hear
the message his mother had written at the end of what was evidently a
very important letter, to judge by the many tut-tuts the reading of it
provoked Nurse to click.

However, under the influence of tea Nanny softened, and the message was
read just as the rain stopped and the sun glittered through the
day-nursery window right across the room in a wide golden bar.

_Como._

_Darling Michael_,

_You are to go to kindergarten which you will enjoy. You will only
go for the mornings and you will have to learn all sorts of jolly
things--music and painting and writing. Then you'll be able to
write to Mother. I'm sure you'll be good and work hard, so that
when Mother comes home at Christmas, you'll be able to show her
what a clever boy she has. You would like to be in this beautiful
place. As I write I can see such lovely hills and fields and lakes
and mountains. I hope darling Stella is learning to say all sorts
of interesting things. I can't find any nice present to send you
from here, so I've told Nanny that you and she can go and buy two
canaries, one for you and one for Stella--a boy canary and a girl
canary. Won't that be fun? Love and kisses from_

_Mother_.

Michael sat in a dream when the letter was finished. It had raised so
many subjects for discussion and was so wonderful that he could scarcely
speak.

"Will mother really come home at Christmas?" he asked.

"You heard what I said."

"Christmas!" he sighed happily.

"Aren't you glad to go to school?" Nurse wanted to know.

"Yes, but I'd like Christmas to come," he said.

"Was there ever in this world anyone so hard to please?" Nurse
apostrophized.

"When will we go to get these canaries, Nanny?"

"Plenty of time. Plenty of time."

"Soon, will we?"

"One more question and there'll be no canaries at all," said Nurse.

However, the sun shone so brightly, and the prospect of a visit to
Hammersmith Broadway on a Saturday afternoon appealed so strongly to
Nurse that she put on her bonnet and trotted off with Michael up
Carlington Road, and stopped a red omnibus, and fussed her way into it,
and held the tickets in her mouth while she put away her purse, and told
Michael not to fidget with his legs and not to look round behind him at
what was passing on that side of the road, until at last they arrived.
The canary-shop was found, and two canaries and a bird-cage were bought