I trudged along, gloomy and wretched, with a weight on my heart that it seemed to me I would never get rid of.

Suddenly--so suddenly that I could hardly believe my own senses, something caught my eye that entirely changed my whole ideas.

I darted forward, my father was a few steps in front of me--the footpath was so narrow in the old town that there was often not room for two abreast--_and_----" Just at this moment the door opened, and grandmother's maid appeared with the tea-tray.

Molly gave an impatient shake.
"Oh, _what_ a bother!" she said.

"I quite forgot about tea.