"How I shall miss him!" she said to herself. "For some reasons I could wish he had bequeathed the magic table to me—to what advantage I could have used it! But it would not have been fair or right. Oh if only Michael wins it! Somehow——" and vague hopes began to flutter in her heart, for that the young fellow—no less than the others, in their own way—adored her, she could not doubt. "It might make things different," she thought. But then she resolutely put the idea away. "No, no, I must not dwell on it. It is almost as if I were looking forward to dear old Peter's death. And oh, by the bye, I must not forget to go to see old Martha Swann to-morrow. I wonder what new trouble has befallen her—trouble mingled with joy, he said, and of course I know, as no one else knows, that Peter is in touch with the good people; the really good fairies, they must be, for he would have no dealings with mischievous, spiteful imps."
Now I must tell you what happened the next day—the eventful Sunday on which the old man felt that the time had come for his strange secret to be revealed to his three godsons.
They were there in good time as usual, waiting outside for the opening of the door and their host's appearing.
Hodge, as was his way, was very hungry and in a hurry to set to work at the excellent dinner which no doubt awaited them. Giles too agreed with him that under the circumstances time passed far too slowly. Michael, who of the three had every reason for more than ordinary hunger, as he had not tasted food since his early supper the day before, his breakfast, as you will remember, having been otherwise disposed of—poor Michael said nothing. His thoughts were running on the two little waifs that he had escorted to their grandmother, and not only on them and Dame Martha, but on kind Ysenda. For, coming out of church, she had whispered to him that she feared their old friend was in trouble. "I am going to her at once," she said, and ran off before the young man had time to reply.
"How did she know?" Michael wondered. "Perhaps through Uncle Peter's queer ways. However, she'll look after the poor things for a day or two, though it isn't very much that even Ysenda, bless her, can do, rich though her father is," for the farmer's peculiarities were no secret.
So Michael had plenty to think of, as well as of being hungry, while standing with his cousins outside the old man's cottage.
And after all, they were kept waiting a shorter time than usual. It still wanted some minutes to the half-hour after noon when the door opened and their uncle beckoned to them to enter.
Even as they did so, they felt that things were not quite the same as on former occasions. To begin with, the dinner was not ready; far from it, the table was not even to be seen!
Hodge's face fell, so did Giles's, as the same misgiving seized them.
"Supposing he's not going to give us any dinner at all," they thought. "Maybe he's been too feeble to see to it."