It will be believed that to explain all this to the Grandmother was not the work of a moment. She understood it all at last, however, and the Tailor could not restrain a little good-humored triumph on the subject. Before he went to work he settled her down in the window with her knitting, and kissed her.
“What do you think of it all, Mother?” he inquired.
“Bairns are a blessing,” said the old lady, tartly. “I told you so.”
“That’s not the end, is it?” asked one of the boys in a tone of dismay, for the Doctor had paused here.
“Yes it is,” said he.
“But couldn’t you make a little more end?” asked Deordie, “to tell us what became of them all?”
“I don’t see what there is to tell,” said the Doctor.
“Why, there’s whether they ever saw the Old Owl again, and whether Tommy and Johnnie went on being Brownies,” said the children.
The Doctor laughed.