Carrots turned back, looking up wistfully in nurse's face.
"Poor darlings," said the old woman to herself, "such a shame of me to have spoilt their walk!"
And all the way home, "to make up," she was even kinder than usual.
But her hopes of finding the lost piece of money were disappointed. She searched all through the drawer in vain; there was no half-sovereign to be seen. Suddenly it struck her that Carrots had been busy "tidying" for Floss that morning.
"Master Carrots, my dear," she said, "when you were busy at Miss Floss's drawer to-day, you didn't open mine, did you, and touch anything in it?"
"Oh, no," said Carrots, at once, "I'm quite, quite sure I didn't, nursie."
"You're sure you didn't touch nurse's purse, or a little tiny packet of white paper, in her drawer?" inquired Floss, with an instinct that the circumstantial details might possibly recall some forgotten remembrance to his mind.
"Quite sure," said Carrots, looking straight up in their faces with a thoughtful, but not uncertain expression in his brown eyes.
"Because nurse has lost something out of her drawer, you see, Carrots dear, and she is very sorry about it," continued Floss.
"What has she lost? But I'm sure," repeated Carrots, "I didn't touch nurse's drawer, nor nucken in it. What has nurse lost?"