ittle blue teapot on the stove, and Tabby
curled up on the mat before the fire."

Aunt Winnie broke down and sobbed outright, while Danny was conscious of a
lump in his throat that held him dumb.

"Poor Tabby!" continued Aunt Winnie. "I hope the Mulligans are good to
her, Dan. D'ye ever see her as ye pass their gate?"

"I do," answered Dan. "Molly Mulligan has tied a blue ribbon around her
neck, and she is the pride of the house."

"And she has forgotten me, of course!" sighed Aunt Winnie. "But what could
I expect of a cat!"

"Forgotten you? Not a bit! Molly says she steals into your room upstairs
and cries for you every night."

"Ah, it was the sore parting for us all, God help us!" said Aunt Winnie,
brokenly. "But as long as it brings you luck, lad, I'll never complain.
This is the holy place to die in, and what could a poor sick ould woman
ask more?"

"A lot--a lot more!" burst forth Danny, passionately. "You should have a
place to live and be happy in, Aunt Win. You should have your own fire and
your own teapot, and your own cat in your own home; and I mean to get it
back for you just as quick as I can."

"Whisht! whisht!" said Aunt Win, nervously, as the old lady nearby roused
up, startled from her nap.

"It's time ye were going, Danny; for ye're a long way from college, and I
wouldn't keep ye against rules. I hope ye'll have a fine time at the
seashore, with the fishing and boating and all the other sports. Good-bye
and God bless ye, lad, until we meet again! Good-bye, Danny dear!" And,
realizing from the wide-open eyes of the old lady near him that all
confidential communications were over, Dan kissed Aunt Win's withered
cheek, and, his heart swelling with feelings he could not speak, took his
way back to Saint Andrew's, all his dreams, hopes, ambitions for the
future strangely shaken.

Aunt Win,--gentle, loving, heartsick, homesick Aunt Win! Aunt Win, begging
him to give her up lest she should hurt and hinder him in his opening way!
Aunt Win sighing for the little place she had called home, even while she
was ready to give it up forever and die silent and lonely, that her boy
might climb to heights of which she could only dream and never see! Dear,
faithful, true-hearted, self-forgetting Aunt Win! Dan felt his own eyes
blurring as he thought of all she had done, of all she was ready to
sacrifice.

And--and--the other thought followed swiftly: he could give it all back to
her,--the little attic room