“But five pounds—” protested Mam.

“That was in the bond. Pray let me explain. By chance, she mentioned some very useful information which this newspaper contained; I might not have heard of it otherwise. So I am adding a little to her Christmas present—that is all.”

“It seems a great deal of money,” sighed Mam, who often wanted a fiver and had to do without it, “but you two appear to have the matter cut and dried, so I suppose it is all right. What are you going to do with your fabulous wealth, Millicent?”

[Pg 25]

[Pg 25]

“Make a corner in toffee. Make every kid in Dale End pay a penny for a ha’penny-worth. That is the proper thing, isn’t it, Mr. Schwartz?”

“I don’t think I can teach you much,” he replied with his usual grin.

“Oh yes, you can. Read the next paragraph, the one beginning: ‘The unhappy natives of the Upper Niger.’ It tells about gas-pipe guns and coal-dust powder. Yes, mother dear, going now.”

It was quite dark, of course, when I brought Minkie to the station a second time. The weather had changed, too, from what the farmers call “soft” to a touch of frost, which made both Jim and me pleased that my shoes had been sharped by the blacksmith that morning.

The train was rather late, so Minkie went into the station and interviewed a porter. He told her something which seemed to interest her, so she asked the booking-clerk for change of a sovereign and gave the man a shilling.

She picked out her father the instant the [Pg 26]train drew up at the platform. He looked worried, she told me afterwards, but that passed when he saw her. He had the usual number of parcels which people carry at Christmas time, and Minkie grabbed all of them, but he stopped her with a laugh.

[Pg 26]

“We can’t rush off in the orthodox way to-night, Minkie,” he said. “Mr. Schwartz’s servant is on this train, and I promised to take him with us to the house. By the way, is Dandy with you in the carriage?”

“No, father dear. Why do you ask?”

“Because this valet of Schwartz’s is a black man, and Dandy might not approve of him at first sight.”

 Prev. P 13/79 next