And then had Peggy an inspiration! A flash of mischievous enjoyment lit up the hazel eyes, but before Arthur had time to discover it, it had disappeared and been replaced by an innocent little smile. "You might do a good turn to Eunice by cheering her up after my loss! It would be beneficial for you to make the effort, and the Rollos would be grateful. It is not easy to make her talk, but you would find it worth the effort, for she has sweet thoughts, and--on occasion--a pretty little wit of her own!" "On somewhat rare occasions, I should say," replied Arthur, smiling; but all the same he looked pleased at the suggestion, and the smile lingered on his lips, as at some pleasant remembrance. When the whistle sounded and the train began to move onwards, he waved his hand and nodded a cheery assent. "Right, Peg! For the credit of the family, your pupil shall not be allowed to fall back into her old ways. I'll do my duty towards her." "Mind you do!" cried Peggy, and flopped down on her seat with a soft explosion of laughter. "Ha! ha!" she cried aloud. "Ha! ha!" and flourished her magazine in triumph. The next moment she became aware that an old lady seated in the opposite corner was regarding her with glances of apprehension, and stealthily fumbling for her umbrella as a possible means of defence. "She thinks I am mad!" quoth Miss Peggy to herself, "How truly gratifying! I must foster the delusion." She turned her magazine ostentatiously upside down, smiled vacantly at the pictures, and feigning to fall asleep, watched beneath her eyelashes the compassionate glances with which she was regarded, shaking the while with inward laughter! CHAPTER SEVENTEEN. A week after her return to Yew Hedge, Peggy was on her way to tea at the vicarage, when she was joined by Rob Darcy, who jumped over a wall at her approach, and exhibited an extraordinary amount of surprise at seeing her, considering how long he had been on the outlook for just such an event. "Where are you going, my pretty maid?" he demanded, "and--" "I'm going to the vicarage, sir," she said promptly, with an accompaniment of old-fashioned curtsey which brought the twinkle into Rob's eyes. However solemn he might be, he never could resist a smile at Peggy's saucy ways, and to-day indeed he did not appear solemn at all, but unusually beaming and radiant.