Victoria groaned in spirit, but she made no audible comment, and presently her sisters left her. She would now have a difficult road to travel, she said to herself. She must watch with increasing vigilance and promptly disappear if there was the slightest chance of meeting Roger Madison. She was leaning back in her chair, pondering the situation, her brow puckered by the deep thought in which she was engaged, when Peter entered the room, followed closely by Sophy and Sirius. Since the day last week when he had deserted Sophy in the woods Peter had been unusually attentive to his small sister. He had said little upon the subject, but he had thought about it, and he undoubtedly felt some remorse for his share in the events of that afternoon. It was very stupid of Sophy to have allowed herself to lose her way, he thought, but then she was only a girl and a little one at that. What else could one expect of so benighted an individual? And he was fond of Sophy after a fashion, he said to himself with superb condescension, and was sorry that she had been frightened. Therefore he had allowed her to bear him company more constantly than usual during the past few days, and Sophy was in the seventh heaven of delight in consequence. At the present moment they were engaged in a spirited discussion, which was not uncommon, or, to be more exact, Peter was in the act of laying down the law to Sophy, this being one of his favorite pastimes. “You are a perfect little goose, Sophy! I can’t imagine what you are thinking of. A wheelwright! I told you the other day what I was going to do. Have you forgotten already? Your memory isn’t worth a cent. But what else can you expect of a girl?” Sophy became visibly depressed. “I wish I could remember, Peter,” she said, searching in the depths of her memory for Peter’s words of wisdom too precious to be lost. “Did you tell me long ago?” “Not long ago, at all. It was the day you got scared in the woods. If you remember, don’t say anything, for Vic is here, and you know it’s a secret. Don’t you know the thing that’s going to have nothing about girls? Well, no matter. All the less chance of the secret’s getting out if you’ve forgotten it. What do you suppose Sophy wants me to be, when I’m grown up, Vic?” “I can’t imagine,” said Victoria. “A clergyman?” “No, indeed. The most ridiculous thing you ever heard of: a wheelwright!” “A wheelwright?” repeated Victoria. “Where in the world did you get that idea, child?” Sophy looked ready to cry. She felt that it was hard, indeed, that even her beloved Vic should question her sagacity.