with her hands bandaged, had upset her greatly.

Dan, sincerely touched and conscience-stricken, stepped forward.
"Aunt Pike," he began, "I--"

But Kitty with a look and a sign checked him. "Wait," she whispered.
"I think you had better wait, or you may make things worse for Anna."

Dan looked distressed. "I don't think I shall," he answered testily, as
Aunt Pike went out of the room. "I hate mystery. Why can't we speak
out and have it over? I am going to, Kitty."

"I want you to, as much as you do," she answered in a troubled voice,
"but we have to think of Anna. She did so much for us last night, and--
well, I believe if we were to tell Aunt Pike all about it now, it would
hurt her more than ever, because she would think Anna had been deceiving
her; and Anna did not mean to, she only meant to be kind to us."

So Dan, though most unwillingly, had to agree. It annoyed him, and hurt
his dignity, and offended his sense of honour to have to let Anna bear
the weight of his misdoing; but he still hoped that when he could see
Anna she might consent to his making a full confession. Here, though,
he was again doomed to disappointment, for Anna only turned to him
pleadingly. "Don't say anything about it," she cried. "O Dan, don't!
If mother was to know now she would be more angry than ever, and she
would never trust me again, or forgive either of us."

So Dan, out of his gratitude to her, had to give in; and there the
matter rested for the time at least. But it had brought about two
important changes--it cured Dan, and all of them, for some time, of
their love of reading in bed; and it made them more tolerant in their
feelings towards Anna.

Christmas, since that last one their mother had spent with them, had
never been a festive or a happy season in Dr. Trenire's house. To the
doctor it was too full of sad memories for him to be able to make it gay
or cheerful for his children, and the children did not know how to set
about making it so for themselves, while Aunt Pike had no ideas on the
subject beyond sending and receiving a few cards, giving Anna a
half-sovereign to put in the savings bank, and ordering a rather more
elaborate dinner on Christmas Day.

Kitty, Dan, and Betty this year felt a real yearning for a Christmas
such as they had read of, and discussed all manner of impossible plans,
but there it all ended. Dr. Trenire gave them a book each, and they sat
around the schoolroom fire reading them and