"Yes," he said, "there is Percy. A sterling fellow, Perce! I wonder where he is, by the way. If he were here he might be able to do something with the goat. Any one would respect Percy--even a goat." Lady Adela sighed despairingly. Mr. Mainwaring, taking the goat by the horns, so to speak, asked his son to elucidate the mystery once and for all. "Did n’t I tell you about the goat?" asked Dick in surprise. "Well, it was like this. When Tilly and I were hunting for a cab in the rain at the station just now, we met a woman with a goat, in tears." "The goat?" said Lady Adela incredulously. "No, its mother--I mean, its proprietress. She had missed the market, or something, owing, to her pony breaking down, and she had come to the station as a forlorn hope, to see if she could catch a departing goat-merchant and unload Maximilian on him." "Maximilian?" interjected Lady Adela giddily. "Yes--the goat. We had to call him _something_, you know. Her husband was very ill in bed, and Maximilian had to be sold to defray expenses, it seemed." "And so you--er--purchased Maximilian?" said Mr. Mainwaring. "We did," replied The Freak gravely. "That was why we had to walk. The cabman would not allow us to take Maximilian inside with us, and Max absolutely declined to sit on the box beside the cabman--which did n’t altogether surprise me--so we all three had to come here on our arched insteps. I wonder where Tilly is." "Where is the animal now?" enquired Lady Adela apprehensively. She was quite prepared to hear that Maximilian was already in the best bedroom. "We left him on the lawn, tethered to the rain-gauge," replied Dicky. "Ah, there she is!" Forgetting the goat and all other impediments to the course of true love, he hurried to the foot of the staircase. III Miss Welwyn and Mrs. Carmyle descended the stairs together, Sylvia stalking majestically in the rear. Tilly wore a short navy-blue skirt and a soft silk shirt belonging to Connie--garments which, owing to the mysterious readiness with which the female form accommodates itself to the wardrobe of its neighbour, fitted her to perfection. In this case, however, the miracle was less noticeable than usual, for the two girls were of much the same height and build, their chief points of difference being their hair and eyes. In reply to her swain’s tender enquiries, Miss Welwyn intimated that she was now warm and dry. "In that case," replied Dicky, "come and sit up to the tea-table and take some nourishment." On her way to her tea Tilly was met by Mr. Mainwaring senior, with outstretched hands. "My dear young lady," he said, with shy cordiality, "we owe you a most humble apology." Tilly, flushing prettily, asked why.