art was filled with love and pity and sympathy for the boy. "Oh," she
said, "I must see him." She found him in the nursery, a very bright and
eager child, and at once they became fast friends. For hours he would
sit by her side, his great grey-blue eyes fixed on her face, while she
told him thrilling stories of her adventures in wild Africa.

Before they parted they had a quiet talk and made a secret bargain. Each
was to do something every day only known to themselves; nobody was to
be told--not even Ratcliffe's own mother. His face was glowing when they
were planning it, and he felt it was splendid to have a secret which one
would think about from day to day, but which no other person would know
of. His mother and aunt heard that it had been made, and sometimes they
teased him to tell, but he just smiled, and nothing ever made him open
his lips and speak of it. We shall learn by and by what it was.

On board the steamer going back Ma wrote a long letter to Ratcliffe:

You were in the land of Nod long before our boat came in, so
neither Janie nor myself could go to say good-bye to you. But
what do you think your dear daddy did? Just came away with us in
the middle of the night, in the dark and the cold, and took us
to the boat with all our luggage and stuff, and in the dark
found our way for us to the big steamer, and then up the long
stair at the ship's side, and brought us into the cabin where I
am now sitting, and which has to be our home for the next ten
days or so. And your dear mother waited up to say good-bye, and
so did your dear aunty, and they sent us off laden with apples
and flowers, and, better still, with warm loving wishes and
hopes that we should meet again. My heart was glad and thankful,
but it was very sore and sorry, and I am afraid I cried a wee
bit when Mr. Edisbury went away out into the dark and left us.
How happy your dear parents and your auntie made us! and how
good it was to meet you. It will ever live as a picture in my
heart and memory the times we spent with you, and it was very
good for Janie to know you....

We have a crowd on board, and to-day we had a birthday cake to
tea, because it is a lady's birthday. As no one ever asks a lady
how old she is--you remember us talking about that--well, they
put 21 on the icing of the cake, but she is an old lady, and
they made her funny presents, a little