetly
+and winked roguishly at Janet.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Harry got up and opened the door.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"All right, don't then," he said angrily.
+"You're just exactly as bad as Janet," he added,
+and the door shut behind him with a bang.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Phyllis put her head on Janet's shoulder and
+laughed until she cried.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Poor Harry; that's the very worst thing he
+could think of to say to you."  Janet laughed
+almost as hard as her sister.  "I bet he is
+eating everything in sight this minute.  He heard
+you say he was fat and&mdash;well, now you can
+understand why he wouldn't eat."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Phyllis was serious in a second.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Was that really the reason!"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Yes, but I shouldn't have told you."  Janet
+was ashamed of having betrayed a confidence.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I'm glad you did," Phyllis said slowly, "and
+I'm sorry I teased him, but really he shouldn't
+talk about girls that way, and my idea will really
+be lots more fun if no one knows it except
+ourselves."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"What is it?" Janet inquired eagerly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Phyllis lowered her voice.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Grandmother told Auntie Mogs to ask any of
+these people to come to our house to tea any
+afternoon she liked," she began; "to sort of return
+this, you know.  So she has asked them for
+Thursday.  Now I haven't talked to a single girl
+to-day that didn't say how different we were and
+they made me furious until suddenly&mdash;" she
+lowered her voice and the rest of the sentence was
+lost in the soft waves of Janet's hair.  It must
+have been amusing, for Janet's eyes sparkled with
+suppressed merriment.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When they joined the others a few minutes later
+they both looked very demure, so much so in fact
+that Auntie Mogs, who knew Phyllis thoroughly,
+knew that they were planning some mischief.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Miss Clark had arrived during their absence
+and was apparently amazed beyond speech at the
+striking resemblance between them.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I have seen many twins in my time!" she
+exclaimed, "but I never saw anything so
+remarkable!  Why, you could never in the world tell
+them apart."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Oh, I think you could easily.  They're not a
+bit alike," Alice said, from the chocolate pot.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Phyllis looked at Janet, and a swift glance of
+understanding and amusement passed between
+them.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"And, oh, Janet,"&mdash;Miss Clark was speaking
+again&mdash;"I almost forgot to tell you that there
+is a letter in your box for you.  Seems to me you
+are getting lots of mail lately.  I didn't recognize
+the handwriting."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Again Phyllis and Janet exchanged glances,
+and this time their looks said as plainly as words
+"Peter."
+</p>
+
+<p><br><br><br></p>
+
+<p><a id="chap18"></a></p>
+
+<h3>
+CHAPTER XVIII
+<br><br>
+A FULL CUP OF HAPPINESS
+</h3>
+
+<p>
+The letter was from Peter, as Janet had
+hoped.  She opened it eagerly and read:
+</p>
+
+<p><br></p>
+
+<p class="noindent">
+"<i>Dear Janet:</i>
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Mrs. Todd says that I really ought to send
+you a telegram, but a letter can say so much more,
+and I have a whole lot to say.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"First of all, I came to Boston intending to
+get something to do as a first step toward the
+West, but would you believe it whom should I
+run into the day after I landed but Doc.  He
+grabbed me by the arm, and I felt the way I did
+the day Mr. Simpson appeared in the doorway
+of the 'E.K.'  He hardly spoke to me, but hustled
+me off to his house, and there I found the
+explanation of his queer behavior.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Mrs. Todd was sitting in the office waiting
+for me!  My ears still tingle when I remember
+what she said!  But I guess I deserved it.  And
+now comes the amazing part of my story.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I am going to school.  She and Doc, who are
+old friends, by the way, insist upon it.  Then,
+next spring, one of my 'E.K.' schemes is coming
+true.  Mrs. Todd is going to let me raise sheep
+on her place.  This is all thanks to you, Princess,
+and some day I'm going to show you that I am
+really grateful.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Mrs. Todd wants me to tell you that she will
+be back within a few days, and she hopes it will
+be in time for your surprise.  What is your
+surprise?
