“Missy!” exclaimed Arabella, remembering very suddenly. “Oh yes! Of course. Where do you say you left her, father?”
“At the Bijou Theatre, my dear, I am sorry to say; but it wasn't her fault; it was the friends she is staying with whom she had to meet there. Well, let's hope it won't do her any harm just once in a way. And what have you been doing, my dear, all the evening?”
“I? Oh, after milking I had a bit of a stroll outside.”
“A stroll, eh? Then you didn't happen to see a man hanging about our slip-rails, did you?”
Mr. Teesdale was emptying his pockets, with his back to Arabella, so he never knew how his question affected her.
“I wasn't near the slip-rails, I was in the opposite direction,” she said presently. “Why do you ask?”
“Because I found this right under them,” said Mr. Teesdale, showing her the meerschaum pipe before laying it down on the chimney-piece; “and as I was getting near the township, I met a man who told me he'd lost just such a pipe. And I didn't like him, my dear, so I only hope he's not coming after our Mary Jane, that's all.”
Mary Jane was the farm-servant. She had not been out of the kitchen since milking-time, said Arabella; and her father was remarking that he was glad to hear this, when the door flew open, and Mrs. Teesdale whistled into the room like a squall of wind.
“At last!” she cried. “Do you know how long you've been, David? Do you know what time it is?”
“I don't, my dear,” said he.