half darkness the night before its door had been mistaken for a
cupboard's. It was a little square room, and on its table, all
nicely set out, was a joint of cold roast beef, with bread, butter,
cheese, and a pie.

"Pie for breakfast!" cried Peter; "how perfectly ripping!"

"It isn't pigeon-pie," said Mother; "it's only apple. Well, this is
the supper we ought to have had last night. And there was a note
from Mrs. Viney. Her son-in-law has broken his arm, and she had to
get home early. She's coming this morning at ten."

That was a wonderful breakfast. It is unusual to begin the day with
cold apple pie, but the children all said they would rather have it
than meat.

"You see it's more like dinner than breakfast to us," said Peter,
passing his plate for more, "because we were up so early."

The day passed in helping Mother to unpack and arrange things. Six
small legs quite ached with running about while their owners carried
clothes and crockery and all sorts of things to their proper places.
It was not till quite late in the afternoon that Mother said:--

"There! That'll do for to-day. I'll lie down for an hour, so as to
be as fresh as a lark by supper-time."

Then they all looked at each other. Each of the three expressive
countenances expressed the same thought. That thought was double,
and consisted, like the bits of information in the Child's Guide to