+</p>
+
+<p class="noindent">
+  "Yours in the bonds of the E.K.<br>
+  &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"PETER GIBBS."<br>
+</p>
+
+<p><br></p>
+
+<p>
+Janet read the letter aloud to Phyllis and explained
+the parts of it that she did not understand.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I knew Mrs. Todd would do something like
+that," Janet exclaimed, delightedly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"She must be a dear," Phyllis said.  "I'm
+crazy to meet her."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It seemed to Janet that with this last good
+news her cup of happiness was full to overflowing.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The next few days passed all too hurriedly.
+They spent them out of doors for the most part,
+either driving or paddling on the bay.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Phyllis added admiration to her affection for
+Janet.  It seemed to her that she could do almost
+everything in the outdoor line and do it well.  As
+a city girl she marveled and predicted a great
+success in athletics at school.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The day before the tea was so warm and sunshiny
+that they decided to have a picnic out in
+the woods.  Martha packed them a basket filled
+with twice as much as they needed, and they made
+an early start.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+They walked out into the country beyond the
+village, and Tom chose a sheltered corner under
+the lee of a hill, and built a fire.  Janet helped him,
+and together they roasted potatoes and broiled
+a steak.  Auntie Mogs and Phyllis watched and
+offered suggestions.  Phyllis upset a jar of
+Martha's specially preserved peaches, but only Tom
+saw her, and she scooped them back into the glass,
+only adding a pine needle or two.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Tommy, don't you dare to tell," she whispered,
+and Tom, who had dropped the steak only
+the minute before had to promise.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was a merry little party, and Tom kept them
+all laughing with tales about picnics and camping
+trips out in the West.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Tommy, I think, now that you have found two
+new and perfectly nice sisters, that the least you
+could do would be to invite them out to pay you
+a visit," Phyllis suggested airily.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Oh, you do, eh?" Tom asked lazily.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Of course I do; don't you, Janet?"&mdash;Phyllis
+turned for support.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I do," Janet answered solemnly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Children, you have no manners," Auntie
+Mogs chided.  "If I were Tom, I should never
+think of asking you now."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Just as I feel about it,"&mdash;Tom tried to make
+his voice sound very dignified and cold and failed
+utterly.  "I intended asking you all next summer,
+but of course now I shall limit my invitation to
+just you, Aunt Mog, and I do hope you will accept."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Indeed I will," Auntie Mogs answered laughingly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Meanie," Phyllis teased.  "If you ever did
+such a thing!  But seriously, Tommy, did you
+mean to ask us next summer?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I did."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Then we'll accept with thanks; won't we, Janet?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Oh, yes; can't we leave the day after school
+closes?" Janet suggested.  "There's no use in
+wasting time."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Or even before,"&mdash;Phyllis was not to be outdone.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Here, here," Tom protested, "not quite so
+fast.  I accept your acceptance of my ungiven
+invitation, but I insist on naming the day.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I stump you both to climb that tree over
+there," he added, pointing to a tall pine; "the
+one who wins can have the last piece of cake."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Both girls started for the tree.  Janet was
+almost to the top before Phyllis was half way up.
+As she climbed down again she noticed that
+Phyllis was very white and standing perfectly
+still, holding tightly to the trunk.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"What's the matter!" she asked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Phyllis looked at her beseechingly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Oh, Janet, I'm scared to death," she
+whispered.  "I looked down and now I am terribly
+dizzy; what shall I do!"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Janet came close and took hold of her arm.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Keep your eyes on the sky," she directed.
+"Don't look down for even a second and don't be
+afraid.  I'm here and I won't let you fall."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She dropped quickly to the branch below and
+took one of Phyllis's ankles in her strong grasp.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Hold tight to the bough above and let your foot
+swing free, I'll put it on a safe branch.  There
+now, bring the other one down beside it."  In this
+way she helped her carefully and surely to the
+bottom.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Oh," Phyllis was almost in tears, "thank you,
+darling.  I am quite sure you saved my life.  Oh,
+dear, I'm still dizzy."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Well, stand still a minute until you are better.
+There's no need for Tommy to know.  He'd be
+sure to tease," Janet whispered.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I don't care about Tom, but I hate being such a
+baby.  You went way to the top," Phyllis answered.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"You tried, anyway," Janet consoled her, "and
+that's what counts."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"You're a darling to say so, anyway," Phyllis
+said gratefully.  "I feel better now; let's go back."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Tom held the cake out to Janet.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"It's yours, you won by a dozen branches.
