ing!' though God knows
I--we--should all miss you badly enough."

There came a knock at the door--a soft, dull knock, followed by a rattle
of the handle--and a mite of a boy stood in the opening, inhaling the
scent of the tea and toast, and gazing wide-eyed at the two occupants of
the room.

"Please, mother ses will 'oo lend her free lumps o' sugar, Miss 'Orton;
'cos she've run out."

"Of course I will! And come in, Tommy!" said Nell. "There you are!"

She wrapped half the contents of the sugar basin in a piece of paper and
gave it him; then, seeing his eyes fixed wistfully on the pile of
buttered toast, she took a couple of slices, arranged them in sandwich
fashion, butter side inward, and put them into his chubby and grimy
fist. "There you are. And, Tommy, you'll be a good boy, and won't eat
any of the sugar, will you?"

"No; I'll be dood, Miss 'Orton. I'll promise I'll be dood."

"Then there's one lump all to yourself!" she said, sticking it into the
other fist. "Open the door for him, Mr. Falconer; and don't watch him up
the stairs; he'll keep his promise," she added, in a low voice, as she
searched for a comparatively clean spot on Tommy's face on which to kiss
him.

"Go on--you lucky young beggar!" said Falconer, under his breath, and
eying Tommy enviously.

"If you've any pity to waste, spend it on the children," said Nell, with
a sigh. "Oh, what would I give to be a fairy, just for one day, and
whisk them off to the seaside, into the open fields, anywhere out of
Beaumont Buildings. Sometimes, when I see the women drive by in their
carriages, with a lap dog on their knees or stuck up beside them, it
makes me feel wicked! I want to stick my head out of the window and
call put: 'Come up here and fetch some of the children for a drive; I'll
take care of the dog while you're gone!' Dick's late!" she broke off;
"we'd better begin. Help me wheel the table down to the window."

He attempted to do it by himself, but the color rose to his face and his
breath came fast, and Nell insisted on bearing a hand.

"That's better!" she said cheerfully, and ignoring the signs of his
weakness. "You can reach the toast----"

He stood by the window, looking down absently and regaining his breath
which the effort, slight as it was, had tried.

"There's a brougham stopped at the door," he said. "Doctor, I suppose.
No, it's a lady--a fashionable lady. Perhaps she's come to take one of
the children for a drive?"

Nell loo