eulein to Rachel, and slipped down-stairs to the
night nursery.

Mary and Stella were already asleep in their high-barred cribs. The
blind was down, and Hester could only just see the white figure of Regie
sitting up in his night-gown. She sat down on the edge of the bed and
took him in her arms.

"What is it; my treasure?"

"Auntie Hester, was I naughty about the flying half-penny?"

"No, darling. Why?"

"Because mother always says not to put pennies in my mouth, and I never
did till to-day. And now Mary says I have been very naughty."

"It does not matter what Mary says," said Hester, with a withering
glance towards the sleeping angel in the next crib, who was only Mary by
day. "But you must never do it again, and you will tell mother all about
it to-morrow."

"Yes," said Regie; "but, but--"

"But what?"

"Uncle Dick did say it was a flying half-penny, and you said so, too,
and that other auntie. And I thought it did not matter putting in flying
half-pennies, only common ones."

Hester saw the difficulty in Regie's mind.

"It felt common when it was inside," said Regie, doubtfully, "and yet
you and Uncle Dick _did_ say it was a flying one."

Regie's large eyes were turned upon her with solemn inquiry in them. It
is crises like this that our first ideals are laid low.

Regie had always considered Hester as the very soul of honor, that
mysterious honor which he was beginning to dimly apprehend through her
allegiance to it, and which, in his mind, belonged as exclusively to her
as the little bedroom under the roof.

"Regie," said Hester, tremulously, seeing that she had unwittingly put
a stumbling-block before the little white feet she loved, "when we
played at the doll's tea-party, and you were the butler, I did not mean
you were _really_ a butler, did I? I knew, and you knew, and we all
knew, that you were Regie all the time."

"Ye-es."

"It was a game. And so when Uncle Dick found us playing the tea-party
game he played another game about the flying half-penny."

"Then it was a common half-penny, after all," said Regie, with a deep
sigh.

"Yes, it was a common half-penny, only the game was that it could fly,
like the other game was that the acorn cups were real teacups. So Uncle
Dick and all of us were not saying what was not true. We were all
playing at a game. Do you understand, my little mouse?"

"Yes," said Regie, with another voluminous sigh, and Hester realized,
with thankfulness, that