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 They were silent for a minute, gazing at each other with pleased eyes.

Then Pollyooly sighed and said: "I do wish I was going to the court again—with the Lump."

"I wish you were," said Ronald. "It would be ripping. You're the only girl I ever came across one could really be pals with. And then, of course, you were in the great mystery. It was awful luck for a girl." He ended with a faint sigh of envy.

"I didn't care much for the mystery myself," said Pollyooly thoughtfully. "I was so afraid of getting found out. But I did like being at the court."

"We did have a good time. But the mystery was the thing," said Ronald.

They paused to gaze at each other again with pleased eyes. Then Pollyooly asked him what he had been doing since they parted; and he told her of the term at school, his riding, fishing, birds-nesting, and adventures on his wanderings with the dogs at Ricksborough Court; and Pollyooly's many questions lengthened it out.

When he came to the end of it she sighed and said, "Oh, I do wish I had been there."