Angel laughingly declined his help, and scrambled over the hedge as best she could, after which they crossed the meadow, got over another hedge, and so on until they neared the river's side. Every now and again they paused to listen for the others' voices, but no sounds were to be heard except the cooing of wood-pigeons and the lowing of cattle in distant fields. Angel made a nosegay of buttercups and cuckoo-flowers, whilst her companion watched her in silence. "Are you fond of flowers?" she asked presently. "I suppose you must be, as Dinah says you know a lot about them." "I like them," he said, "but I don't care about gathering them; I prefer to see them growing. When people pick flowers they mix them together regardless of their colours; but when you see them growing, the colours are sure to blend properly. Look at those buttercups and cuckoo-flowers springing up side by side in the grass—yellow and pale lilac—there's nothing to offend one's taste there. Nature doesn't make a mistake." "It is all so beautiful!" Angel exclaimed, her appreciative eyes wandering over the fair landscape. "Do you know what I overheard Miss Goodwin say to father the other day? They had been talking of the pretty places about Wreyford, and Miss Goodwin said: 'Beauty of any description always makes me understand God's love.' I think I know what she meant, don't you?" "Yes," he answered briefly. They had now reached the spot where the boys' fishing rods and the baskets full of cowslips lay, in safety, on the river's bank; evidently no one had been there during the children's absence. A few minutes later Tom's voice was heard at no great distance, shouting lustily. The hare had outwitted the hounds, and was returning triumphantly to the starting-point. "Didn't you follow, Angel?" Tom gasped, as he flung himself on the ground to regain his breath. "Yes," she replied, "but I got behind the others and missed them, then your brother found me, and I thought we'd better wait for you here. I knew you'd return." "I hope Gilbert has been making himself agreeable," Tom said in his teasing way. "Oh yes," Angel answered simply; at which Tom laughed heartily, and Gilbert frowned. "Where have you been all the afternoon, old chap?" the younger brother inquired of the elder. "For a walk." "You might as well have come with us; we've had such a jolly time." "I don't care about gathering flowers, and I like fishing still less," said Gilbert disdainfully. "In short, you prefer your own sweet company to ours. Oh, I say, old fellow, don't go!" Tom cried hastily, as his brother was moving away. "You're never going off in a huff, are you?" "I'm not in a huff." "No?" Tom said questioningly. "Well, then, don't be so much on your dignity. Wait a few minutes, and by-and-by we'll all go home together. Here come the girls. Where is Gerald, I wonder!" Angel looked around for her brother, but he was nowhere within sight; she concluded he would return presently.