“Say, how could I have come so far to the end of the journey you set me if I had not obeyed?” muttered the sprite.
Kitty draws a long breath. That seems a right thing to say. It is not false, for she is here at the journey’s end.
She begins, “How could I ha—” when she hears the guardian angel’s whisper:
“Evasion is falsehood. Tell the truth.” Then Kitty falls on her knees.
“Oh, why are you called Love,” she repeats, “when you are so severe? Why will you keep pressing me with questions? It is Christmas morning! Let me see Johnnie! Let me see Johnnie!”
But Love answers only: “The day is dawning. You must answer.”
“Answer truly!” whispers the guardian child. “Never mind what happens. Answer truly.”
Kitty puts her hands over her eyes, not to see that dear home-picture fade away, that curtained window vanish from her sight without knowing the secret that it hides concerning Johnnie.
“I loitered with every temptation,” she says very low but very clearly; “but my guardian child helped me to escape, till at last I struck it and drove it away. Then I lost sight of the star, and I played with my naughty sprite.” Kitty’s voice fails here, and with a sob she stretches herself down on the snow.