"Oh dear, no! it was only one of those horrid peacocks," answered Miss Perceval, waving her fine pocket handkerchief. "They are the most disagreeable, noisy creatures in the world! If mama ever keeps one, I shall get him a singing-master, or put a muzzle on his mouth!" "But surely there is something splashing in the river at a great distance. Do you not see that!--what can it be?" "Nothing at all, depend upon it! I could bet the value of my pocket handkerchief, ten guineas, that it is nothing. Officers who live constantly in barracks are so unaccustomed to the country, that they seem to expect something wonderful shall happen every minute! That is probably a salmon or a minnow." "I am determined, however, to see. If you are quite sure this is a salmon, will you promise to eat for your dinner whatever we find, provided I can catch it?" "Certainly! unless you catch a whale! Oh! I have dropped my pocket handkerchief,--pray pick it up!" Captain Digby did so; but without waiting to examine the pattern, he instantly ran forward, and to his own very great astonishment, saw Laura up to her knees in the river, trying to scramble out, while her face was white with terror, and her limbs trembled with cold, like a poodle dog newly washed. "Why, here you are again!--the very same little girl that I caught in the morning," cried he, laughing heartily, while he carefully pulled Laura towards the bank, though, by doing so, he splashed his beautiful uniform most distressingly. "We have had a complete game at bo-peep to-day, my friend! but here comes a lady who has promised to eat you up, therefore I shall have no more trouble." Laura would have consented to be eaten up with pleasure, rather than encounter Lady Harriet's eye, who really did not recognize her for the first minute, as no one can suppose what a figure she appeared. The last clean frock had been covered entirely over with mud--her hair was dripping with water--and her new yellow sash might be any colour in the world. Laura felt so completely ashamed she could not look up from the ground, and so sorry she could not speak, while hot tears mingled themselves with the cold water which trickled down her face. "What is the matter! Who is this?" cried Lady Harriet, hurrying up to the place where they stood. "Laura!! Impossible!!!" "Let me put on a pair of spectacles, for I cannot believe my eyes without them!" said Major Graham. "Ah! sure enough it is Laura, and such a looking Laura as I never saw before. You must have had a nice cold bath!" "I have heard," continued Lady Harriet, "that naughty people are often ducked in the water as a punishment, and in that respect I am sure Laura deserves what she has got, and a great deal more." "She reminds me," observed Captain Digby, "of the Chinese bird which has no legs, so it constantly flies about from place to place, never a moment at rest."