“Open, open!” she cries.
Will not some one come to open to her?
“Mother, mother!” again cries Kitty with all her might. Will no one open?
Yes, some one is coming. Is it her mother coming toward her across the meadow? It is a pale lady robed in white; and as her long fair mantle trails on the ground a flash of rainbow light glows a moment and then fades from the snow.
It is Love. Her face is bright and tender. Her gentle fingers are on the latch. The Christmas bells are ringing louder and louder.
A great joy seizes Kitty. She is in time! She is in time!
“Have you resisted all the temptations?” asks Love in her gentle searching voice. “Did you never once lose sight of the star? Did you never hurt your guardian child, or play with your naughty sprite?”
“If you say that you did everything that you should not have done, you will not see Johnnie, or hear anything about him. You will have to go back to Punishment Land,” mutters the sprite.
A cold fear seizes Kitty.