Le lifted his head, and took his elbows off the lady's chair, only to see his two young cousins, Wynnette and Elva, standing on each side of him. He caught them both, the one in his right arm, the other in his left, and drew them to his side. "We are so glad you have come back, Le! We missed you so awfully yesterday--Wynnette and I did!" said Elva. "Yes, the house was as dull as ditch water--I mean the mansion was excessively melancholy!" added Wynnette. "I am sorry to hear that! And all on account of my absence?" laughingly inquired Leonidas. "Largely, at any rate." "My darlings," said Mrs. Force, "I thought you were in the schoolroom, busy with Miss Meeke in dressing dolls for the Sunday school Christmas tree." "So we were, mamma, but Dr. Ingle came, and we all went down into the drawing room to see him," replied Elva. "He always does cry for her--I mean inquire for Miss Meeke--and she always goes down to see him, and makes us go down with her. And he doesn't like it at all, and neither do we. Why, the other evening, when he came just after tea, when you had a headache and Odalite was sitting with you, and we were in the drawing room with Miss Meeke, after a little while, he said: "'Do you not think that it is very unhealthy for children to sit up so late?' "And she laughed and said: "'Their regular bedtime is nine o'clock. It is not yet seven.' "And it is always so. He always looks at us as if he was saying to himself: "'Two is company, Four is trumpery.' "But this time, thank goodness, we happened to hear Le's voice in the hall, and we skedaddled--I mean we left the drawing room and came in here, mamma, dear," said Wynnette. "What did Ingle talk about, or find to talk about, while you two were hanging around him like a wet blanket?" inquired Le, who often amused himself at Wynnette's expense. "Oh, not much. He couldn't make love to Nat right before our four looking eyes--I mean he couldn't pay his addresses to Miss Meeke in our presence. Neither could he talk to Nat about old Col. Notley's gout, or old Mrs. Gouph's dropsy, like he does to mamma--I mean he could not discuss medical science with Miss Meeke as he might with a matronly lady. And so there wasn't much to talk about," said Wynnette. "Oh, don't you remember, he said that Col. Anglesea had gone?" inquired Elva. "Gone!" echoed Le and Mrs. Force, in one voice. "Oh, yes!" replied Wynnette. "The horrid beat has made tracks--vamoosed the ranche--absquatulated--that is to say, Col Anglesea, H.E.I.C.S., and all the rest of it, has taken his final departure." "Thank Heaven!" earnestly breathed Mrs. Force. "But is it certain, Wynnette?" she almost immediately inquired.