“Oh, I wanted to play at it—at pounding chalk; and auntie wouldn’t let me in the day-time, and I came out, and it was so nice at first, and then it turned horrid; and, oh, I’m frightened, and I want to go back to bed!” she sobbed.
“You should be scolded for this, Peggy, but it’s too late for that now. Come, and I’ll lift you in at your window, and you will soon be asleep again,” said Dr. Seaton. He stooped down, and lifted Peggy right up in his arms, and carried her across the lawn to the window. “And now, suppose I hadn’t happened to see you, how would you have got in there?” he asked. “You know, Peggy, getting out of a window is a different matter from getting in at it again.”
The thought of this appalled Peggy. What indeed would she have done?
“Oh, they would have found out!” she said in a terrified whisper.
“Don’t you mean to let them find out, as it is?” Dr. Seaton asked very gravely. “When you do what is wrong, the best thing you can do is to tell about it, Peggy. But it’s too late for lectures. Get in at the window, and jump into bed, and go to sleep. Think about your sins in the morning. Good-night, little one.”
He lifted her through the window, and she landed safely on the chair. It seemed to Peggy that she must have been out for hours and hours, and she crept into bed and drew the blankets round her, feeling very much ashamed indeed. In the distance she heard the trot of Dr. Seaton’s horse as it went off down the road.
Now I wonder whether Peggy would have had the courage to confess her adventure to Aunt Euphemia. As it turned out, she was forced to do so; for the next thing she remembered was Martin standing beside her saying, “Time to get up, Miss Peggy,” in her cross voice. Peggy was always glad to jump up; and this morning, though she felt there was something disagreeable that she couldn’t remember, she jumped up as gladly as usual. “Come away to your bath,” said Martin, who always superintended her toilet. Peggy loved her bath, and was playing with the soap and the sponge when Martin came to hurry her.
“Not in your bath yet? I never saw such a child for putting off time!” she said.
“I was just floating the big sponge for a minute,” apologized Peggy; but as she spoke, Martin pounced upon her.
“Mercy me! how ever did you get these feet?” she demanded.