"Yes," said Faith; "that was the woman I saw. I'm so sorry she went away so quick! She seemed so ill, and so alone."
"I wish you were boys," said Charlie, looking at them with dissatisfaction. "I do want boys to play with so much. Do you know Lionel and Fairfax at the Hall?"
"No," said Hope. "I expect we shall know them, when they come home for the holidays."
"They won't think anything of you," said Charlie rather rudely; "they won't even let me play cricket with them, because I can't run fast enough."
"P'raps we can run faster than you?" Hope said.
Charlie looked gloomily at her, then he brightened up.
"I've got a lovely raft I made all myself on a stream under the willows," he said; "sometimes I go out on it all day to escape Indians."
Hope and Faith pressed nearer him.
"If Granny says we may play with you, will you let us play that?"
"It isn't play," said Charlie with sparkling eyes; "it's a real hard work. I take cargo with me—live cargo!"