"A parcel for Miss Maclahan. Is it to come in here? Waiting for an answer."
"Oh!" cried Christina excitedly, getting down from her chair. "It must wait, please. At least, it must come in—it belongs to us—but they must wait."
"I'll tell the young person to bring it in," said the waiter; and the next moment poor Christina was face to face with a tall young woman, who held a bandbox in her hand. She was not one of the attendants whom Christina had already seen in the shop, and for a moment the child looked at her with an agonized face. How could she keep her till the boys came back she wondered!
The young woman looked at Christina, and spoke sharply.
"Waiting for payment!" she said. "Is there any one I can speak to?"
Then Christina rose to the occasion, as she generally did in an emergency.
"Please sit down; we are expecting you. They will be here presently. It's a very fine day."
The girl took a seat. If Christina's voice trembled with nervousness, she did not seem to notice it. She looked at her with a little smile.
"If it is a fine day it doesn't make any odds to me. I'm always tramping about all weathers."
There was a pause, then Christina said shyly: