'
Dolores felt a little abashed, and decidedly angry at being put in the
wrong.
The elders kindly turned away the general attention from her. There
was a great deal of merry family fun going on, which was quite like a
new language to her. Fergus and Primrose wanted to go out in search of
blackberries. Gillian undertook to drive them in the cart, but as the
donkey had once or twice refused to cross a little stream of water that
traversed the road, the brothers foretold that she would ignominiously
come back again.
'Gill and water are perilous!' observed Hal.
'Jack's not here,' said Gillian; 'besides, it is down, not up the
hill, and I'm sure I don't want to draw a pail of water.'
'No--Sancho will do that.'
'The gong will sound and sound, buzz and roar,' said Wilfred. 'No
Gill! no little ones! We shall send out and find them stuck fast in
the lane, Sancho with his feet spread out wide, Gill with three or four
sticks lying broken on the road round her, the kids reduced to eating
blackberries like the children in the wood.'
'Don't Fred,' said Gillian. 'You'll frighten them.'
'Little donkeys!' said Wilfred.
'If they were, we shouldn't want Sancho,' said Val.
It was not a very sublime bit of wit, but there was a great laugh at it
all round the table. Val and Fergus declared they would go too, till
they heard that Nurse Halfpenny said she would not let the little ones
go out without her to tear their clothes to pieces.
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