THE SILVER FOX 179 



sight of the dishevelled vision in top-boots 

 and a man's hat emerging from the mist, 

 the children seemed disposed to fly, but 

 finally came to her. Her heart sank as she 

 saw their hesitating, timorous faces. Could 

 she make them understand? To every 

 request they returned the same whispered 

 *' We will, miss," with their lovely eyes cast 

 down in shyness, but half-a-crown and a 

 glimpse of the figure lying by the fence 

 quickened their sense of the seriousness of 

 the matter. They were taking their father's 

 dinner to where he was working on the 

 line, they would run on to Letter Kyle 

 with a note to the doctor, they would send 

 people to help. Their nimble red feet 

 seemed to promise speed; Lady Susan 

 snatched out her pencil-case, but on what 

 was the note to be written ? It came to 

 her like a flash that she had seen Hugh put 

 a letter into his breast-pocket before he 

 started ; the inside of the envelope would do. 

 She went back to him, and with a shrink- 

 ing hand moved the inert form and found 



