The Eldest Son

the house in which she had lived for over thirty years that her first thought was, "No hunting to-day"; although

g it. She would have liked to see the trees of the park, for a farewell, in their early June dress, the grass about them powdered with the yellow of buttercups. But she hoped so to see them again. She had been made to feel that she was parting from friends, that she was by virtue of her l

and said them as if she meant them, as no doubt, dear lady, she did, for she was always sincere. And the darling children had cried-she should never forget that as long as s

ion to the great house, so different from anything she had known. She had never been "out" before. She had had a good education, for those days, in the day school that her mother, the doctor's widow, and her elder sister had carried on in a little town in which she had been born, and had taught in it till she was twenty-

ittle boy, whom she had been taken to see in bed, a darling, and so quaint when he asked her solemnly if she could jump a pony over a log, because he could. She had liked his quiet, elderly nurse, who had come to talk to her in her schoolroom when he had gone to sleep. She had called her "miss," and shown that she had no wish to "presume," but only the wish to be friendly, and they had, in fact, remained friends for years. She had been greatly pleased with the size and comfort of her schoolroom, whic

hed downstairs in charge of little Dick. Those were nervous occasions, for it took her a long time to get used to the Squire-the young Squire, as he was then-with his loud laugh and hearty ways, who used to chaff her at tab

r been checked by any stiffness on the part of Mrs. Clinton. Mr. Beach, the Rector of Kencote, and the Squire's half-brother, had always treated her with consideration, and his wife had made her feel at home in the rectory, and expected her to visit there occasionally on her own account. The Squire's six maiden aunts at the dower-house, all but one of whom were now dead, had also treated her kindly, but in a rather more patron

his first school, and she was not disgraced. By that time Humphrey was ready for her guiding hand, and then Walter, and a few years later, Cicely, hailed with joy as a pupil whom she might train up to the fine finish; for there could be no talk of school for a

ips of a governess's lot, and Miss Bird had them fully in her mind, saving and skimping all through the fruitful years for a time when not only the opulences of existence in a house like Kencote should be hers no longer, but it might be difficult to make ends meet at all. The twins lifted a weight off her mind, which, with all her daily cheerfulness and courage, had never been quite absent from her; for another nine or ten years would just enable her to provide for her old age, and she knew that those nine

ull of the presents she had received at Christmas and on her birthdays, which had never been forgotten, and the photographs of Clintons of all ages from babyhood upwards were displayed on every available standing place in her room. They were more to her than her sister or her sister's children, but the call had come to her to leave them and to go to a place where she would have to work hard and anxiously for the rest of her life on a very small pittance and in very narrow surroundings, and it had never occurred to her to shirk it. It had all fitted in-she felt that she had bee

er spot out of doors or in to which their vagrant fancy had led them, and see that they appeared to the public eye duly washed, combed, and brushed. They embraced her, enveloping her wizened form with their

ling darling?" asked Joan, taking

ou've brushed your teeth

ing herself. "I shall only be here another week and you mus

very sorry now to think of all the trouble she had given you, Starling darling

Starling has often said that if it weren't for your example

," replied Miss Bird. "And you can be dear good girls as good as g

l, but I doubt

r you we couldn't be expected to do for a stran

ndearment. But she had grown rather wary of exhibiting affection towards her pupils, who

"you will remember all the things I have told you; now are y

u went, and I think he will," said Joan innocently, as

an's, who, assisted by Nancy on the other side, had led her on so that she tripped over the next step, and would have fallen but for the firm gras

not be quite true to say that she had never been into this room during the thirty years of her sojourn at Kencote, but it was certainly the first time she had entered it on the

, Miss Bird, the world 'ud be a better place than it is, by George! Now I want to do a little something for you, as you've done so much for us, and I've talked it over with Dick, and we are going to buy you a little annuity of fifty pounds a year, w

controlling herself, and addressed him with no more than an occasional hiccup. "I beg your pardon, Mr. Clinton; I couldn't help it and it's too much and I thank you from the bottom of

ubsidence of emotion, and anxious to escape further thanks. "And I assure you the obligation's s

shed her tears of thankfulness, then wiped her eyes and

omplete freedom was tempered only by the necessity of "practising." Dick had refused to drive them over to Mountfield

o go there for?" said Joa

is," said Nancy, "t

able mood as they walked across the park together-the sort of affectionately jovial mood of which they had occasionally taken advantage to secure a temporary addition to their income. I

then Joan said rather stiffly, "We sha

ngs to make it up a month ago, and I gav

, and then Nancy sa

it out of me. I never quite know whether it's my idea or yours when I

e camera most frightfully badly, and if you would like to contribu

economy painful to our gen

aid Dick. "You're getting regular young spendthrifts. I shal

?" enquired Joan; and Nancy amended the question: "

id Dick. "Come

Joan. "We wanted to buy the old Starling a r

rushes with cupids' heads on them, and cost th

," said Joan, "which are much mo

-it cleaned us entirel

eeze as they walked. "You're a pair of topping good Twankies,"

we'd rather you didn't. You see, it's rather a special occasion-the poor old Starlin

ncy. "But thanks awfully all the

id Dick. "But isn't anybody ever going to be allowed to con

oan thoughtfully. "Of course we can't

Dick likes to give us something then and happens to remember it-of cours

that," said Dick grav