disenchanted a second time. You can't alter that. It's
a pity you haven't got to be rescued or anything, Jill, because then----'

'If you talk any more, child,' interrupted Jill, with decision, 'you will
be too tired to have a visitor after tea.'

Jill _was_ a nice person, Barbara settled again in her mind, as they had
tea together out of Finny's private tea-set that the Canon had given her
last Christmas. She was so nice that she even slipped away afterwards,
when Christopher came into the room, so that he and Babs could have
their talk together without feeling that somebody else was listening. For
all that, neither of them seemed to find it easy to begin, and they
remained looking at each other in silence for some moments after Jill
had closed the door upon them.

Then Christopher made a great effort and addressed her from the end of
the bed, where he had taken up his position.

'Hullo!' he said, tugging at his collar as if to remove some obstruction
to his voice.

'Hullo!' answered Babs, faintly, from among her pillows.

Then followed another pause. They both felt there were plenty of things
to be said, but somehow they could not think of them just then. Presently,
Kit remembered that she was an invalid, and that invalids always had to
be kissed. He also decided that the sooner he got it over the better; so
he marched round to the side of the bed and kissed her.

'How are you, Babe?' he asked, feeling more at his ease now that this
formality was over and he was free to climb on the edge of her bed and
sit there swinging his legs.

'Oh, I'm all right,' answered Barbara, heartily.

They both knew she was nothing of the sort, but in the Berkeley family
it was a point of honour with every one, even during a visitation of
toothache, to declare himself 'all right.'

'How are you, Kit?' asked Babs, after a little further reflection.

'I'm all right, thanks,' answered Christopher, faithfully, and he whistled
a tune to fill the next pause. 'Awfully poor lying here, isn't it?' he
resumed presently.

Barbara nodded. 'It's stale,' she said expressively.

Kit looked sympathetic. 'It would make _me_ sick,' he observed.

'Oh, it's all right,' Barbara hastened to assure him; and he whistled a
little more.

'Jill's all right too, isn't she?' he continued after a while.

'Oh, Jill's all right--_rather_,' said the child, warmly. 'How are the
other boys, Kit?'

'They're all right,' answered Kit.

'And Auntie Anna?'