lled out of the chair toward me and dropped
right at my feet.

"It was that unlucky gold coin, which must have slipped under
the plush in some way when you counted the money on it that
night.

"It was so late when we were finally rescued that I could not
keep my dinner engagement. I am glad for one reason; it gives
me time to write this now. I know that it will make your
Thanksgiving brighter to know this, and I am sure that it is
needless for me to say that I never for an instant connected
the disappearance of the coin with you in any way. I regret
extremely the silly gossip that wounded you so sorely, and
want to tell you how much I respect the manly way in which
you have since met and answered it.

"Wishing you a happy Thanksgiving with your family, I am

"Sincerely your friend,

"AVERY WINDOM."

[Illustration: "'IT WAS THAT UNLUCKY GOLD COIN.'"]

Philippa, watching his face as he read, came up to him when he had
finished, and put a hand on each shoulder.

"Alec," she said, with the straightforwardness of sixteen, "that
means a lot to you, doesn't it, that she should write that she is
'sincerely your friend'?"

"Yes," he answered, honestly; "a very great deal."

"Do you suppose it would stand in the way, sometime, when you are
older, you know, and have made a place for yourself in the world, her
knowing about--about father?"

"I don't know, Flip," he answered, slowly; "I've often wondered about
that."

Through the open door came Aunt Eunice's voice, singing jubilantly:

"I know not what the future hath
Of marvel or surprise,
Assured alone that life and death
His mercy underlies."

"How that old hymn answers everything!" Alec said, softly. "No matter
what lies ahead, it's all right now. God's at the helm, little
sister! I shall find all the 'islands' he has set for me."

THE END.

End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Flip's "Islands of Providence", by
Annie Fellows Johnston

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