"And you know her? She lives close by here?" exclaimed Herbert, excitedly.
"Well, not exactly close by; she lives in the village of Fairfield, and that is nearly a mile and a half from here."
"But I can go and see her, and make sure that it is my aunt," said Herbert, rising from his seat, as though he would set off on his errand at once.
"Finish your tea, my lad, and then we will decide what is best to be done," said Dr. Perceval, glancing at his wife as he spoke.
They could both see that their guest was very anxious to ascertain whether the doctor's patient was his relative. And they both came to the same conclusion, that it would be best, to satisfy this curiosity with as little delay as possible.
So the doctor said, after a pause, "I should like to send a bottle of medicine to the little boy—the sooner he has it the better."
"And I want to speak to Mrs. Winn," said his wife.
"Then we can all go together," put in Edward. "How shall we go? Are you good for a three mile walk there and back, Milner?" said his friend.
"Six miles, if you like!" said Herbert, who was anxious to start at once, to solve the uncertainty as to whether this lady was his unknown aunt.
"If you walk, Ted, you will have to carry mother's medicine basket," said his father.