+What happened, Phyllis?  Did you get scared?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Of course not," Janet answered for her.  "I
+promised to go halves, so what was the need of
+her climbing too,"&mdash;she held out a piece of the
+cake, and Phyllis took it.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Oh, come, that's not fair," Tom protested.
+"You should eat every bit of it yourself."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"No, we're twins and we have to share everything,"
+Janet insisted.  "Isn't that so, Phyllis?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Phyllis nodded seriously.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Everything," she said, and it sounded like a
+prophecy.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+On the way home Mrs. Todd called them as they
+passed the rectory.  She had only just returned,
+and she was so delighted at Janet's good fortune
+that she kissed her, much to every one's surprise.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Please tell me about Peter," Janet whispered,
+when she had the opportunity.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Peter is a rogue," Mrs. Todd answered, "but
+I can't help loving him, and he has promised to be
+my right hand for the rest of my days.  I had a
+hard time making Dr. Peabody agree to my
+schemes, but I am a very determined woman, once
+my mind is made up, and so he had to give in
+finally."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"What have you made your mind up to this
+time, Ann?" Miss Carter inquired, from the other
+side of the room.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"A red-headed boy," Mrs. Todd laughed.  "I
+have seen enough of all my friends with children
+to think about and I've made up my mind to have
+one too.  I wanted Janet, but I knew you'd find
+her some day, Marjorie, and so I found Peter.
+He's alone and so am I.  I think we are going to
+have a very good time together&mdash;raising sheep,"
+she added with a twinkle in her eye.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Isn't it wonderful about Peter?" Janet asked
+as she walked home beside her aunt.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Indeed it is, my dear," Auntie Mogs agreed.
+"Ann is a darling under her bruskness, and she
+is very fond of you, dear."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Well, I love her too," Janet replied; "she
+has been so good to me."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Miss Carter put her arm through hers and
+looked down at her with serious eyes.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"It would be difficult to imagine any one being
+anything else.  Dear little girl," she added
+tenderly, "you are very like your beautiful mother.
+Do you think you could be happy with Phyllis
+and me?  We want you very much indeed."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Oh, Auntie Mogs," Janet said in a queer little
+voice, "I want you too."
+</p>
+
+<p><br><br><br></p>
+
+<p><a id="chap19"></a></p>
+
+<h3>
+CHAPTER XIX
+<br><br>
+TWINS INDEED
+</h3>
+
+<p>
+Janet and Phyllis stood in the middle of
+Janet's room and looked at each other.
+There was nothing apparently that was
+strange in their appearance.  One had on a dark
+blue, chiffon, afternoon dress and the other a
+white piqué with a black belt.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+They joined hands and stood before the mirror,
+and then they both began to laugh very hard.
+Boru, who had been dozing on the floor in a patch
+of sunlight, got up and came over to them.  A
+keen observer might have thought it odd that he
+chose the blue chiffon dress to rub up against
+instead of the white one.
+</p>
+
+<p class="capcenter">
+<a id="img-197"></a>
+<br>
+<img class="imgcenter" src="images/img-197.jpg" alt="A keen observer might have though it odd that he chose the blue chiffon dress to rub against instead of the white one.">
+<br>
+A keen observer might have thought it odd that he chose <br>
+the blue chiffon dress to rub against instead of the <br>
+white one.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Phyllis noticed it and laughed again.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Funny how fond Boru is of me, isn't it?" she
+asked.  Then they went down stairs together.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Auntie Mogs was busy arranging some flowers
+in a bowl.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Phyllis, help me with these, will you, dear!"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The white dress stepped forward and then stood
+still, and the blue chiffon was soon bending over
+the table.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Martha came into the room, carrying a plate
+of tea biscuits.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Put these on the side table, Miss Janet,
+please," she said, and the white dress did as she
+asked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"What is the matter with you children!"
