So  Mr.  Earle  took  them  each  a  turn,  looking
rather  sharp  after  them ;  but  they  had  a  very  fair
notion  of  driving,  and  were  perfectly  fearless,  yet
at  the  same  time  they  were  fond  of  animals,  and
had  no  desire  to  use  the  whip  unreasonably,  or
otherwise  to  harass  the  pony.
Punch  gave  the  greatest  satisfaction  to  all,  and
was  declared  to  be  a  "  perfect  darling  "  by  Esther,
and  "  a  jolly  little  brick  "  by  the  boys.
"  Mr.  Earle  will  take  you  out  every  day  for  a
week,  Esther,"  said  her  mother,  when  the  car-
riage had  gone,  "  and  after  that  he  thinks  you
will  be  able  to  drive  me  out."

Esther's  face  glowed  with  pleasure,  and  Pickle
cried  out, —


DAYS  OF  SUNSHINE.  173

"  We  can  drive  you  too,  Aunt  Saint !  "

But  to  his  surprise  his  aunt  shook  her  head,
smiling  the  while,  and  said, —

"  I  think,  dear,  I  should  feel  safer  with  Esther,
thank  you."

"  Well,  that's  funny,"  said  Puek ;  "  I  thought
women  always  felt  so  much  safer  when  they  had
a  man  driving  them."

Then  Mrs.  St.  Aiden  laughed  and  kissed  him,
and  said  he  should  drive  her  out  some  day,  when
he  was  a  man.
Nice  things  seemed  to  happen  often  now.  For
after  the  pony  and  carriage  had  been  a  few  weeks
in  use,  and  Esther  had  grown  to  be  quite  an  ex-
perienced little  whip,  the  children  heard  that  Mr.
Trelawny  was  going  to  keep  his  birthday,  and
that  it  was  to  be  celebrated  by  an  excursion  to  an
old  ruin,  and  that  little  people  as  well  as  their
parents  were  to  be  allowed  to  go.
