o wind up with (Mr
Goldsworthy, in his oration, disgusted Deb by referring to the host as
"princely", and to the ladies of the house as his "bevy of beautiful
daughters"); and if the truth must be told, the crowning ceremony of
the loving cup was a bit superfluous. It found the host already fuddled
beyond a doubt, and several of the guests under suspicion of being so.
But in the opinion of all, Redford had celebrated Christmas in an
unsurpassably proper manner.

Two mornings later, a waggonette was packed with luggage and four
passengers--Mary Pennycuick, Guthrie Carey, the baby and the baby's
little nurse. They proceeded in a body to the overseer's house, where
the load was halved. Mary, the baby, and one box were left with Mrs
Kelsey (reinforced by the collie puppy and a plate of sugared
strawberries); the sailor and the nursemaid, after a few poignant
moments, went on to a distant railway station.

"Have an easy mind," said Mary, outside the parlour door. "He will be
well off with her, and we shall all be looking after him."

"How can I thank you?" said the parting guest, barely able to
articulate. He wrung her hand, and looked at her kind, red face with
feelings unspeakable. "God bless you! God reward you for your goodness
to the little chap and me."

He was including all the family in his benediction, and it was the
father in him that was so touched and overcome. None the less, she
accepted the tribute for her own, and to her poverty-stricken womanhood
it was wealth indeed.

She stood in the porch to watch the wheels of his departing chariot
flash through the sun and dust. She stared long at the vacant point of
disappearance, like one entranced. When she came to herself, she ran
into the house and fell upon little Harry.

"My baby," she crooned passionately, "MY baby!"

Carey Junior responded with his ready fist, pushing her from him. He
was feeding the puppy with a strawberry, and she put her head in the
way.

"Fie! You mustn't do that," said Mrs Kelsey, mindful of her
responsibilities. "That's rude."

"Oh, let him," pleaded the girl, infatuated with that look of his
father in his face; and she dropped on her knees before him and kissed
a dangling foot, with which he kicked her mouth. "Let him do what he
likes, so long as he's happy."

"Not at all," her old nurse reproved her. "I promised Mr Carey that he
should not be spoiled."

He was not spoiled. The admirable foster-mother, brooking no
interfer