The address on this was not nearly as legible. The writer had written Peter first, and then crossed it out and substituted "Petronella Sterling, Pollards House, Castle School, Shrewsbury." On the back of the envelope was a crude drawing of a pine tree and a printed message written in copying ink which read: "WE'RE HOME BOTH OF US TWO." Peter laughed. Just like the twins to have the last word!

Half-way along the corridor to the house room was a window with a deep seat. Peter hurried there now with her two letters, swung her legs up and opened her father's envelope.

"My dear Petronella," she read hurriedly, "I have some surprising news for you which will, I fear, necessitate some change in our immediate plans. No sooner had Ward, the postman, collected my letter to you last Monday than the telephone rang. You will remember how much I dislike this instrument, and indeed, since its installation after the events of last summer, I have yet to receive anything but disquieting or unexpected news from it. This occasion was no exception..."

Peter's eyes flew down the page in the hope of finding the real news before she realized that she would have to go back to the beginning to get the full story. Mr. Sterling could never be hurried. She sighed and went back to the top of the page.

"... This occasion was no exception. I was told that I was to proceed to the offices of the Water Company in Birmingham on Thursday next, and that I must be available for consultation for some days in that most detestable city. You will realize, my dear Petronella, that I have no choice in this matter, and it will therefore be impossible for you to come to Hatchholt on that day. I cannot permit you to stay here alone in the empty house, and I have therefore telegraphed to - and received confirmation from - your uncle and aunt at their farm called Seven Gates at Barton Beach. I have asked them to accommodate you until we can both return to Hatchholt together. I do not know how long I shall be away, but I suggest that you send your trunk to Onnybrook ready for transport here, and that you should cycle to Barton Beach on Thursday, taking what you need in your haversack.

"Yesterday I paid one of my rare visits to Witchend to see your young friends. All are very well, and I found the twins in exceptionally good form. My sight is not what it was, but it would seem to me that they are even more alike than they were last summer, and that their strange aptitude for simultaneous conversation and for finishing each other's thoughts and sentences has strengthened rather than diminished. Mrs. Morton was so kind as to suggest that you go to them until I return, and although I know that you would welcome this, I prefer that you should go to Seven Gates.