At two o'clock Janet was waiting in front of the rectory. She was to drive Mrs. Todd to the station and then go on to Simpsons' and deliver the letter. Alice and Mildred came out on the steps to see them off, and their faces mirrored their thoughts. Mrs. Todd had never let them drive Clinker, and they could not understand why Janet should be allowed the privilege. There was an air of mystery about their cousin's sudden departure, and Janet holding the reins and watching Clinker's ears importantly added to it. "When are you going to bring the carriage back?" Alice inquired. "Oh, I won't be late," Janet answered evasively. Mrs. Todd's "Hurry along now, child, or we'll miss the train," put a stop to further questions. "I do hope you won't be away very long," Janet said softly when they were on their way. "Something exciting, that I can't tell you about, is going to happen, and I think I will simply die if you are not here." "Mercy, child, you sound mysterious,"--Mrs. Todd laughed. "Why can't you tell me about it?" Janet did not reply; it would sound so rude to say, "Grandmother won't let me." Mrs. Todd understood her silence and laughed again. "Well, I can see that I'll have to come back and find out for myself then," she said; "when is it going to happen?" "Soon, I hope," Janet told her. "It can't happen too soon for me." Mrs. Todd considered for a moment. "Of course I haven't the slightest idea when I will come back. It all depends on when we find that boy. Oh, but I shall give him such a talking to when I find him. Why couldn't he have waited until to-morrow and saved all this fuss?" "It was really to save fuss that he ran away," Janet reminded her. "Poor Peter! I just hate to think that maybe he's hungry, but just the same it was a splendid thing for him to do." "Splendid, fiddlesticks!" Mrs. Todd ejaculated, as they drew up to the station platform. She said good-by very briskly, and Janet watched her, preceded by a porter carrying her bags, get into the parlor car. Clinker did not approve of the noisy engine, and she turned his head and started off before the train pulled out. It was a long drive to the Simpsons', and she let the horse set his own gait, and so it was well over an hour later before they reached the Simpsons' place. Janet, remembering the style in which Mr. Simpson had driven in the day before, touched up Clinker with the tip of the whip and the cart swung into the gateway and rolled briskly down the drive. Mr. Simpson came out of the barn at the sound of Clinker's hoofs, and was as startled as Janet could have wished. "How do you do, Mr. Simpson!" she said in her sweetest manner. "I have a letter for you here from Mrs. Todd. She asked me to deliver it to you." She held out the envelope, and Mr. Simpson, after carefully wiping his hands on his overalls and finding his glasses, took it from her. "Where's Mrs. Todd herself?" he asked sulkily.