[CHAPTER VI]
The Strangers Arrive
THE little girls did not meet for several days. The weather was bad again, and kept them confined to the house. Dreamikins missed Freda and Daffy as much as they missed her. She had been very quiet and contrite after her visit to the public-house. When Fibo asked her how she came to think of such a thing, she looked at him sweetly and gravely.
"It was Cherubine who ercited me to do it. And you read it to me yourself, Fibo. I can say the verse: 'I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink.' He told me he was thirsty, and he said beer was the only thing that did him good. He doesn't like milk or water. So I gave him drink; and when he wanted another glass, I paid for it; and I had no more money, and when he wanted more he got into a bad temper because he couldn't have it. Mr. Temple seemed to think me wicked. I'm not, am I? God understands quite well, and if Cherubine told me to do it, it must be good."
"I'm beginning to be doubtful about Cherubine," said Fibo, looking at his small niece with perplexity in his eyes. "I think you had better consult me first, next time she tells you to do risky things."
"Oh, but she wouldn't like that at all, at all," said Dreamikins hastily. "She would think it very rude of me, if I told you things she tells me; and you mustn't forget where she comes from, Fibo dear."
Fibo took this rebuke in silence, and Dreamikins moved about with great dignity for the next half-hour. Then she forgot all about it, and chased Grinders round and round the lawn till they were both exhausted.
Two days afterwards she was allowed to go to the post office by herself and post a letter for her uncle. On the way back she saw a young man leaning against his bicycle, talking to the landlord of the "Blue Boar." And as she was passing him, she heard him say:
"I'm sorry you can't put me up. I'm a stranger in these parts, and I wanted to stay the night here."
A stranger! Dreamikins' heart beat fast. She stood still in the road considering; but she never considered very long. The delightful possibility before her drove everything else out of her head. She watched the young man get upon his bicycle with rather a weary air, and then, as he rode towards her, she stepped into the middle of the road and held up her small hand authoritatively.