'little china tea-things and delightful dinner-sets;

trumpets, drums, and baby-horses; balls in coloured nets.'

what the toys do at night.

just as she said these words rosalys became conscious that some one else was standing beside her. she looked round. a little girl, simply but neatly dressed, had come into the bazaar, and had made her way noiselessly up to where the rectory children stood. she was a slight, delicate-looking child, taller than bridget, though not seemingly much older. she had large, earnest, perhaps somewhat wistful, brown eyes, which made her face attractive and interesting when you looked at it closely, though at first sight it was too small and pale to catch one's attention. she stood there quietly and very grave, her eyes fixed on alie vane's lovely and sweet face, yet without the slightest shadow of forwardness [67]or freedom in her gaze. an expression of great surprise, mingled with a little pity, flitted across her when she heard the elder girl's words—'what a pity, biddy, you don't care for dolls!' and it was with intense interest she listened to bridget's reply.

'i would care for them, alie, if i had any one to play at them with me. but you think you're too big—i think you've always thought yourself too big—and rough's a boy. so how could i care for dolls all alone?'

bride's voice had taken the peculiar little whine it always did when she was at all put out. it was comical and yet a little irritating; but just now neither rosalys nor randolph was inclined to be irritated. alie only laughed.

'well, i'm not forcing you to play with dolls, nor to buy them,' she said. 'only these little tiny chairs are so funny.'

a voice behind her made her start. yet it was a very soft, rather timid little voice.

'you can play much nicer with little dolls alone—a good many little dolls—than with one or two big ones,' it said.

biddy turned round and stared at the small maiden. she did not mean to be rude; she was only [68]surprised and curious; but her rosy cheeks and round eyes looked much less sweet and gentle than alie's pretty face and soft long-lashed blue eyes, which had always a rather appealing expression. biddy opened her mouth but did not speak. the little stranger grew very red. rosalys spoke to her gently.

'yes,' she said, 'i should think little dolls would be much more amusing to play with alone. you could make them act things, and you could make houses for them. biddy, wouldn't you like to furnish our old doll-house fresh?'

'i don't know,' said biddy rather surlily. 'you'd call me a baby.'

'indeed i wouldn't,' said alie eagerly. 'it would be such a nice play for you. you might buy two or three of those sweet little chairs as a beginning.'

'they are particular nice,' put in the shopwoman. 'it isn't often they're made so small, not so cheap. and what were you wanting this morning, my dear?' she went on to the little newcomer.

'if you please, i want two of them—of the chairs,' the child replied, holding out two pennies. her face was still rather red, but she glanced with admiration mingled with gratitude at rosalys.[69]

the shopwoman handed her the two little chairs, but she did not seem quite satisfied.

'would you like to choose for yourself?' said the woman with a smile. she seemed used to the ways and manners of small customers—of this small customer especially, perhaps—and she made way for her as the little girl, well pleased, came close to the counter. then for a minute or two the child stood absorbed, weighing the comparative merits of blue and pink cotton chair seats, and of dark and light coloured wood. at last, with a little sigh of mingled anxiety and satisfaction, she held out two to the woman.

'these, please,' she said; and, without waiting for her purchases to be wrapped up, she turned, and with a glance at the other children, a shadowy smile for half an instant wavering over her face, she quietly made her way out of the shop.

'poor little girl,' said rosalys. 'you quite frightened her when she spoke, bridget. why did you glare at her so?'

'i didn't glare at her; you're very unkind, alie, to say so,' said biddy, in her complaining tone.

'oh, i say, biddy, don't be so grumpy,' randolph put in, 'and do fix what you're going to buy. there's [70]something over here that papa would like, i know. a whistle, such a jolly strong one, and only two-pence. it would do for him to call me in by, and much less trouble than ringing that clumsy bell.'

biddy went off to look at the whistle. it was a very neat one, in the shape of a dog's head, and she at once decided upon it, for she had great faith in rough's opinion as to what papa would like. then ensued another weighty consultation at the penny stall, where alie had meantime bought a pair of tiny dolls, which she meant to dress in secret as a 'surprise' for her little sister—'it would be so nice if she took to dressing dolls for herself,' she thought—and a yard measure for herself. bridget's perplexities ended in the purchase of one of the neat little chairs and a small table and a tiny china dog.

