"Oh, you'd better not go on all by yourself, my dear," she said uneasily. "Do try and find something to draw near here--a cloud or a tree, or a bit of the road, or something. It's not the thing for a girl of your age to be seen walking about the roads alone, you know." "I don't think that need trouble us in these solitudes," answered Kitty laughing. "There's nothing except kites and crows to see what I do, and I don't imagine that _they_ will be much shocked at my proceedings." "Don't you be too sure of there being only kites and crows," returned Mrs. Rollin; "people often turn up so unexpectedly! There _might_ be some acquaintance of ours travelling here now; and if so, he or she would be sure to meet us just when we didn't want to be met, and then go home and say that I let you go about alone just as you pleased, and that I took no care whatever of you! Besides, supposing your sketching were to take you off the road, perhaps we should not see where you were, and go past without knowing it. I should be in such a fidget for fear of that happening, that I know I shouldn't enjoy the drive _a bit_ till I had you all safe with me again." "You needn't be uneasy on that score," said Kitty, looking at her watch; "the jingling of the horses' bells could hardly fail to inform me of your approach; but I won't trust only to that. I'll keep an eye on the time, and as I can reckon certainly on your not leaving here for another hour, I can calculate when to return to the road if I should turn off it anywhere. I assure you I haven't the least intention of doing anything so silly as to let myself be left behind, so you can drive along with a perfectly tranquil mind, and an absolute certainty that I am somewhere on ahead, until you see me waiting for you." Here I took the liberty of joining in their conversation. Having been sitting still and cramped up on the box for some time, I felt much disposed to stretch my legs; so I said, "I shall be very glad to accompany Miss Mervyn if she has no objection. Then I could stay on the road near where she is, if she happens to leave it; and that would make it quite impossible for the carriage to go past her by mistake." "Of _course_, that's the way to manage it," exclaimed Mrs. Rollin; "how stupid of me not to have thought of it at first! Yes, Kitty--you take Jill with you; it will look so much better than for you to be wandering on by yourself; and then my mind will be quite easy about not passing you by accident." "Very well," returned Kitty; "I'm afraid it'll be rather dull for her dawdling about at my heels--only I daresay it won't be very lively to stay here with nothing to do either, so she may as well come. We'll start at once, Jill, please; for I want to have as much time as possible for sketching before the carriage overtakes us."