le. The
expense--"

"It is going to be possible now," cut in Mr. Burton, smiling. "That is,
if you are willing to take Christopher along."

"Nothing would please me better," ejaculated the watchmaker. "He is a
fine lad. This year I have come to--"

"We know you have, Mr. McPhearson," asserted Mrs. Burton softly. "Your
kindness to our boy has proved that. That is why we are going to trust
him to you. He is the most precious thing we have in the world. We
should not let everybody borrow him."

With that the group broke up. Mr. Norcross hurried into his office; Mrs.
Burton opened her bag and once more began to fumble with her foolish
gauzy samples; and Mr. Burton took up from his desk a handful of letters
and glanced curiously over them. Even Mr. Rhinehart, Hollings, and the
others scattered to their awaiting tasks, and Christopher and McPhearson
were left alone.

"That's a present worth having, isn't it?" the boy cried with delight.

"It is like a dream come true," the Scotchman answered, with misty eyes.

FINIS

By Sara Ware Bassett

_The Invention Series_

PAUL AND THE PRINTING PRESS
STEVE AND THE STEAM ENGINE
TED AND THE TELEPHONE
WALTER AND THE WIRELESS
CARL AND THE COTTON GIN
CHRISTOPHER AND THE CLOCKMAKERS

+-------------------------------------------------------------+
| |
| Transcriber's Note: |
| |
| P. 124 Fromantell changed to Fromanteel |
| |
| P. 126 Closing double quotation mark added after New York |
| City. |
| |
| P. 196 Eli, junior changed to Eli, Junior |
| |
| Alternative spelling for focused/focussed, shan't/sha'n't, |
| jeweler/jeweller, honor/honour, and the spelling of |
| Nurenburg and Straasburg have been retained as they appear |
| in the original book. |
| |
+-------------------------------------------------------------+

***END OF