'they'd be pretty as ornaments on my mantelpiece even if i never have a doll-house,' she said. 'and if i did have the doll-house done up, it must have a dog, to keep watch, you know, alie.'

at the entrance of the bazaar they ran against mr. redding. he looked hot and hurried and was walking very fast, but at sight of them he stopped suddenly, and then, came up to randolph.

'would you excuse me, sir,' he began, 'if i were [71]to ask you a great favour? i have just been at the rectory to see mr. vane and i am hurrying off to brewton by the next train, for unfortunately there is something wrong with one of the organ stops and i must get a man to come over at once. it would never do not to be able to use the organ properly the first sunday mr. vane is here. i find it later than i thought, and i had undertaken to leave this note at mr. fairchild's in pier street for the rector. you will pass there on your way home, unless you particularly want to go by sandy common?'

'oh no,' said rough, 'we don't mind. of course i'll leave it for you, mr. redding. is there an answer?'

but mr. redding, having thrust the note into the boy's hands, was already some paces off. he called out some rather incoherent reply, of which 'thank you, thank you,' were the only intelligible words.

'what a fussy little man,' said alie. 'but papa said he was proud of his organ, and it would be horrid at church without it. which is pier street, rough, do you know?'

'not a bit of it—nor which is mr. fairchild's shop, or if it is a shop. he only said at mr. fairchild's,' replied randolph. 'i suppose any one can tell us however; it's not like london.'[72]

the 'parade' at its farther end turned into the docks. the children walked on, tempted by the sight of the tall masts in front of them.

'wouldn't i like to see over some of those ships,' said rough. just then a little group of sailors, looking little more than boys for the most part, in spite of their bronzed and sunburnt skin, passed them, chattering and whistling cheerily. they belonged to a vessel but newly arrived from some southern port. one could see how happy they were to be on english ground again—some of them maybe belonged to seacove itself.

'would you like to be a sailor, rough?' said alie.

randolph hesitated.

'no, i don't think so, but i like seeing ships and hearing about voyages.'

'i'd like to be a sailor,' said bridget suddenly. rosalys and her brother could not help laughing.

'what a funny sailor you'd make,' they said. and indeed it was not easy to imagine her short, compact, roundabout figure climbing up masts and darting about with the monkey-like swiftness of a smart little middy.

'i don't think you'd like it for long, miss biddy,'[73] said jane, the young maid. 'i came once, in my last place, from scotland by sea, and though i wasn't at all ill, it was dreadful rough work. i was glad to feel my feet on firm land again.'

'was it very stormy?' asked all the children together. 'and how long were you in the ship? oh, do tell us about it, jane.'

jane's value rose immensely on the spot. she was not a particularly lively girl generally, but this was quite a discovery.

'was it a very big ship?' asked bridget, 'or quite a teeny-weeny one, just big enough to hold all of us like?'

'you stupid little goose,' said rough. 'you mean a boat—a ship is never as little as that.'

'boats and ships is all the same,' biddy persisted; 'and i heard papa say there was a scotch boat to seacove twice a week—there now, rough.'

'oh well—but that's only a way of speaking. papa didn't mean a real boat—a little boat. now, if we could go down those steps right among all the ships i'd soon show you the difference.'

