moment's hesitation, she replied: "Certainly, Master
Timmy, if such is your wish. But I trust you will be very careful with
it, my dear."

"I will be very, very careful!" he exclaimed. "And I will bring it
straight back to you up here after church."

He threw her a grateful look. He did more, and Nanna felt amply rewarded
as he climbed up on her bed and, putting his arms round her neck, kissed
her on each cheek.

"I hope," she said impressively, "that you are going to be a good boy in
church--a boy that Nurse can be proud of."

Nanna never called herself "Nanna" to the children.

"I am always very good in church," cried Timmy, offended. "I don't
see why you should go and spoil everything by saying that!" With
these cryptic words he slid off the bed, taking with him the large
old-fashioned Bible which always lay by Nanna's bedside.

Dolly, and Rosamund, who was Dolly's stable-companion, were attending the
service held by Dolly's fiance, Lionel Barton, in the next parish. As for
Betty, her heart was very full, and as she did her morning's work and
while she dressed herself for church, she still felt as if she was living
through a wonderful dream.

Jack, who did not always go to church, had elected to go to-day; so had
Tom and Godfrey; and thus, in spite of the absence of the two younger
girls, quite a considerable party filed into the Tosswill pew.

All the people belonging to Old Place were far too much absorbed in their
own thoughts on this rather strange Sunday morning to give any thought to
Timmy. So it was that he managed, after a moment's thought, to place
himself between his father and his godfather. He judged, rightly, that
neither of them would be likely to pay much attention to him or to his
doings.

When the rather nervous young rector had got well away with his sermon,
and had begun to attract the serious attention of Mr. Tosswill and of
Godfrey Radmore, Timmy very quietly drew out of his little, worn tweed
coat a long sharp pin. Wedging the Bible, as he hoped reverently, but
undoubtedly very securely between his knees, he thrust the pin firmly in
the middle of the faded, gilt-edged leaves of Nanna's Bible, where there
were already many curious little brown dots caused by similar punctures,
the work of Nanna herself.

Having done this, Timmy carefully lifted the Bible from between his knees
and let it fall open at the page the pin had found. The text where the
point rested ran as follows:

Deli