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Away ran the girls, too eager to get in to have time for speech.

They ran through the vestibule into the breakfast-room; from

thence to the library;--their father was in neither; and they

were on the point of seeking him upstairs with their mother, when

they were met by the butler, who said,--

"If you are looking for my master, ma'am, he is walking towards

the little copse."

Upon this information, they instantly passed through the hall

once more, and ran across the lawn after their father, who was

deliberately pursuing his way towards a small wood on one side of

the paddock.

Jane, who was not so light, nor so much in the habit of running

as Elizabeth, soon lagged behind, while her sister, panting for

breath, came up with him, and eagerly cried out,--

"Oh, papa, what news? what news? have you heard from my uncle?"

"Yes, I have had a letter from him by express."

"Well, and what news does it bring--good or bad?"