'but we mustn't, rough,' said alie anxiously. 'not without papa or somebody big—any way we must ask leave first.'[74]

'well, i suppose it would hardly do for you girls,' rough replied. 'but of course papa would let me go. he and i walked all round the docks last night, and we should have gone to the end of the pier if——'

'oh, that reminds me,' said rosalys. 'haven't we passed pier street? i believe that must be it opposite. yes, i see it put up. now we must find out mr. fairchild's. can't you ask somebody, rough?'

randolph, though he would not have confessed it, was a little shy of accosting any of the few passers-by. just because there were so few and the place was so quiet, the children felt themselves rather uncomfortably conspicuous, and they could not help noticing that here and there the inhabitants came rather unnecessarily to their doors to look at them as they passed. it was not done rudely, and indeed it was only natural that the arrival of a new rector and his family at seacove should attract a good deal of attention, considering that old dr. bunton and his wife had been fixtures there for more years than mr. vane himself had been in the world.

'oh yes,' said rough in an off-hand way, 'i can [75]ask any one. but we may as well walk on a little and look about us. if it is a shop we'll see the name.'

just then there came out of a shop in front of them—a baker's, i think it was—a small figure which walked on slowly some paces before them.

'that's the little girl of the dolls' chairs,' exclaimed bridget. 'shall i run on and ask her? i don't mind.'

'you never do,' said alie, and indeed biddy was most comfortably untroubled with shyness.

'yes, run on and see if she knows where it is.'

off trotted biddy, her precious purchases tightly clasped in her hands.

'little girl,' she called, when she got close to the other child.

the little girl turned, and looked at biddy full in the face with her grave earnest eyes without speaking. and for half a moment bridget did feel something approaching to shyness, but it gave her a comfortable fellow-feeling to see that the small stranger was also still carrying the little chairs she had bought. they were not done up in paper like biddy's—she had not waited for that,—but she had covered them loosely with a very clean, very diminu[76]tive pocket-handkerchief, and bridget saw quite well what they were.

'please,' biddy went on, slightly breathless—it did not take much to put biddy out of breath—'please can you tell us where mr. fairchild's is in this street? rough's got a letter for him, but we don't know if it's a shop or only a house.'

'mr. fairchild's,' repeated the little girl, 'he's my father; it's our shop. i'll show it you,' and a faint pink flush of excitement came into her pale face. these were the rectory young ladies, she had been sure of it when she saw them in the bazaar. fancy—wouldn't mother be surprised to see them coming in with her? and father, who had said she'd maybe never see them. was that the french ma'amselle with them?—and celestina glanced back at honest jane dodson, from 'grandmamma's' village, walking along in her usual rather depressed fashion—if so, french ma'amselles were very like english nurse-maids, thought her little observer.

'how funny!' said biddy, quite interested. and celestina began to like her better—she had been rather disappointed in biddy at the bazaar. she was not pretty, and celestina, though she scarcely knew it, was very much taken by beauty, and she [77]had been rather, almost a little rude—at least celestina knew that she would have been told she was rude had she behaved as bridget had done. but now she seemed so bright and natural—'she is quite a little girl,' thought celestina; 'and perhaps if she's the youngest she's treated rather like a baby.' 'how very funny!' biddy repeated. 'i must run back and tell alie and rough. and have you a doll-house, little girl, and will you show it me? i've bought a chair too and a table. perhaps if i saw your doll-house and teeny-weeny dolls i'd get to like to play with them too. we have a—— oh, alie,' as alie, surprised at the length and apparent friendliness of the conversation proceeding between the two children, hastened up. 'oh, alie, isn't it funny? she's his little girl. the note's for her house.'

rosalys turned her soft blue eyes full on celestina.

'how like an angel she is!' thought celestina.

'who's?' said alie. 'do you mean mr. fairchild's? why don't you explain properly, biddy?'

'yes, that's it,' said the stranger child. 'i'm celestina fairchild. i'll show you the shop.'

'thank you,' said the elder girl. but biddy [78]would scarcely let her say the two words. her eyes were very open, looking rounder than ever.

'what a funny name!' she exclaimed. biddy's collection of adjectives did not seem to be a very large one. 'do say it again; oh, please do.'

'biddy, i think you are rather rude,' said alie severely. 'you wouldn't like any one to say your name was funny.'

'i didn't mean——' began bridget as usual, but celestina quietly interrupted.

