"But it can't be helped," I said; "girl companions haven't come in my way. You know there are scarcely any young people at all in our neighbourhood at home." "I know," said mother regretfully, "and with our having been away so much, I seem to have rather fallen out of touch with my own old friends, some of whom have daughters of about your age. I have been thinking a great deal about it lately." No more was said at the time, but I still felt far from anxious to make acquaintance with the new arrivals. The very thought of it overpowered me with shyness. Strange to say, the acquaintance was brought about by the only one of us three who had seen nothing to admire in the pretty sisters. I think it was on the third day after they had come, that Moore burst into our room one afternoon, his face rosy with excitement. "Mother?" he said, "Reggie! I--I really couldn't help it, but--I couldn't be rude, you know! Those people that you've been talking about--the girl you think so pretty--well, they were sitting near me while I was having my afternoon coffee,"--Moore loved of all things to have his coffee out in the garden by himself at a little table--"and listening to the band, and I heard them talking about the excursion to Oberwald, where we went last week, you know, and they were all in a muddle about it. They wanted to walk part of the way, and they had a map that they couldn't make out; and at last one of them--the youngish-looking man, turned to me and said, `If you have been here some time, perhaps you can explain this route to us,' and of course I could, and I put them right in a minute. I told them the best way was to drive to that funny little inn where we had dinner, you remember, and then to walk the rest up to the view place, and get their carriage again when they came back; and they thanked me awfully, and--" Here Moore paused at last, half out of breathlessness, half, I shrewdly suspected, because he felt a little shy of relating the sequel of his story. "They're not bad sort of people," he concluded somewhat lamely, "and I think the girl _is_ rather pretty when you see her close to." "_Rather_ pretty," I repeated; "why, she's perfectly lovely, my dear boy. But you haven't finished. What more have you to tell? Did they invite you to be their guide?" I spoke jestingly, but, to my surprise, I saw that my words had hit the mark, for Moore's fair face, which was already flushed with excitement, grew still redder. "Not exactly," he said; "but I saw they'd have _liked_ to ask me, so I said if it would be any good I wouldn't mind going with them--it's to-morrow they want to go--and--and--that I daresayed my sister would come too." "Moore!" I exclaimed, aghast. And "My dear boy!" said mother. Our exclamations put Moore on the defensive. "Well," he said, rather indignantly, "I don't see that there's any harm in it. You've been awfully wanting to know them--" "I'm sure _I_ haven't," I interrupted.