Christina then explained to them that they only knew half the news, and great was the surprise of the two, to find Walter could have omitted such an important part of it in writing to their father.
"Now, I suppose you'll be married in no time," said Arthur.
"I do not know what 'no time' means," answered Christina.
She felt rather glad to escape from their questions, to go up again to Nellie. She begged her aunt to make them happy, and giving her a loving kiss, and whispering, "I think Nellie needs me," she was leaving the room, when Nurse Margaret entered, carrying little Charlie Wood for a good-night kiss.
Christina set her little tray again on the table, and turned to her new baby boy. "Well, my little man," she exclaimed, taking him proudly in her arms, "so you have come to wish Auntie good-night?"
The frail little fellow smiled with delight, and Christina went to a drawer and gave him a sugarplum, then holding him out towards her aunt, she said, smiling, "Now a kiss for Charlie, Aunt Mary."
Miss Arbuthnot did not seem surprised. In this little family, love reigned, and they treated the little children as cherished lambs in the fold of the Great Shepherd.
"Have you heard of his mother lately?" asked Ada, when Margaret had carried him off.
"Oh, yes!" said Christina. "I hear regularly every week. She is getting on so nicely; she is better in health, and has never touched one drop of spirits or anything since that day. It is worth a lifetime of self-denial to be allowed to save such a one."
"Will she go home yet?"