8o The Real Charlotte. 



go outside Tally Ho, but— but — I think I'd better go back 

 and look for my hat " — he ended abruptly, retreating into 

 the lane just as Charlotte drew up the black horse and 

 opened her mouth to deliver herself of her indignation. 



CHAPTER XII. 



The broad limestone steps at Bruff looked across the lawn 

 to the lake, and to the south. They were flanked on either 

 hand by stone balustrades which began and ended in a pot 

 of blazing scarlet geraniums, and on their topmost plateau 

 on this brilliant ist of July, the four Bruff dogs sat on their 

 haunches and gazed with anxious despondency in at the 

 open hall-door. For the last half-hour Max and Dinah, the 

 indoor dogs, had known that an expedition was toward. 

 They had seen Pamela put on a hat that certainly was not 

 her garden one, and as certainly lacked the veil that be- 

 tokened the abhorred ceremony of church-going. They 

 knew this hat well, and at the worst it usually meant a choir 

 practice ; but taken in connection with a blue serge 

 skirt and the packing of a luncheon basket, they almost 

 ventured to hope it portended a picnic on the lake. They 

 adored picnics. In the first place, the outdoor dogs were 

 always left at home, which alone would have imparted a 

 delicious flavour to any entertainment, and in the second, 

 all dietary rules were remitted for the occasion, and they 

 were permitted to raven unchecked upon chicken bones, fat 

 slices of ham, and luscious leavings of cream when the pack- 

 ing-up time came. There was, however, mingled with this 

 enchanting prospect, the fear that they might be left behind, 

 and from the sounding of the first note of preparation they 

 had never let Pamela out of their sight. Whenever her 

 step was heard through the long passages, there had gone 

 with it the scurrying gallop of the two little waiters on pro- 

 vidence, and when her arrangements had culminated in the 

 luncheon basket, their agitation had become so poignant 

 that a growling game of play under the table, got up merely 

 to pass the time, turned into an acrimonious squabble, and 

 caused their ejection to the hall-door steps by Lady Dysart. 

 Now, sitting outside the door, they listened with trembling 



