Two Little Waifs Part 23

"What, my boy?"

"It _is_ so cold here," repeated Walter; "it really feels terrible to come back to. Supposing we all go down there for a couple of months or so, to escape the cold? We could keep the children till Bertram is strong again and able to make his plans. I think we'd feel quite queer without them now. Besides, I promised him to bring them back to him."

"What do you say, Rosamond?" said Auntie.

"I should like it very much. It would be so nice not to part with them just yet."

So it was decided. You can imagine how much had to be told to the children the next day. Mingled sadness and happiness--warp and woof of the web of life!

But when they found themselves once more on the railway, with the kind friends they had learnt to know so well, really on the way to "Papa," I think the happiness was uppermost.

He proved to be the dearest of Papas; not the very least like what they had imagined him. "Of course not," Gladys said; "people and things are never like what one fancies they will be." But though he was older and grayer, and perhaps at first sight a little _sadder_ than she had expected, he grew merry enough in the great happiness of having them with him, and as he gradually got strong and well again he seemed, too, to become younger.

"Anyway," said Gladys, a few weeks after their arrival at Nice, "he _couldn't_ be nicer, could he, Roger?" in which opinion Roger solemnly agreed.

"And now he's getting better," she added; "it's not a bad thing he's been ill, for it's made the doctor say he must never go back to India again."

Is that all there is to tell about the "two little waifs?" I think I must lift the curtain for an instant "ten years later," to show you little Roger a tall strong schoolboy, rather solemn still, but bidding fair to be all his father could wish him, and very devoted to a tiny girl of about the age at which we first saw Gladys, and who, as her mother is pretty Rosamond, he persists in calling his "niece," and with some show of reason, for her _real_ uncle, "Walter," is now the husband of his sister Gladys!

And long before this, by the bye, another marriage had come to pa.s.s which it may amuse you to hear of. There is a new Madame Nestor in the Rue Verte, as well as the cheery old lady who still hobbles about briskly, though with a crutch. And the second Madame Nestor's first name is "Leonie." She is, I think, quite as clever as Mademoiselle Anna, and certainly _very_ much better tempered.

And whenever any of the people you have heard of in this little book come to Paris, you may be sure they pay a visit to the little old shop, which is as full as ever of sofas and chairs, and where they always receive the heartiest welcome from the Nestor family.

I wish, for my part, the histories of all "little waifs" ended as happily!

THE END.

BEDFORD STREET, COVENT GARDEN, LONDON.

_October_, 1883.

_Macmillan & Co.'s Catalogue of Works in_

_Belles Lettres, including Poetry, Fiction, etc._

=ADDISON,= SELECTIONS FROM. By JOHN RICHARD GREEN, M.A., LL.D. (Golden Treasury Series.) 18mo. 4_s_. 6_d_.

=ADVENTURES OF A BROWNIE, THE.= By the Author of "John Halifax, Gentleman." With Ill.u.s.trations by Mrs. ALLINGHAM. New Edition. Globe 8vo. 4_s_. 6_d_.

=aeSOP.=--SOME OF aeSOP'S FABLES. With Modern Instances shown in Designs by RANDOLPH CALDECOTT. From New Translations by ALFRED CALDECOTT, M.A. The Engraving by J. D. COOPER. Demy 4to. 7_s_. 6_d_.

=ALLINGHAM.=--THE BALLAD BOOK. Edited by WILLIAM ALLINGHAM. (Golden Treasury Series.) 18mo. 4_s_. 6_d_.

=ALEXANDER (C. F.).=--THE SUNDAY BOOK OF POETRY FOR THE YOUNG. (Golden Treasury Series.) 18mo. 4_s_. 6_d_.

=A LITTLE PILGRIM:= IN THE UNSEEN. Crown 8vo. 2_s_. 6_d_.

=A Pa.s.sION FLOWER.= A Novel. Two Vols. Crown 8vo. 12_s_.

=AN ANCIENT CITY, AND OTHER POEMS.=--By A NATIVE OF SURREY. Extra fcap.

8vo. 6_s_.

=ANDERSON.=--BALLADS AND SONNETS. By ALEXANDER ANDERSON (Surfaceman).

Extra fcap. 8vo. 5_s_.

=ARIOSTO.=--PALADIN AND SARACEN. Stories from Ariosto. By H. C.

HOLLWAY-CALTHROP. With Ill.u.s.trations by Mrs. ARTHUR LEMON. Crown 8vo.

6_s_.

=ARNOLD.=--THE POETICAL WORKS OF MATTHEW ARNOLD. Vol. I. EARLY POEMS, NARRATIVE POEMS, AND SONNETS. Vol. II. LYRIC. DRAMATIC, AND ELEGIAC POEMS. New and Complete Edition. Two Vols. Crown 8vo. 7_s_. 6_d_. each.

SELECTED POEMS OF MATTHEW ARNOLD. With Vignette engraved, by C. H.

JEENS. (Golden Treasury Series.) 18mo. 4_s_. 6_d_.

MEROPE. A Tragedy. Extra fcap. 8vo. 5_s_.

=ART AT HOME SERIES.=--Edited by W. J. LOFTIE, B.A.

A PLEA FOR ART IN THE HOUSE. With especial reference to the Economy of Collecting Works of Art, and the importance of Taste in Education and Morals. By W. J. LOFTIE, B.A. With Ill.u.s.trations.

Fifth Thousand. Crown 8vo. 2_s_. 6_d_.

SUGGESTIONS FOR HOUSE DECORATION IN PAINTING, WOODWORK, AND FURNITURE. By RHODA and AGNES GARRETT. With Ill.u.s.trations. Sixth Thousand. Crown 8vo. 2_s_. 6_d_.

MUSIC IN THE HOUSE. By JOHN HULLAH. With Ill.u.s.trations. Fourth Thousand. Crown 8vo. 2_s_. 6_d_.

THE DRAWING-ROOM; ITS DECORATIONS AND FURNITURE. By Mrs.

ORRINSMITH. Ill.u.s.trated. Fifth Thousand. Crown 8vo. 2_s_. 6_d_.

THE DINING-ROOM. By MRS. LOFTIE. Ill.u.s.trated. Fourth Thousand.

Crown 8vo. 2_s_. 6_d_.

THE BED-ROOM AND BOUDOIR. By LADY BARKER. Ill.u.s.trated. Fourth Thousand. Crown 8vo. 2_s_. 6_d_.

DRESS. By Mrs. OLIPHANT. Ill.u.s.trated. Crown 8vo. 2_s_. 6_d_.

AMATEUR THEATRICALS. By WALTER H. POLLOCK and LADY POLLOCK.

Ill.u.s.trated by KATE GREENAWAY. Crown 8vo. 2_s_. 6_d_.

NEEDLEWORK. By ELIZABETH GLAISTER, Author of "Art Embroidery."

Ill.u.s.trated. Crown 8vo. 2_s_. 6_d_.