"Yes; go on." "Well, the Government ultimately paid the expenses of the commission,--we shamed them into it,--and I got my money back. When I came to reinvest it, instead of putting it into the old safe place, I devoted most of it to buying shares in a wild-cat Australian scheme--" "Which has gone bust?" said Pip. "Not quite. But the shares are down to the bottom mark, and there is no dividend. I believe the thing is sound, and that in a year or two we shall be all right again. Meanwhile--meanwhile, children, I am extremely hard up!" To people who have never been hungrier than an unpunctual cook can make them, the prospect of actual poverty is always rather sobering. There was a long pause. Presently Pipette slipped a soft and protecting arm round her father's neck. "Dad," she asked, "why did you buy those queer shares?" "To get rich quick." "Why quick?" "Because"--the doctor hesitated, surveyed his son and daughter rather doubtfully, and finally proceeded--"because human life in general is an uncertain thing, old lady, and my life in particular happens to be--don't choke me, child!" Pipette's encircling arm had grown suddenly rigid, and her father heard her heart flutter. "Wh--what do you mean, Daddy?" "I mean that I possess what insurance companies call 'a bad life.' Nothing serious--slight heart trouble, that's all. I shall have to be careful for a bit, and all will be well. It's the cracked pitcher that lasts longest." Dr. Wilmot had unconsciously dropped into the easy and optimistic tones which he reserved for nervous patients. After a little further conversation Pip and Pipette, somewhat reassured, retired to bed. Next morning Pip departed to Rustleford, but not before he had conferred briefly with Pipette. "Do you think I ought to leave the Governor?" he said. Pipette puckered her alabaster brow thoughtfully. "Yes; why not?" she replied at length. "It isn't as if he were in bed or anything. He'll go to his work just the same whether you are here or not. I have made him faithfully promise to come away for a holiday for the whole of September, so we must just let him have his way just now. You go and enjoy yourself, little man. I'll look after him. Besides"--Pipette's angelic features relaxed into the suspicion of a smirk--"I heard yesterday that a particular friend of yours was to be there." "Who? Linklater?" "No--a lady." "Not Madeline--" "Dear no. I thought you had forgotten her. Can't you guess?" Pip turned a delicate plum colour. "Ah, now you are getting nearer," said Pipette. "It's your little flapper friend, Elsie Innes. How long is it since you saw her?" "About a year, I think. She has been away from town a lot lately," replied Pip, rather incautiously. "She has put her hair up," said Pipette. II That evening Pip arrived at Rustleford.