omes, and I never wand to zee any ob my frien'z again. I'll
leave word no one ids to gome to my funeral, eider."

"Tom, dearest, don't talk like that! Where have you been today, to catch
such an awful cold in your head?" said Polly.

"Id'z my lungz, I dell you! Double pneumonia. Leabe me to my fade, and
forged me, Polly!" tears rose in his eyes at this pitiful picture of his
lonely demise.

But Polly was practical, and stubborn to a degree. She refused to go, and
when Mrs. Latimer came back, she told her that Tom ought to be in bed and
given a great big dose of quinine--then he'd be all right in the morning.

"That's exactly what we planned to do, Polly," said Mrs. Latimer. "I sent
Katrina to the drugstore for the pills, just now. But you run back and
enjoy yourself, dear, as you can do nothing for Tom. He's like all
men--as grouchy as a bear with a sore head, the minute anything ails
them."

His mother laughed, and Polly stood smiling. Tom fumed. "Was this all the
sympathy he was to win for his self-appointed martyrdom?"

Just as he had lost the last vestige of hope in life, Polly said to his
mother: "I haven't seen Tom before, today, to wish him a merry Christmas
and to give him my present."

"Oh!" ejaculated Mrs. Latimer, wisely, and slipped from the room, closing
the hall door very quietly after her.

Tom opened one eye and began to wonder if it was worth while--this living
business? When Polly smiled so angelically upon him, in spite of his
ludicrous pose and appearance, he thought he might make one more trial of
temporal existence.

Then Polly said, "I am sorry I could not reach you by telephone today,
Tom. I had a little surprise for you, that I'm sure you will like. Shall
I show you now?"

"Maybe it ids egsadtly wha'd I wads plannig to ags you?" said Tom,
sitting up with interest, and forgetting the tub of hot water with his
feet slowly par-boiling in it.

"Here it is. Isn't it neat and business-like?" said Polly, as she handed
him a small paste-board card.

Tom read:

"POLLY BREWSTER
DECORATOR
NEW YORK CITY
_Representing Ashby Shops, New York and London_."

Tom's shocked surprise at the unexpected announcement, so different from
what he had expected, rendered him speechless for a full minute. During
this pause, Polly patted his damp hair just as she might have patted her
brother John's head, or