Dennis was at
Marlborough with Tom; while Pat or Patricia was Peg's bosom chum.
What could you wish for more? A Christmas spent with the Revells would
be a pure delight; but alas! fifty miles of some of the wildest and
bleakest country in England stretched between the two homes, which,
being on different lines of railway, were inaccessible by the ordinary
route. Moreover, the Revells were, as they themselves cheerfully
declared, "reduced paupers," and inhabited a picturesquely dilapidated
old farmhouse, and the problem, "_Where do they all sleep?_" was as
engrossing as a jig-saw puzzle to their inquisitive friends. Impossible
that even a cat could be invited to swing itself within those crowded
portals; equally impossible to attempt to separate such an affectionate
family at Christmas-time of all seasons of the year.
[Sidenote: Peg Startles Everybody]
And yet here was Peg deliberately raking up the painful topic; and after
the other members of the family had duly reproached and abused, ready to
level another bolt at their heads.
"S--uppose we went a burst--hired a car, drove over early in the
morning, and marched into church before their very eyes!"
Silence! Sparkling eyes; alert, thoughtful gaze. Could they? Should
they? Would it be right? A motor for the day meant an expenditure of
four or five pounds, and though the exchequer was in a fairly prosperous
condition, five-pound notes could not be treated with indifference.
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