'What was it we jumped over?' asked Maia.
Godmother heard her and turned round.
'We jumped over the brook,' she said. 'Don't you remember the little brook that runs through the wood?'
'The brook that Rollo and I go over by the stepping stones? It's a very little brook, godmother. I should think the carriage might have driven over without jumping.'
'Hush!' said godmother, 'we're getting into the middle of the wood and I must drive carefully.'
But she did not go any more slowly; it got darker and darker as the trees grew more closely together. The children saw, as they looked round, that they had never been so far in the forest before.
'I wonder when we shall see Silva and Waldo,' thought Maia, and somehow the thought seemed to bring its answer, for just as it passed through her mind, a clear bright voice called out from among the trees:
'Godmother, godmother, don't drive too far. Here we are waiting for you.'
'Waldo and Silva!' exclaimed the children. The ponies suddenly stopped, and out jumped or tumbled into the arms of their friends Rollo and Maia.
'Oh, Waldo! oh, Silva!' they exclaimed. 'We've had such a drive! Godmother has brought us along like the wind.'