suppose we shall have to come back," with a long breath.
"Oh, dear!' cried Meg; "how can we come back!"
"I don't know," said Robin. "We shall hate it, but we shall have nowhere else to go."
"Perhaps we are going to seek our fortunes, and perhaps we shall find them," said Meg; "or perhaps Aunt Matilda won't let us come back, Rob," with some awe. "Do you think she will be angry?"
"I've thought about that," Robin answered contemplatively. "And I don't think she will. She would be too busy to care much even if we ran away and said nothing. But I shall leave a letter and tell her we have saved our money and gone somewhere for a holiday—and we're all right and she needn't bother."
"She won't bother, even if she is angry," Meg said, with mournful eyes. "She doesn't care about us enough."
"If she loved us," Rob said, "and was too poor to take us herself, we couldn't go at all. We couldn't run away, because it would worry her so. You can't do a thing—however much you want to do it—if it is going to hurt somebody who is good to you, and cares."
"Well, then, we needn't stay here because of Aunt Matilda," said Meg. "That's one sure thing. It