+Auntie Mogs asked.  "You are so quiet."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Nothing at all," they both answered together.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Tom came in and looked around hurriedly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Nobody here yet!  Then I'm going to have
+a cooky, a piece of cake and some candy.  Janet,
+dear little sister of mine, give me one of those
+biscuits, or two if you insist."  The white dress
+offered him the plate and two brown eyes looked
+at him hard as he helped himself.  But he filled
+his pockets unconcernedly and turned toward the
+table.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Phyllis, other little sister of mine, have you
+a flower for my button hole!  I'm not going to
+be at your party, but I want to look festive none
+the less."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The blue dress stood very close to him as the
+flower was carefully poked into place.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"You are both very quiet this afternoon, it
+seems to me," he observed critically, looking from
+one to the other.  "What's the matter?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The girls began to laugh, and they kept it up
+until they had to lean on each other for support.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Well, evidently something is very wrong indeed,
+but I didn't mean to remind you of it.  Are
+you going to do this often during the afternoon?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Only suppressed gurgles answered him, and he
+marched off to his own room in disgust.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was not long before the guests began to arrive.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Miss Carter met them at the door, and the
+girls both shook hands with each one and then
+went off for tea or cake, and each time the guest
+said, "Thank you, Janet," to the white dress,
+and "That's very sweet of you," to the blue one.
+And every now and then both girls would
+disappear into the hall, laugh silently and return
+to their posts.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The Blakes were among the first arrivals, and
+Mrs. Todd was with them.  Mildred and Alice
+were a little surprised that the wearer of the
+white dress came up to them and said "hello!"
+in the friendliest way.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Will you have a cup of tea and a biscuit?
+You ought to be hungry after that long walk, or
+did you drive over?  Oh, but of course you didn't;
+I forgot you were tired of driving."  The white
+dress fluttered away to return a minute later with
+tea.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Here you are; can you manage all the plates?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Why, of course," Mildred replied.  "How
+nice it must be for you to have your sister here,"
+she said, smiling.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Oh, it is rather nice."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Rather nice!" Alice exclaimed.  "I should
+think it would be a perfect blessing."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Now, why a blessing?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Why&mdash;why because it is some one for you to
+be with."  Alice was amazed.  "You must have
+been awfully lonely before she came?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Lonely&mdash;I?  How silly!"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Well, but you never went with any of the girls
+except us now and again, and naturally every one
+thought you must be lonely.  Alice isn't the only
+one who thought so," Mildred said vehemently.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Then every one was wrong.  I never was
+lonely for a minute.  I had too many things to
+think about.  Of course it is nice having a sister
+that understands you, but even without her I
+would not be lonely."  The white dress drifted
+away at a sign from the hostess, and Alice and
+Mildred were left looking at each other in pained
+surprise.  They were wearing their hair rolled
+up and tied at the back of their necks for the first
+time, and they couldn't imagine why Janet had
+said nothing about it.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"How queer she is to-day," Mildred said.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"And to think we always thought of her as
+lonely!  I guess she didn't come to see us any
+oftener because she didn't want to," Alice replied.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Across the room, Miss Clark was talking to the
+wearer of the blue dress.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Isn't it beautiful to think of your being here
+with Janet?" she exclaimed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Yes, it is splendid."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I suppose you will be carrying her back to
+the dreadful city with you before long?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Yes, I think we will go in a few weeks.
+School begins, you see, and we mustn't be too
+late getting back."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"What a change it will be for dear Janet!"
+Miss Clark continued.  "I can't say I altogether
+approve."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"But why?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Well, it will change her, and I hate to think
+of her getting cityfied and filling her head with
+notions."  Miss Clark did not specify just exactly
+what notions were.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Of course you are very dear and sweet," she
+continued, "but you are not at all like our Janet;
+though you look very much alike, I would never
+confuse you for an instant."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Are you quite sure!"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Indeed I am, and I don't want to hurt your
+feelings when I say that I hope you will not let
+Janet change too much."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Why, I think it will do her good to go to the
+city.  She will meet lots of nice girls and go to
+school, and certainly anything would be better
+than being alone so much of the time as she is
+here.  I hope she learns to be like other girls
+when she gets to town."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Ah, well, I am afraid I can't agree with you,"
+Miss Clark said sadly.  The blue dress hurried
+off to pass the cake to Mrs. Todd, who was sitting
+alone in a corner.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Stay with me, child," Mrs. Todd said when
+she had helped herself.  "I want to look at you.
