"I had meant to present these two young gentlemen to your mother myself, but I think the only thing I can do is to get away as fast as I can. Perhaps they will come to their senses then;" and so saying, he made a sudden dive into the carriage, which had now been relieved of the luggage with which it had been piled.
The boys were after him like a shot, and Esther was in terror lest they should be run over before the carriage got safely away; but at last this was achieved, after much shouting and bawling and scrimmaging; and though both boys set off in pursuit like a pair of street Arabs, the horses soon left them behind, and they returned panting and breathless to the little gate.
"How d'ye do? Hadn't time to speak to you before."—Page [43].
Esther's Charge.
"He's a jolly old buffer," said one of the boys; "I'd like to have gone with him."
"I shall go and see him every day," remarked the other. "He said he lived close by."
Then they reached the gate once more, and held out their rather smutty paws to Esther.
"How d'ye do? Hadn't time to speak to you before. Are we all going to live in this funny little box of a place?"
"It's our house," answered Esther shyly, much more afraid of the boys than they of her; indeed they did not seem to know what fear or shyness was. "I think you'll find there's plenty of room inside; and we have a very nice little garden."