THE GRAND-GIRLS 309 
equally dexterous at either ; and Sir Tom watched 
her, too, with an admiring eye. I once heard 
him say : — 
“ Milady Laura, it is the regret of me life that 
I came into the world a generation too soon.” 
Laura sometimes went away — she called it 
“going home,” but we scoffed the term — and 
the doldrums blew until she returned. Sir Tom 
dined with us nearly every evening through the 
fall and early winter; and when he, and Kate 
and Tom and the grand-girls, and the Kyrles, 
and Laura were at Four Oaks, there was little 
to be desired. The grand-girls were nearly five 
and seven now, and they were a great help to 
the Headman. “My terrier was no closer to my 
heels from morning to night than were these 
youngsters. They took to country life like the 
young animals they were, and made friends with 
all, from Thompson down. They must needs 
watch the sheep as they walked their endless 
way on the treadmill night and morning; they 
thrust their hands into hundreds of nests and 
placed the spoils in Sam’s big baskets; they 
watched the calves at their patent feeders, which 
deceived the calves, but not the girls; they 
climbed into the grain bins and tobogganed on 
the corn; they haunted the cow-barn at milking 
time and wondered much; but the chiefest of 
their delights was the beautiful white pig which 
Anderson gave them. A little movable pen was 
provided for this favorite, and the youngsters fed 
