ed to doing it--he surrendered himself without a protest. When
presently she gave him a drink of milk and a biscuit to munch, he
regaled himself peaceably, with the air of feeling quite at home. When
he had finished his lunch he played with a collie puppy.

"I'll do my best for him, sir, and I'll not let these young ladies
spoil him if I can help it," said Mrs Kelsey, with a smile at Mary
Pennycuick.

Terms had been arranged, and everything settled.

"I hope you will be able to keep him from being any bother to them,"
said Guthrie earnestly.

"Bother!" crowed Mary, whose intention was to visit the child daily.
"We'll see to that, Mr Carey--never fear."

Mrs Kelsey suggested beginning her duties, with the aid of the little
nurse, at once; but Mary would not hear of parting the boy from his
father while they could be together. So he was carried back to Redford,
to be the plaything of the housekeeper's room for the rest of the day.

"MY baby," Mary began to call him. She had to preside at the great
dinner, but was not visible to her family for hours before and after.

It was a better Christmas to Guthrie Carey in the end than in the
beginning. Deb came back from church chastened in spirit, to make up to
him for her unkindness, on the score of which her warm heart had
reproached her. She made him play billiards with her after tea, while
Claud was resting after his labours; she chaffed him deliciously on his
errors in the game. She forgot to ask after his baby; but she asked
whether it would not be possible to get his leave extended. When he
said "No"--he had had more than his share already--she commended him
for his sense of duty, and in her seriousness was more enchanting than
in her fun.

"But I do wish we could have kept you longer," she flattered him, in
her sweet way. "However, we shall have a hostage for your return."

Several new people came to dinner, including Mr Goldsworthy and
Ruby--the latter sent at once, by Deb's command, to keep little Carey
company. Spacious Redford was taxed to the utmost to accommodate its
guests, and never was better Christmas cheer provided in the old hall
of English Redford than its son in exile dispensed under his Australian
roof. When every leaf was put into the dining-table, it was so long
that Mary at one end was beyond speaking distance of her father at the
other, and those at the sides could scarce use their elbows as they
ate. The banquet was prodigious, with speeches t