ator with a little awe.

'No,' she said; 'what?'

'I would drop down and die, my heart would burst and break, and if I
couldn't die very quick, I wouldn't eat or drink nothing, but I'd go
sadly to my grave and lay my head down, and the next morning you would
find me stiff and cold with my glassy eyes staring up at the sky, like an
old dog I read about.'

Teddy's tone was so intensely tragic that Nancy was silent. At last she
said, 'I'll never love you proper till you give it to me.'

'Will you like me a little instead?'

'I might do that,' she replied reluctantly.

'And you won't never say you don't believe father's story?'

'I aren't going to promise.'

Then, as the very last bite was taken of the apple, she added, 'I'll hear
some more of your stories first. I want to hear one now. Sally White told
me at school you know all about fairies.'

Teddy nodded impressively, then said slowly, 'I make believe I do, but I
don't make believe father's story.'

'Tell me a story now.'

Teddy clasped his hands round a bough, and with knitted brows considered.
Then he looked up, and the light sparkled in his eyes.

'Shall I tell you about when I went into an oak-tree, and found a little
door leading down some steps that took me to the goblin's cave?'

This sounded enchanting, and Nancy eagerly prepared herself to listen.
Such a story was then poured out that it held her spell-bound. Goblins,
elves, and fairies, underground glories, thrilling adventures and
escapes. Was it any wonder that with such a gift for story-telling Teddy
was the king of the village? It came to an end at last, and Nancy drew a
long breath of relief and content when she heard the concluding
sentence, 'And I quickly opened the little door, and there I was outside
the oak, and safe in the wood again.'

'Button-boy, I do like you,' she asserted, with a quick little nod of her
head. 'Will you tell me another story soon?'

'P'raps I will,' said Teddy, feeling a little elated that he was gaining
supremacy over her, 'but I'm going home now. I only came out to have a
think, and to make friends with you.'

'What made you come and make it up?' the little maiden asked, as after a
scramble down, they stood at the foot of the tree. 'You said something
about your Captain; who is He?'

'Jesus Christ,' Teddy replied reverently, 'and His banner is love, so I
have to love everybody, whether I like them or not.'

'Why?'

'Because He wants me to, and I'm one