+I thought this afternoon that you were like your
+father in manner,"&mdash;her blue eyes searched the
+brown ones.  Suddenly she frowned.  "Hello,
+that's odd.  No, I can't be wrong.  You little
+imps you, you've&mdash;"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Oh, do hush, please; some one might hear
+you, and not a soul has even suspected, not
+even Auntie Mogs.  How did you guess?" Janet
+demanded.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Eyes," Mrs. Todd said shortly.  "Yours
+have little tiny flecks of gold in them, like your
+mother's.  Phyllis's are clearer, less dreamy, like
+her father's.  I won't give you away."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Oh, thanks; you can't imagine what fun it is.
+I am hearing all sorts of things about myself,
+and I can't wait to compare notes with Phyllis."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Opportunity came a little later when they met
+in the kitchen.  Phyllis repeated her numerous
+conversations, and Janet told her that Mrs. Todd
+had guessed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"But she has promised not to say anything,"
+she added.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Good; don't let's change even for dinner.  I
+believe we could fool Tommy and Auntie Mogs
+all evening," Phyllis chuckled.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"It's lots of fun being you," Janet whispered,
+as they went back into the dining-room.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Well, I love being you; it makes me wish I
+really were," Phyllis answered.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Dinner passed without their game being discovered,
+though their occasional fits of laughter
+mystified Tommy and Auntie Mogs.  They might
+have gotten safely to bed without their knowing if
+it hadn't been for Boru and Galahad.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+They came out into the garden after dinner,
+pretending not to notice each other, for although
+Tom had succeeded in making them eat from the
+same dish, they were by no means friends.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Janet and Phyllis were walking up and down
+the center path.  Sir Galahad purred softly and
+looked up at his mistress.  Phyllis leaned down
+and picked him up in her aims.  Janet let her
+hand rest on Boru's head.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Tom came out of the house just as they made a
+tableau by the old sundial.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At first he did not notice anything odd, but
+after a minute he said:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"There's something wrong with the picture.  I
+think it's your dresses.  They don't match your
+animals.  Hold on a minute.  I've got it!" he
+exclaimed.  "You've swapped clothes."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"And you just found it out," Phyllis teased.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Tom studied them for a minute and shook his
+head solemnly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"It's no wonder either; you are as alike as two
+peas in a pod, except for the way you talk.  What
+a lot of larks you will be able to have, but I
+shouldn't wonder if you found it embarrassing
+when you got a little older.  Perhaps I had better
+brand you with your initials," he suggested&mdash;then
+he added slowly, "Yes, I think on the whole
+it would be a lot better for all concerned if I did."
+</p>
+
+<p><br><br><br></p>
+
+<p><a id="chap20"></a></p>
+
+<h3>
+CHAPTER XX
+<br><br>
+GOOD-BY
+</h3>
+
+<p>
+One morning at the close of the visit
+Mrs. Page sent for Janet to come to her.
+When she was seated in the chair by the
+bed, the old lady looked at her for a long time
+before she said anything.  When she did speak,
+it was to ask a startling question.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Janet, do you love me?" she inquired shortly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Janet stared at her in surprise.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Well, do you or don't you?" Mrs. Page demanded.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Why, grandmother, of course I do," Janet
+replied quickly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Why?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Because you have always been kind to me and
+taken care of me, I suppose," Janet said doubtfully.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Is that the only reason?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"N-no, I love you because you are my grandmother."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Do you love me as much as you do your Aunt
+Marjorie?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Of course, but&mdash;"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"But what!"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"In a different way."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"What do you mean by different way?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Why, I hardly know how to put it into words,"&mdash;Janet
+hesitated.  "I love to be with Auntie
+Mogs and I like to have her put her arm around
+me and kiss me."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I see," Mrs. Page spoke dryly, and laughed
+a short unpleasant laugh.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"And you love me for the opposite reasons,
+eh!" she inquired.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I don't think they are opposite reasons,"
+Janet replied.  "I love you&mdash;well, respectfully,
+and I like to think of your being here.  I think
+perhaps I'm proud that you are my grandmother."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Mrs. Page seemed to think over what she had
+heard.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Well, it may surprise you to hear it," she
+said at last, "but I love you.  I love you very
+dearly.  I have been a very selfish old woman and
+perhaps I have not been very gentle with you.
