"Come!" said Dora, taking Angel by the hand, and leading her from the room, whilst Dinah followed close behind. "We have a room between us," she explained; "I expect it's rather in a muddle because we had not time to tidy it before we went for our walk." "Perhaps you'll excuse it?" Dinah asked politely. "Oh yes!" Angel responded, "of course I will!" It was impossible to be shy with the sisters long. They asked her dozens of questions, which she answered readily; and found herself putting questions to them in return. She looked around their bedroom with interested eyes—at the two little white beds side by side, the pretty pictures on the walls, and the ornaments, which she was told had been mostly birthday presents—and openly admired everything she saw. Dinah and Dora evidently had great pride in their room; they informed her they made the beds themselves, and took it in turns to do the dusting. "Jane, that is our housemaid, has so much work that mother likes us to help her all we can," Dinah said in her matter-of-fact way; "there's plenty to do in this house, there always is where there are boys about. Tom is dreadfully untidy, and always forgets to wipe his boots thoroughly before he comes upstairs, and brings such a lot of grit into the place. Is your brother like that?" "Yes," Angel answered, smiling, "and Mrs. Steer does get so cross with him!" "Who is Mrs. Steer?" Dora inquired. "Our landlady. We live in lodgings, not in a house of our own." "Oh, I should not like that at all!" Dora cried. "Because you are not accustomed to lodgings," Dinah put in quickly. She turned to Angel and asked, "Is your brother older than you are?" "No, younger," Angel replied. "He is very clever, and has such a lot of friends. Every one likes Gerald." Once set going on her favourite topic of conversation, her brother, she found a great deal to say. She told how many prizes he had won at school, and how proud her father was of him. "Did you ever win a prize?" Dora asked, much interested. "No," Angel acknowledged, her face, which had been bright and animated, becoming suddenly overclouded; "I do not go to school!" "And yet you are older than your brother!" Dinah exclaimed in accents of surprise. "Yes," Angel answered; and became suddenly silent. The sisters saw that for some reason or other she did not wish to be questioned further upon the subject, and Dinah considerately changed the conversation. When the three little girls returned to the dining-room, they found the cloth had been laid for tea, the lamps lit, and the curtains drawn; everything looked very comfortable and homely. "Where are mother and Tom?" Dinah inquired of Gilbert, the sole occupant of the room, as she drew Angel to the fireside, and gave her a comfortable chair. "Mother has gone to see about muffins for tea, and Tom's cleaning up," he explained, as he slowly crossed the room from the window to the fireplace.