Granny told his mother afterwards that he was too religious for a child.
"No," said Mrs. Inglefield gravely. "His faith is real and big. I wish I had as much."
Before the children left Granny to return home, she presented them each with five shillings.
"What will you do with it?" she asked them.
"I shall spend mine on a little—just a little present for Chris," said Diana. "He collects stamps at school, and I'm going to buy some for him. The rest I shall spend on a big fat book of lined paper for my stories. I want to write a real long story, and I'm always short of paper."
"And what is Noel going to do with his?"
Noel looked up with shining eyes.
"I'm going to buy presents for my Chris'mas tree," he said; "and I'll begin doing it now, so as to get ready in time, and I'll show them to him. He's very dull and lonely, and thinks he's no good to nobody. It will cheer him up."
"Who do you mean?"
"Oh," said Diana, laughing, "he means his Christmas tree; he's just mad about it. He talks as if it can feel and think."