As he thought of the dogs the big tears welled up again and rolled down his cheeks. Everything about that first day in England seemed to stand out before him in a series of pictures like those he had once seen at a theatre in India. There was all the bustle and rushing at Charing Cross. Uncle Gerald, tall, with closely-trimmed grey beard, and kind keen eyes under his broad forehead—such a lot of forehead Uncle Gerald had. Ronnie even remembered hearing Mrs. Frith say, "Oh, he’s a dear little soul, very talkative and officious, but quite affectionate; cheerful too—which is a great matter with children, don’t you think?" Then there was a scramble for luggage. Ronnie’s little cabin trunk was disentangled. He was embraced by all the Frith family and ayah, and, hand in hand with this tall, unknown Uncle Gerald, hurried down the big station to a taxi-cab. They drove across London to another station—Paddington it was called, where they had tea—and into the train again for another journey. Then, in the slowly fading spring light, a long drive in a motor through green country lanes till they turned into some big gates and drove up to a house whence issued a most tremendous barking and yapping. The door was opened and four dogs rushed out—long-bodied, rough-haired West Highland terriers, their colour ranging from almost black to lightish grey—who jumped all over Uncle Gerald with noisy manifestations of delight, sniffed curiously at Ronnie, and as he was not in the least afraid of them, took him into favour at once and jumped on him—Collum and Puddock and Mona their mother, and frisky, cheeky little Rannoch, who was no relation to any of them, and took the greatest liberties with all three. All Uncle Gerald’s servants had been with him for untold ages, and all were elderly excepting the housemaid, who had only been there a short ten years, and occasionally was still spoken of as "that new girl." Her name was Grace, and she came from somewhere near Perth, and it was to her care that Ronnie was entrusted for such matters as bathing and dressing and hair-brushing.