the young man turned to go, but came back to ask Una a question;
and the little girl answered him eagerly in French, repeating something
several times over, and nodding her head firmly as if she were making a
promise. The young man smiled at her once more, and then went away
into the house.

"Well!" Tom burst out as soon as the stranger was out of hearing, "I
should like to know what all that gibberish was about, Una."

"And me, too," said Norah. "Please tell us, Una. I couldn't
understand one word he said."

"Nor anyone else," said Tom; "at least--I forgot--Una did. I suppose
that's because you gabble such a lot of French to Marie, isn't it, Una?
Marie talks as fast as seven cats all rolled into one."

"Cats don't talk!" said Una, smiling; then she grew very grave. "Oh
Tom," she said, "I don't feel a bit like laughing, really. He told me
such sad, sad things, that man. He said there is a country, a long way
off, where the little children are quite miserable--not happy and
laughing like us. He said that it was seeing us all playing and
laughing just now made him feel quite cross and angry with us, because
it made him think of his little brothers and sisters--at least, I am
not quite sure if he did say his little brothers and sisters, or some
other little children he knows.

"They have been turned out of their home and have to live in a nasty,
cold, snowy country with no friends, except their mother; yes, she is
there; but their father has to work in a horrid sort of prison, and he
hasn't done anything wrong--_that_ isn't why he's being punished. And
he says--the man I mean--that there are lots of little children like
that in that country, and they are all sad and cold and hungry and
miserable.

"He told me the name of that country, too," the little girl went on;
"but I mustn't tell you, because it is a secret and I promised not to.
Oh, dear! I hope it is not naughty of me to have told you all this,"
cried Una, suddenly bursting into tears. "I do hope I'm not letting
out any of father's secret; but it made me feel so sad all that the man
told me, and I wanted to talk to someone about it, and--and I never
thought of it being anything to do with--Oh, dear! oh, dear! now I'm
letting out more and making it worse!"

"Never mind, Una! Don't cry. We won't tell, anyone, we promise
faithfully we won't," cried the children, much distressed at Una's
tears; and soon the little girl dried her eyes and was at las