"She showed it to me," he replied. "Ah! I had hoped the little lady from Coombe Villa would have been here to tea, to taste it; but I suppose it will be some days before she will be able to walk as far as this?"
"Yes," Bessie answered, "though her foot is much better. Mr. Manners called us in to see her when we were coming home from school to-day, and she can walk a little; but Mrs. Gray says the sprain will pass quicker if she rests her foot a bit longer."
"Oh, Granfer," Nellie cried, "we saw the picture Mr. Manners is painting; he showed it to us; wasn't it kind of him?"
"Very kind," Mr. Norris agreed; "he seems a nice gentleman."
"He is indeed! Mother says he is like Uncle David!"
"Eh? What?" cried the old man.
"Like Uncle David, Granfer, and he's called David too!"
"Yes, yes!"
He gazed thoughtfully into the fire, and presently two big tears gathered in his eyes and rolled slowly down his withered cheeks. The little girls looked at him in mingled surprise and awe, and Bessie crept to his side and laid her soft cheek against his shoulder.
"Don't cry, dear, dear Granfer," she whispered. "Oh, don't cry!"