+Tom says I haven't.  Certainly I have never
+kissed you and put my arm around you, but I
+have always loved you.  I want you to remember
+that.  You have always been very patient with
+me too, and I realize it.  Sometimes I've wished
+you would lose your temper, but now I'm glad
+you didn't.  Phyllis is more like her father than
+you are, but I suppose that serves me right.  I
+thought that I could love her the first day I saw
+her.  I do love her, but not as much as I love you.
+You are the finer of the two and some day you'll
+prove it."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She turned over and faced the wall Janet
+rose to go.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"When I die,"&mdash;Mrs. Page spoke from the
+depth of the pillow&mdash;"I am going to leave
+everything I have to you.  I am telling you this
+because you are going away, not because I think I
+am going to die.  Now you may go."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Janet left the room, a queer feeling of regret in
+her heart.  She wanted to take her grandmother
+in her arms and kiss her as she knew Phyllis
+would have done, but a restraint, born from the
+custom of years, held her back, and she closed the
+door behind her, softly, as she had always done.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Phyllis was nowhere to be found, so Janet went
+up to the "widow's walk" to think over what her
+grandmother had said.  She found Tom already
+there, smoking his pipe and reading.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Hello, what did grandmother want?" he
+inquired lazily.  "You were with her an awfully
+long time.  Phyllis got tired of waiting for you
+and went off for a walk with Harry Waters."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Tom,"&mdash;Janet spoke very seriously, and Tom
+put down his book to listen&mdash;"when I go to the
+city with Phyllis and Auntie Mogs may I come
+back and see grandmother whenever I want to?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Why, certainly you may; what makes you
+ask?" Tom replied.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Because I think grandmother is sorry I am
+going; really sorry, I mean, not just angry; and
+I think I ought to come back and see her every
+once in a while," Janet told him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Bless your heart, I think you are right.
+Auntie Mogs and I were talking about the same
+thing only last night, and she said you could all
+come up whenever she wanted you."  Tom pulled
+her down beside him and rumpled her hair.
+"Now are you satisfied?" he asked, laughing.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Janet nodded.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Tell me all over again just what the plans
+are!" she said as she settled herself comfortably.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I should think you would know them all by
+heart,"&mdash;Tom laughed.  "First of all you and
+Phyllis will have to be separated for a few days.
+I don't see how you will ever bear it, but you
+must try.  Then Auntie Mogs and Phyllis will
+go down to the city and get ready for your
+arrival.  To hear Phyllis talk you would think that
+the walls of your room were going to be hung
+in gold and that no one could see to it but herself.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"But to resume.  As soon as everything is
+ready for your ladyship I will take you down.  I
+can picture your excitement now when you see
+Auntie Mogs' library, and when you are comfortably
+settled I will take a train West and start in
+rebuilding my modest shanty so that it will be
+ready to receive you in the spring."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Janet looked out over the water and tried to
+picture all Tom had said, but she gave it up.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Do you know, Tommy," she said suddenly,
+"I made up my mind on this very spot to write
+you that letter.  Doesn't it seem funny to think
+that we are sitting here now together?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"It does," Tom agreed slowly, "the only pity
+is that you didn't write it before."
+</p>
+
+<p><br></p>
+
+<p>
+The remaining days passed rapidly, and the
+date set for the departure came all too soon.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Of course it's only for a week," Phyllis said,
+as they stood on the station platform, "but I feel
+as though it were years."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"So do I," Janet replied sorrowfully.  "I wish
+I could go home and sleep until Thursday."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Make Tommy amuse you every minute, and
+don't you dare to forget me even for a half a
+second," Phyllis warned her.  "Oh, dear, here
+comes the horrid old train!  Kiss me again for
+good luck."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Janet kissed her, and then turned to her aunt.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Good-by, Auntie Mogs," she said tearfully.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"You two babies!"  Miss Carter looked down
+at the two doleful faces before her and laughed.
