Page:Augusta Seaman--Jacqueline of the carrier pigeons.djvu/137

 ACQUELINE was not at home when Gysbert arrived hot and breathless. She had been out all morning with Dr. de Witt on  their usual errand of mercy, and Vrouw  Voorhaas declared with much sullen complaining, that she could not be expected for an hour yet. So the boy was compelled to fret and wander about idly till she appeared. When she came she looked desperately tired, but she ascended cheerfully to the dove-cote  with her brother, which place he chose as the  safest and most secluded in which to impart  his secret.

“I had the greatest adventure this morning, Jacqueline!” he began. And while she listened eagerly, petting the smooth head of  her finest pigeon and coaxing him with a