Miss Patten's School 



carried the small bundle which contained 

 my entire wardrobe. 



Was there ever on this earth, for either 

 boy or girl, was there ever such a home- 

 going as that, so utterly, ridiculously, per- 

 fectly happy ? I think not. I skipped, I 

 sang, I ran all round Ridley. I gathered 

 whole armfuls of wildflowers, and only 

 laughed when the nettles stung me ; and I 

 ate an enormous chunk of gingerbread 

 which he brought out of his pocket, for my 

 usual appetite had returned with my happi- 

 ness. 



We really had a lovely time. Sometimes 

 Ridley carried me on his shoulder to rest 

 my dusty little feet : (the shoestrings con- 

 stantly came untied, but somehow that did 

 not distress me at all). He cut me wands 

 from the hedge and made such fine whistle- 

 pipes, and several times we rested under a 

 tree and had furious games with head- 

 choppers. 



One remark of mine caused my cousin 

 great merriment. An old lady had once 

 said in my hearing, thinking, I suppose, 

 to please my mother, " So this is little 

 Henry, your youngest, ma'am? Ah, he's 

 the flower of the flock ! " I remembered this 

 for some reason or another as we tramped 

 along the dusty road, and I gave a little 

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