'i don't mind; she's only a little girl. don't be vexed with her,' she said to alie with a sort of childish dignity that seemed to suit her. 'i think my name is funny; mother called it me 'cos—, but p'raps we'd better go on. i've been out a good while and mother might be wondering what i was doing, and then if the letter for father matters much——'

'yes,' said alie; 'you're quite right; we'd better be quick.'

so the little party set off again up the street. biddy and celestina—for now that biddy's interest was awakened in the stranger child she had no idea of giving her up to the others—in front; rosalys and her brother following; jane dodson, discreet and resigned, bringing up the rear.[79]

they had not far to walk, but bridget's tongue made the most of its opportunities.

'have you got a doll-house, then?' she inquired of celestina; and as the little girl shook her head rather dolefully in reply, 'what do you get furniture' (biddy called it 'fenniture') 'for, then? is it for ornaments?'

'no; i've got a room, though not a doll-house,' celestina replied. 'it once was a kitchen, but i played with it too much when i was little, and the things got spoilt. so father did it up for me with new paper like a parlour—a best parlour, you know. not a parlour like you use every day.'

'i don't know what a parlour is,' said biddy; 'we haven't got one at the rectory, and we hadn't one in london either. we've only got a schoolroom, and a dining-room, and a droind-room, and a study for papa, and——'

'i forgot,' said celestina. 'i remember mother told me that they don't call them parlours in big houses. it's a drawing-room i mean; only the dolls have their dinner in it, because i haven't got a dining-room. they haven't any bedroom either; but i put them to bed in a very nice little basket, with a handkerchief and cotton-wool. it's very comfortable.'[80]

'yes?' said bridget, greatly interested, 'and what more? tell me, please. it sounds so nice.'

'sometimes,' celestina went on—'sometimes i take them to the country—on the table, you know—and then i build them a house with books. it does very well if it's only a visit to the country, but it wouldn't do for a always house, 'cos it has to be cleared away for dinner.'

biddy's mouth and eyes were wide open.

'we have dinner in the dining-room with papa and mamma,' she said; 'so we don't need to clear away off the schoolroom table except for tea. that's in london. i don't know where we're to have tea here, when miss millet comes back. don't you have dinner with your papa and mamma—when they have luncheon, you know?'

in her turn celestina stared.

'i don't know how you mean. we all have dinner in the parlour,' she said, 'like—like everybody. but this is our shop,' she added, stopping and turning so as to face the others. 'if you please, miss,' she went on to rosalys, 'this is father's shop. if you'll come in, he'll be there.'

not a little surprised was mr. fairchild to see his daughter showing the way in to the three children, [81]whom he rightly and at once guessed to be the new rector's family. celestina looked quite composed; though so very quiet and silent a child, she was neither shy nor awkward. she was too little taken up with herself to have the foolish ideas which make so many children bashful and unready: it never entered her head that other people were either thinking of or looking at her. so she was free to notice what she could do and when she was wanted, and her simple kindly little heart was always pleased to render others a service, however small.

'father,' she said in her soft voice; 'it is young master vane and the young ladies with a letter for you.'

mr. fairchild came forward, out from behind the counter. he made a little bow to rosalys, who was the foremost of the group, and a little smile brightened his thin face as his eyes rested on hers. every one was attracted by alie, and her voice was particularly gentle as she spoke to mr. fairchild, for the first thought that darted through her mind was, 'how very ill he looks, poor man—much worse than papa.'

'it is a letter for you, mr. fairchild,' she said. 'mr. redding asked my brother to give it to you. it is from pa—from mr. vane.'[82]

'but i don't know if there is any answer,' said rough. 'redding didn't say. please see, will you?'

rosalys and randolph and jane in the doorway stood waiting while he read. but biddy's eyes were hard at work. she caught celestina as she was disappearing through an inner door.

'oh, please,' she said, 'don't go away. won't you show me your dolls? and oh, please, what is that funny little window up there in the wall? i would so like to look through it.'[83]