Very early the next morning, Bobbie pulled Phyllis' hair to wake her.
"Wake up!" Bobbie said.
"We're in the new house, remember?
We don't have any servants.
Let's get up and surprise Mother.
We'll clean up and make breakfast!
I've already awakened Peter."
The girls got dressed, lit the fire, and put the kettle on.
They set the table but could not find all the right dishes.
So they put salt in an ashtray and bread in a baking tin.
Then they went with Peter to look outside.
The house stood in a field on a hill, and the children could see a long way.
At the bottom of the hill was the railway line and a tunnel.
"This place is much prettier than our house in London," Phyllis said.
The station was too far away to see.
"Let's go and watch the trains passing," suggested Peter.
"We can see them from here," said Bobbie.
"Let's sit down for a bit."
So Bobbie, Peter, and Phyllis sat down on a big comfortable stone in the grass.
When Mother came to look for them at eight o'clock, she found them asleep in the sun.
The children had made a fire earlier and put the kettle on.
But by the time Mother got up, the fire was out.
The water had boiled away, and the kettle was burnt.
"It doesn't matter.
I've got everything ready," said Mother.
"I found a little room that we missed last night in the darkness."
They went into the small room, which was next to the kitchen.
On the table Mrs. Viney had left roast beef, bread, butter, cheese, and apple pie.
"Pie for breakfast!" cried Peter happily.
Later Mother and the children unpacked and arranged their things in the rooms.
It was late in the afternoon when Mother said, "That's enough work for today.
I'm going to lie down for an hour, before supper."
The children looked at each other.
"What should we do?"
asked Bobbie, although she already knew the answer.
"Let's go to the railway!" cried Peter.
At the bottom of the hill there was a wooden fence.
The children climbed over it.
There was the railway, with its shiny tracks, telegraph wires and posts, and signals.
Just then the children heard a loud rumbling sound.
A train came out of the tunnel.
The pebbles on the track rattled and jumped as the train went by.
"Ooh!" said Bobbie slowly.
"It was like a great dragon going by and fanning us with its hot wings."
"Yes, I didn't think we'd be able to get so close to the trains!
That was amazing!" said Peter.
"I wonder if the train was going to London.
That's where Father is," said Phyllis.
"Let's find out!" said Peter, and so they ran to the station.
They walked along the tracks, counted the telegraph posts, and jumped up onto the station platform.
On one side of the station yard was a huge pile of coal for the steam trains.
There was a white line behind the coal, at the top of the pile.
Peter asked the station porter about the line.
"It's to show how much coal is there.
Then we know if anybody steals some!" the porter said, smiling.
Peter thought he was a nice, friendly person.
When the children left, they were excited at the thought of coming back soon.