Laura! Aunt Laura!"

Aunt Laura explained in less time than it takes me to write this, that
her husband, Colonel Desmond, had had left to him a large fortune and
that they had come as soon as possible to England, having, in fact, only
arrived in London the previous day. "I was so afraid, Tom darling," she
said in ending, "that we should not get here till Christmas Day was
over, and I was so afraid you might be disappointed, that I would not
let Mother tell you we were on our way home. I have brought a letter
from Mother to Miss Ware--and you must get your things packed up at once
and come back with me by the six o'clock train to town. Then Uncle Jack
and I will take you everywhere, and give you a splendid time, you dear
little chap, here all by yourself."

For a minute or two Shivers' face was radiant; then he caught sight of
Bertie's down-drooped mouth, and turned to his Aunt.

"Dear Aunt Laura," he said, holding her hand very fast with his own,
"I'm awfully sorry, but I can't go."

"Can't go? and why not?"

"Because I can't go and leave Fellowes here all alone," he said stoutly,
though he could scarcely keep a suspicious quaver out of his voice.
"When I was going to be alone, Fellowes wrote and asked his mother to
let me go home with him, and she couldn't, because his sister has got
scarlet fever, and they daren't have either of us; and he's got to stay
here--and he's never been away at Christmas before--and--and--I can't go
away and leave him by himself, Aunt Laura--and--"

[Illustration]

For the space of a moment or so, Mrs. Desmond stared at the boy as if
she could not believe her ears; then she caught hold of him and half
smothered him with kisses.

"Bless you, you dear little chap, you shall not leave him: you shall
bring him along and we'll all enjoy ourselves together. What's his
name?--Bertie Fellowes! Bertie, my man, you are not very old yet, so I'm
going to teach you a lesson as well as ever I can--it is that kindness
is never wasted in this world. I'll go out now and telegraph to your
mother--I don't suppose she will refuse to let you come with us."

A couple of hours later she returned in triumph, waving a telegram to
the two excited boys.

"_God bless you, yes, with all our hearts_," it
ran; "_you have taken a load off our minds._"

And so Bertie Fellowes and Shivers found that there was such a thing as
a fairy after all.

[Illustration]

[Illustration: Not Qui