"I can read anything," she said proudly.
But she was some time in finding the place. Old John told her it was the fourteenth chapter in the New Testament, and Dreamikins tried to find it in St. Matthew, St. Mark, and St. Luke before she came to St. John. She read the chapter nearly through in her soft childish voice, and then Annette called her.
She jumped up to go.
"I'll come and read to you again, and I'll read you the chapter we like best. It's the twenty-sixth chapter of St. Matthew—the last part of it. It tells about me coming to see you. Good-bye."
She stretched over the bed and kissed his withered cheek, then stumbled down the steep stairs, and trotted off home very pleased with her visit.
When she met Freda and Daffy the next morning she told them about it, but they did not seem very interested. Their mother was going away that afternoon, and they were full of her departure.
"Nurse doesn't like being here in the winter. She told Mums she thought it would be too cold for Bertie, and we're afraid Nurse will get us back to London. Mums always ends by doing what she wishes."
Dreamikins' face fell.
"You mustn't go, now you do lessons with me. Couldn't Nurse and Bertie go and leave you behind?"
"Nurse will never leave us," said Daffy hopelessly. "I believe she'll stay with us till we quite grow up."