"I ain't—I'm not crying."
"Yes, you are. I'm crying, too. Listen, Pip. Next year you're to come back. Miss Thornton says so. 'Cause you're a real Penguin."
"Honest?"
"Honest. And Daddy wrote. He says that was a swell idea about not staying mad in two rooms. He says you must be a swell kid. You're to spend the Christmas holidays with us—and p'raps I can stay with you. Daddy says your Pop and Ma might be able to knock some sense into us all."
Pip-Emma choked. Janet was holding her hand hard.
"Pip—"
"Yes?"
"We're going to be friends always, aren't we?"
"You bet."
Taps sounded. It was a sad, lonely sound in the night. Pip-Emma stood up bravely.