Then he turned to the children.
“To-morrow, as you know, will be Christmas, and this dog was to be a surprise for Nell from Mr. Tarkowski, but as the surprise has begun to bark I am obliged to tell you about it to-day.”
When Nell heard this she quickly climbed on Mr. Tarkowski’s knee and put her arms around his neck; then she jumped on her father’s knee.
“Papa, dear, how happy I am, how happy!”
The embraces and kisses seemed endless; at last Nell stood on her feet, and looking into Mr. Tarkowski’s eyes, said:
“Mr. Tarkowski—”
“Well, Nell, what is it?”
“Now that I’ve found out he is here, I ought to see him to-day!”
“I knew,” cried Mr. Rawlison, pretending to be very much excited over the matter, “that this little fly would not be content with only hearing about it.”
Mr. Tarkowski turned to Chadigi’s son and said: