" RUBY's eyes flashed as she
went out of the room; she pouted, she swung her skirts, and shook her
shoulders, so that even Miss DUMBELL, the most patient and kindest of
governesses, quite longed to slap her.
RUBY went to the school-room; she immediately flung the French
phrase-book from one end of the room to the other. She took some
story-books, and a little basket full of apples, bath-buns and
"three-corners," and ran down to a little plantation called the
Wilderness, at the bottom of the garden. She selected one of the
tallest elms, and as she could climb like a kitten, she was soon at
the top of it, quite hidden from view among the leaves.
"So much for old DUMMY and her French phrases!" said the naughty girl,
as she settled herself in a comfortable position and brought out her
story-book. The stable-clock had struck twelve, and she heard her
name called in all directions, by JORGINS, the gardener, BRILLIT,
the buttons, and long-suffering Miss DUMBELL. They could not find her
anywhere, and her Most Serene Naughtiness sat screened by the leaves
and shook with laughter.
Presently "Cawcus," her pet Rook, came fluttering amid the leaves,
and began to caw. RUBY offered him bits of Bath bun, and even a whole
three-corner, in order to keep him quiet.
But he remembered his treatment at breakfast, and refused all
these bribes with scorn.
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