e that the room held; where comfort and study seemed
to lurk in the very folds of the chintz window-curtains, and to shine
in the firelight, and certainly seemed to fill Mr. Richmond's arm-chair
even when he was not in it. He rose out of it now to meet his little
visitor, and laid study on the table. Of one sort.

"All's well at home, Tilly?" he asked, as he put her into his own chair.

"Yes, sir."

"And you do not come to me with any message but to see me yourself?"

"Yes, sir."

"That's nice. Now while you are talking to me, I will roast you an
apple."

Matilda looked on with great curiosity and as great a sense of relief,
while Mr. Richmond took out of a cupboard a plate of apples, chose a
fine one with a good bit of stem, tied a long pack-thread to this, and
then hung the apple by a loop at the other end of the string, to a hook
in the woodwork over the fireplace. The apple, suspended in front of
the blazing fire, began a succession of swift revolutions; first in one
direction and then in the other, as the string twisted or untwisted.

"Did you ever roast an apple so?"

"No, Mr. Richmond."

"It is the best way in the world--when you haven't got any other."

"We haven't got that way at our house," said Matilda; "for we have no
fires; nothing but stoves."

"You speak as if you thought fires were the best plan of the two."

"Oh, I do, Mr. Richmond! I do _not_ like stoves at all. They're so
close."

"I always thought stoves were rather close," said Mr. Richmond. "Now
what did you come to see me roast apples for this afternoon? Did you
come to keep your promise?"

"Yes, sir," Matilda answered, rather faintly.

"Are you sorry you made the promise?" Mr. Richmond inquired, looking at
her. But the look was so pleasant, that Matilda's could not keep its
solemnity. She had come in with a good deal.

"I don't know but I _was_ sorry," she said.

"And you are not sorry now?"

"I think not."

"That is all the better. Now what did you want to say to me, Matilda?"

"You know you made me say I would come, Mr. Richmond."

"Did I? I think not. I do not think I _made_ you say anything--do you
think I did?"

"Well, you _asked_ me, Mr. Richmond."

"Just what did I ask you?"

"You asked me, if I would come and tell you--you said you _wished_ I
would come and tell you--if----"

And Matilda made a great pause. The eyes of her friend seemed only to
be watching the apple, yet perhaps they knew that her little l