+"It's dreadful to be separated, especially when
+you are twins, isn't it?  But try and brace up,
+both of you, and it will soon be over.  Good-by
+for a little while, dearest child.  Tommy, take
+good care of her, won't you?" she added, as she
+said good-by to him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"The very best; and we'll be down in one short
+little week," he promised.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+They boarded the train, and Janet insisted on
+waiting until the last puff of smoke curled up
+out of sight.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"It is going to be the longest week of my life,"
+she said dismally.
+</p>
+
+<p><br></p>
+
+<p>
+The house without Phyllis was unbearable, and
+Janet rowed over to the Enchanted Kingdom to
+find consolation.  She knew that the workmen
+would be in possession the next day, and
+she wanted to have it all to herself once
+more.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She patted the books and said good-by to all
+her favorites.  As she knelt to read the title of
+one of them she noticed the volume that she had
+found Peter reading their last memorable day
+together.  She took it from its shelf and opened it
+idly.  Pictures of sheep and diagrams of gates
+and fences did not interest her very much, and
+she was just about to close it up when she had a
+sudden idea.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She turned to the back of it, tore out a page that
+had nothing on it, and with Peter's own pencil,
+which she found on the floor under the sofa, she
+started to write.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When she had finished her note read as follows:
+</p>
+
+<p><br></p>
+
+<p class="noindent">
+"<i>Dear Peter:</i>
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I am saying good-by to the Enchanted Kingdom,
+for I am going away next week.  Of course
+I will write you letters to boarding school, but
+I wanted to leave this for you to find the first time
+you come back.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"We had lots of good times together, didn't
+we?  I suppose the next time we see each other
+we won't want to pretend, so this is a last good-by
+to Lord Carrot Tops from
+</p>
+
+<p class="noindent">
+  "THE PRINCESS OF THE<br>
+  ENCHANTED KINGDOM."<br>
+</p>
+
+<p><br></p>
+
+<p>
+When it was written, she folded it up and stuck
+it between the leaves of the sheep book.  Then
+she stood up to go.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Good-by, my wonderful Kingdom," she said.
+"I will always love you better than any room in
+the world."  She tiptoed to the window and
+climbed out swiftly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As she ran down the hill, her eyes smarted and
+she did not look back.
+</p>
+
+<p><br><br><br></p>
+
+<p><a id="chap21"></a></p>
+
+<h3>
+CHAPTER XXI
+<br><br>
+CONCLUSION
+</h3>
+
+<p>
+An ordinary train pulled in on an ordinary
+day at the Old Chester station.  A man
+and a girl, with soft brown eyes blurred
+by unshed tears, entered the Pullman car and
+took the seats that the porter showed them.  Then
+the car started again, and the girl leaned out of
+the window.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"They are all there," she said.  "Harry,
+Mrs. Todd, Mildred and Alice, and Martha.  I can't
+believe I'm really going away from them."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"But you are, little sister of mine; you are
+going to a brand new world, and I am anxious to
+hear what you and another little sister of mine
+are going to do in it."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"It's more her world than mine," the girl
+reminded him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Yes, just as this was more your world than
+hers, but she came to your world and liked it,"
+the man replied.  "Just as you are going to like
+her world."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"And before you know it, both worlds are going
+to be 'our world.'"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The girl, who was Janet, looked out of the
+window and smiled, and the train seemed to hurry
+them along.
+</p>
+
+<p><br><br></p>
+
+<p class="t3">
+THE END
+</p>
+
+<p><br><br></p>
+
+<p class="capcenter">
+<a id="img-end-left"></a>
+<br>
+<img class="imgcenter" src="images/img-end-left.jpg" alt="Left end paper">
+</p>
+
+<p><br><br></p>
+
+<p class="capcenter">
+<a id="img-end-right"></a>
+<br>
+<img class="imgcenter" src="images/img-end-right.jpg" alt="Right end paper">
+</p>
+
+<p><br><br><br><br></p>
+
+<div style='text-align:center'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 75755 ***</div>
+</body>
+
+</html>
+
+
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diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt
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+This book, including all associated images, markup, improvements,
+metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be
+in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES.
+
+Procedures for determining public domain status are described in
+the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org.
+
+No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in
+jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize
+this book outside of the United States should confirm copyright
+status under the laws that apply to them.
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+Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for
+book #75755 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/75755)