orning, and now--" he hesitated, and, boy as he was and a
plucky boy, too, two great tears came and splashed down on Theodora's
fingers; "now he says it will be two or three weeks before I can even
sit up again."

That night, when Theodora rose to go home, she turned back to the lounge
once more, after she had said good-by to Mrs. Farrington.

"You must come in, every day," Mrs. Farrington said. "Will is better
already for your being here."

Theodora herself saw the change, as she bent down to shake hands. He
looked brighter and better than when she had come, more animated and
eager, more like his old self.

"Billy," she said steadily; "I want you to promise me something."

"What's that?"

"That, if the time ever comes again when you want me, or when I can help
you, you'll send for me, without waiting. I'm only a girl, I know; but
I'm better than nothing, and I never go back on my friends."

Billy smiled up at her benignly.

"No, Ted; I don't believe you ever do. And there are times when 'only a
girl' is about as good as anything you can find. Come again."

"I will," she answered.

She kept her word so well that, during all Billy's imprisonment, she
never failed to spend a part of each day with him. It did her good to
feel that some one counted on her coming and was the better for it. It
made her steadier, more reliable; and, in the long, dreary days that
followed, she gained a new gentleness from her constant association with
her suffering friend. There were days when he was irritable and
nervous, days when he was despondent, days when he was too weak with
pain to talk; but, during all this time, Theodora was loyal to him,
soothing him, cheering him up and bearing his ill-temper with a
gentleness which surprised even herself, ministering to his comfort and
content to an unmeasured degree, and at the same time gaining a quiet
womanliness which she had never known before.

And the days passed on, and the youth and the maiden reaped from them
all a harvest of good, a mutual gain from their frank intimacy.

CHAPTER NINE

"And I want a horsey, and a wagon to hatchen on behind," Allyn shouted.

"And I must have a new sled, and I want a set of furs and a canary
bird," Phebe clamored.

"Is that all?" Hubert inquired blandly. "Why not ask for a wedding gown
and a pink elephant while you are about it, Babe? Don't be modest. I
know what Teddy is going to have."

"Oh, what?" Theodora looked up from her