Bessie came in at this juncture. She was afraid her father would be tired.
"The little gentleman has done me good," said the old man happily. "We have been reminding each other of our good time coming."
Then he turned to Noel.
"There be many who would do well to be like your fir tree. Be quiet and content in a dull life and go on quietly growing and waiting. Such souls may grow faster than some of the busy workers. Good-bye, little laddie, and come again and see the old man if you can."
"I'll tell Mums, and she'll come, too," said Noel, clattering down the stairs.
He joined the others with rather a sober face, and tried to repeat to Miss Morgan what the old man had said to him. But she did not seem to understand so well as his mother, and when he told her all about it, she exclaimed:
"Dear old man! I suppose his time is coming, and God wants him to lie still and think about it. I shall go and see him to-morrow."
"And he's just like my Chris'mas tree," said Noel, summing up the whole in his usual slow, deliberate way.