"She promised." "You silly boy!" said Aunt Emma, "as if I was going to keep you indoors listening to stories just now, when the sun's shining for the first time for three whole days.

I promised you my story on a wet day, and you shall have it--never fear.

There'll be plenty more wet days before you go away from Ravensnest, I'm afraid.

There goes my knitting, and mother's putting away her work, and father's stretching himself--which means we're all going for a walk." "To fetch Becky and Tiza, mother ?" asked Milly; and when mother said "Yes, if you like," the two children raced off down the long passage to the nursery in the highest possible spirits.
Soon they were all walking along the dripping drive past high banks of wet fern, and under trees which threw down showers of rain-drops at every puff of wind.

And when they got into the road beside the river the children shouted with glee to see their brown shallow little river turned into a raging flood of water, which went sweeping and hurrying through the fields, and every now and then spreading itself over them and making great pools among the poor drowned hay.