The two little nightgowns on the floor and the jug of water in the middle of the room, first attracted her attention; but the room being partially dark, she did not perceive that the children had disappeared. She got up and opened the shutters, and then stood staring at the empty beds, the sheets and blankets scattered in all directions. And then she advanced hurriedly to Humphrey's bed, to see if the children were hidden beneath it. She looked also under the wardrobe, behind the curtains, in the toy cupboard. But her astonishment changed to alarm when she found their clothes were missing, and she ran into the day-nursery, and hung over the stairs shouting, "M. Humphrey! M. Miles!" Not being dressed, she could not go down, so she rang the bell violently, and began to put on her things as quickly as she could. The housemaid who answered the bell could give no account of the young gentlemen, but volunteered to search the house for them. While she was absent Virginie's eyes fell on Miles's flannel shirt, and she wrung her hands in despair. "They must have gone out," said the housemaid, returning; "the conservatory door is wide open, and so is the outer door." "Impossible!" stuttered Virginie, in her broken English; "their walking boots have not mounted; they have not but the thin shoes of the house!" "They must be out," repeated the housemaid, "for I've hunted every corner. Have they taken their hats?" Virginie strode across the room, and opened a drawer. "Mon Dieu!" she exclaimed, when she saw it was empty. "But, I say," she continued, gesticulating violently with both hands, "that M. Miles will catch the cold, the cough, the croup. See there, Jeanne! he has not the flannel shirt he carries always. His chest will inflame. He will die!" She began to put on her bonnet. "There they are!" exclaimed Jane, who had gone to the window. "Look there! out in that field!" "In the fields? sitting on the wet grass!" said Virginie in horror, as she distinguished the two little figures in the distance, seated under a tree. "Entrez, entrez, à l'instant!" she screamed to the children, though they were much too far off to hear. She seized her shawl and ran down-stairs. The little boys were coming homewards when she got into the garden, and she hurried on to meet them. Miles had hold of his brother's hand, and was walking rather wearily; but Humphrey, with his head still full of the success of his morning sport, disregarded alike Miles's languor and Virginie's infuriated appearance. "Regardez!" he shouted in triumph, holding up his basket of mushrooms. At the sight of Miles's wet boots and flushed cheeks, Virginie forgot all the reproaches she had prepared for Humphrey and merely with lofty disdain confiscating his mushrooms, she took Miles up in her arms and carried him home. Humphrey trotted along by her side, entreating to have his basket restored, but she took no notice of him.