Then, with a hug from me, and many a loving kiss from Granny as she clasped him in her arms, Chris was lifted up by the side of Uncle Godfrey and driven away.
"Good-bye! good-bye! good-bye!" he called out shrilly, looking back and waving his hand, till his little voice grew faint in the distance.
As for Granny, she stood still on the door-step, heedless of the keen morning air, with one hand shading her eyes from the sunlight, while the other grasped tightly Chris's parting gift—the "golden farthing".
She stood there gazing after the dog-cart till it was out of sight. Then she turned in silence and went back into the house.
It seemed as if all the sunshine and brightness had gone out of it with the departure of that little beggar!
Many years have passed since that summer's day when I found a little truant sobbing so bitterly by the roadside. Granny is a very old lady now, and my hair is becoming quite white. As for the little beggar himself, the ambition of his childhood is fulfilled, and he is one of the Queen's soldiers, having just passed into Sandhurst, a fact in which Granny takes an overwhelming pride. So overwhelming, that I really fancy if you were to ask her to name the greatest general of the future, she would have but one answer for you. Cannot you guess what that answer would be?
Transcriber's Notes
This title was published as the second half of the book [Unlucky] by Caroline Austin (eBook #35653). Page numbers begin with 161.