nswered Auntie Anna. 'That's what I'm here for;
eh, Everard?'

'Then--then--are you going to do anything for the boys too?' stammered
Barbara. 'I--I don't think it's quite fair to keep all the niceness to
myself, you see!'

'That depends on what the boys want,' replied the old lady, gravely. 'Do
you think you can give me any idea?'

Barbara puckered up her eyebrows, and counted off the names on her
fingers. 'First there's Egbert,' she began; 'he wants to go to Oxford
without having to get a scholarship first. Then there's Wilfred; he wants
to be a doctor, but Kit says there isn't money enough and he's got to get
over it. Do you think you'll be able to make Will into a doctor? And Peter
wants lots of shooting; he says he doesn't mind about anything else,
only Kit says he isn't old enough, and you won't trust him with a gun. Kit
hasn't seen you yet, you see. Then there's Kit----'

'That's enough for the present!' cried Mrs. Crofton, who was leaning back,
convulsed with laughter, among the sofa cushions. Mr. Berkeley again drew
his daughter towards him.

'You are revealing all the secrets of the prison-house, little girl,' he
remarked.

Barbara looked from one to the other. 'Auntie Anna did ask me,' she said
reproachfully.

'To be sure I did,' answered the old lady, recovering herself with an
effort, 'and I am delighted to hear some of the things I am expected to
do. But you must allow that even a fairy godmother has a hard time of
it occasionally, and it is a little difficult to provide for all her
godchildren at once, you know. However, you shall hear what is going
to happen in a week's time, on the very day that this naughty father of
yours takes himself off to America; and if you approve of it, we can
see about the other things later on. Is that a bargain, eh?'

'Oh! What else is going to happen in a week's time?' asked Barbara,
eagerly. By this time she was prepared for any dream to come true. Her
faith in the old lady who was playing at fairy stories was complete.

Mr. Berkeley answered her. 'Auntie Anna is going to carry you all off to
Crofts for the whole six months that I am away,' he told her; 'and you are
going to Jill's school at Wootton Beeches, which is only ten miles off.
So Kit and Robin will be able to come over and see you sometimes, when
the others have gone away, for they are going to have a tutor and stay
at Crofts with Auntie Anna and Jill. Isn't that a fine idea?'

Barbara was speechless