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come and sniff you when

you go in.

When I

was a little boy I was frightened of them, but

they never bit me."

"Ah! well," said his father, "when Dolly's a big girl and Fuzzy's a big dog, we'll see. Some dogs are very good indeed with little children; I hope he'll be. I remember seeing a great New

foundland that let his master's children ride on his back, just as if he was a little pony. He stalked along as steadily as possible.

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"And in some countries," said Leigh eagerly, "dogs are taught to draw little carriages, aren't they? I've I've seen pictures of them, up where there's such lots of snow near the top of the world. Squim-something, those people are called."

"Esquimaux, you mean, I suppose," said his father laughing. He had put down Mary by this time, and they were walking on slowly up the hill towards the Lavender Cottages. "Yes, and in other countries not so far off I've seen dogs. drawing little carts as soberly as possible.

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"I would like to see that!" said Artie, his eyes sparkling.

"And so would I!" said Mary.

And Leigh, though he said nothing, took the idea into his mind more than either of the others.

By this time they were close to the top of the little hill where stood the cottages of which we have spoken so often-the Lavender Cottages as they were called; because once, a good many years ago, an old man lived there, whose lavender was famed all about that part of the country. He had a garden, almost like a little field, quite full of it. This garden belonged to one of the end cottages, and it was now a regular cottage kitchen-garden, with potatoes and cabbages and other vegetables growing in it, though in one corner there was still a nice little stock of the old lavender bushes. Here lived an old woman and her son, named Sweeting. Mrs. Sweeting had once been cook at the hall when the children's

father was a little boy, and she was always pleased to have a visit from any of them.

"I hear poor old Mrs. Sweeting has been ill,” said papa; "I'll just go in for a minute or two to see her. You children can wait outside for me."

The boys and Mary were not sorry to do so. They were always fond of coming to the Lavender Cottages, not only to see Mrs. Sweeting who was very kind to them, but because they were much interested in the family of children who lived next door. There were such a lot of them! The cottage would never have held them all; but luckily, in the third cottage, at the other end again, lived the grandfather and grandmother of the large family, and some of the bigger boys had a room in their house. Still there were plenty left in the middle cottage, as you will hear.

CHAPTER VII.

THE PERRY FAMILY AND PAPA'S STORY.

BESIDES the three big boys, the children had counted six more young Perrys in the middle one of the Lavender Cottages, and by degrees they had found out most of their names. The eldest girl was about twelve, and her name was a very funny one - it was Comfort.

"How tired she must be of people saying to her that they hope she's a comfort to her father and mother," said Leigh, when he first heard her name. I think nurse told it him, for she knew something of the Perrys, and the odd name had taken her fancy.

Comfort was rather a tall girl for her age, and she was clever at school, where she often got prizes. But the next to her, a short, rosy-faced child called Janie, who was generally seen carrying about the baby, a very motherly little girl,

seemed as if her elder sister's name would have suited her better. After Janie came Ned, and after Ned three little creatures so near each other that they all looked like babies together, and it was difficult to tell whether they were boys or girls. The quite youngest-the one that all the rest of them called "baby"-spent most of its life seemingly in Janie's arms. I suppose Janie went to school sometimes, but, anyway, the Bertram children never passed the cottages or met the little Perrys in the lanes without seeing the baby in its usual resting-place. The other two babies seemed to spend their lives in a queer oldfashioned kind of double perambulator. It was made of wicker; and in fine weather, and indeed sometimes in weather that was not so very fine, was almost always to be seen standing at the cottage-door or just outside the gate leading into the little garden, with the two small people tied into it, one at each side.

To-day they were there as usual.

There, too,

was Janie with number three baby in her arms, while Comfort was strolling about with a book

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