“We never had such a nice tea as this before,” said Olly, presently looking up from a piece of bread and butter which had kept him quiet for some time. “It’s nicer than having dinner at the railway station even.”
Aunt Emma and mother laughed; for it doesn’t seem so delightful to grown-up people to have dinner at the railway station.
“Well, Olly,” said mother, “I hope we shall often have tea out of doors while we are at Ravensnest.”
Milly shook her head. “It’ll rain, mother. That old gentleman said it would be sure to rain.”
“That old gentleman is about right, Milly,” said Mr. Norton. “I think it rains dreadfully here, but mother doesn’t seem to mind it a bit. Once upon a time when mother was a little girl, there came a funny old fairy and threw some golden dust in her eyes, and ever since then she can’t see straight when she comes to the mountains. It’s all right everywhere else, but as soon as she comes here, the dust begins to fly about in her eyes, and makes the mountains look quite different to her from what they look to anybody else.”
“Let me look, mother,” said Olly, pulling her down to him.
Mrs. Norton opened her eyes at him, smiling.
“I can’t see any dust, father.”
“Ah, that’s because it’s fairy dust,” said Mr. Norton, gravely. “Now, Olly, don’t you eat too much cake, else you won’t be able to row.”
“It’ll be my turn first, father,” said Milly, “you know I haven’t rowed at all yet.”