four o'clock
CHAPTER I CAGED BIRDS CHAPTER II ` MOTHER NATURE ' CHAPTER III WAS IT AN ANGEL ? CHAPTER IV ADVENTURES CHAPTER V PRINCE CHAPTER VI MADE INTO A COUPLE CHAPTER VII HAYMAKING CHAPTER VIII GOD 'S PATCHWORK CHAPTER IX BETTY 'S DISCOVERY CHAPTER X A LITTLE MESSENGER CHAPTER XI A DARING FEAT CHAPTER XII UNCLE HARRY 'S FRIEND CHAPTER XIII ` WHEN WE TWO MET ' CHAPTER XIV A HERO 'S DEATH CHAPTER XV COMFORTED Caged Birds It was just four o'clock on a dull grey winter afternoon . The little Stuarts ' nursery looked the picture of cosiness and comfort with the blazing fire that threw flickering lights over the bright-coloured pictures on the walls , the warm carpet under foot , and the fair fresh faces of the children gathered there . Five of them there were , and they were alone , for the old nurse who had brought them all up from their infancy was at present absent from the room . By one of the large square windows stood one of the little girls ; she was gazing steadily out into the fast darkening street below , her chin resting on one of the bars that were fastened across the lower part of the window .