Georgie turned round angrily, but Marjorie came to the rescue hastily.
'The rain is nothing. We can amuse ourselves just as well in the house. Can't we go over to Aunt Betty's, and play with Estelle, Miss Leigh?'
Georgie gave a bound of delight towards the door, and even Miss Leigh smiled, and got up quickly.
'A capital idea!' she said, rolling up her work. 'Go and put on your macintoshes, and we will run over as quickly as we can. We shall not get wet enough to hurt us.'
Alan, however, was not pleased. He wanted to change the water of his aquarium, and required Marjorie to help him. They had already put fresh water into two compartments, but the third was to have some of the rain, which they were collecting especially for the purpose. The small frogs, sticklebacks, and mud-lampreys were already enjoying themselves, and Alan was determined that the tadpoles and newts should be as happy. The newts were specially disliked by Georgie, and now, to make matters worse, Alan placed two of them on the floor. He intended to make them run races, regardless of the effect of their wet bodies on the carpet.
'They don't do any harm,' he asserted, when Miss Leigh objected; 'not a bit of it. Water never hurts anything.'
'It is very unpleasant to have them on the floor, to say the least,' returned the governess. 'And you know Georgie does not like them.'
'Then he needn't, the baby,' retorted Alan, with a withering glance at his brother.
'I don't mind frogs half so much,' explained Georgie, with a look of disgust at the newts struggling in Alan's grasp.
'What a little silly you are,' said Alan, placing the creatures on the ground, and a tiny red worm in front of them. 'What's the matter with you? Are you afraid they will bite?'