“Bell Brandon,” shrieked my little lad. “She did not send me—she brought me.”
“Then—she must have another gift for me,” I said boldly, and held out my hand to Haidee.
She shook her head, her eyes grave, but her lips still smiling.
“I have brought Joey to you—but—I cannot stay. I am going away. Will you keep my boy until I return?”
“You are going away?”
She bent her head.
“I am going to take Wanza back East. I want to go away for a time—it is best for me to go. But—you must not be separated from Joey all this long winter, David Dale. My boy shall stay with you—and in the spring I shall come for him—or come back to stay at Hidden Lake.”
“You are going away—soon—after Christmas?”
“To-morrow. We are going to-morrow—Wanza and I—we decided it only to-day. I have some matters to attend to in New York. I must go at once.”
“Christmas Day?”