There was therefore no time to go round by Andover Street, though cook had urged the necessity of his doing so. He must carry the basket home with him, and take it there in the morning. Thus resolved, he sped swiftly up the street leading to his own home; and, lest his mother should question him about the basket if she saw it, he ran quickly through to the court, and deposited it in a corner hidden by a stack of sticks, before entering the room where she and Corrie were sitting.
Mrs. Campbell greeted her son with a bright smile, saying, "Ah! Robin, you are a good boy. I hoped you would not keep me waiting long, for I have to go and see a lady to-night who owes me some money for washing. Take Corrie out for a bit to the green fields. It has been so hot here all day for her. I am obliged to keep up the fire for the ironing."
"All right, mother," was Robin's quiet response. And she, hastily putting on her bonnet and shawl, had not time to observe how miserable he looked.
After her departure, Robin carefully considered whether he could not first take Corrie to Andover Street and leave the basket. But he knew that the house his mother was bound for was in that immediate neighbourhood. What if she met and questioned him? He dared not risk it.
Besides, she had often said she did not wish Corrie to be taken into close dirty streets; and there had been a great deal of fever in the town of late. The child, too, would be sure to tell mother about the basket if she saw it. No; he must leave it until to-morrow morning; but meantime, for greater security, he would remove it from the backyard and hide it away under his bed. So Robin kept Corrie waiting in her carriage outside the door while he did this.
"Oh, what a tangled web we weave
When first we practise to deceive!"
He went sadly and quietly along towards the fields, which lay some distance beyond the town. At last they turned off the high road to a favourite spot beside a running brook, where were grassy hollows and tall shady trees.
Robin was so busily occupied gathering wild flowers for Corrie, and so preoccupied with his own thoughts, that he did not notice the gardener of Oaklands was trudging, quite close to them, the other side of the hedge, along the white dusty road. But old Jonathan's sharp eyes had spied out the brother and sister, though he passed by without any sign of recognition, muttering, "There is no time to be lost."
Mrs. Campbell was disappointed In not finding the lady at home, and therefore returned sooner than she expected. Great was her surprise after reaching home to hear old Jonathan's voice at the door.
"Come in, Mr. Jonathan," she answered cheerily, on catching sight of the wrinkled face. "It is many a long day since I have seen you down as far as this. I hope nothing is wrong at the house, or that Robin is not wanted, for he is gone out with Corrie; but I expect them in soon."