'Which way shall we go, Jack?' said Anne, when we were all ready to start and nurse had satisfied herself that the girls had all got their thickest boots on, and waterproofs and umbrellas in case it came on to rain again.
Nurse had been consulting Mrs. Parsley, I'm sure.
'We must keep to the high-road,' she said. 'It dries up very quickly as it's a sandy soil.'
'Anne wasn't asking you, nurse,' said Serry rather pertly. 'She was asking Jack.'
'All the same, Miss Serena, I must do my duty,' said nurse. 'I am in charge of you, and your mamma wouldn't be pleased if I let you all go stravaging over the wet fields to get bad colds and pleurisys and newmens, and what not.'
'Newmens,' said Anne, 'what do you mean?'
But nurse was put out, and wouldn't explain. It wasn't till some time after that we found out she meant that bad kind of cold on your chest that cows have so often, as well as people.
I tried to smooth nurse down, and I frowned at Serry, who was just in a humour to go on setting her up.
It was a pity to start so grumpily on our first walk, but things never do go quite right for long in this world, do they?
'I'll tell you what we can do,' I said; 'we can see the church. It's just a nice little walk by the road from here—you'd like that, wouldn't you, Anne?'