"I am having a Christmas dinner myself," he said.
"Then you will come in after they go?" insisted Mrs. Wright, and as Livingstone knew they were going early he assented.
"Who are your friends?" she asked. "What a pleasant-looking man, and what lovely children! That little girl,—I thought it was Cupid when she had the bandage on her eyes and now I am sure of it."
"Let me present them to you," said Livingstone, and he presented Mr. Clark as his partner and Kitty as Santa Claus's partner.
"I did not know you had a partner?" she asked.
"It is my Christmas gift from Santa Claus," he said. "One of them; I have many."
CHAPTER XVII
When Livingstone walked into Mrs. Wright's drawing-room that evening he had never had such a greeting, and he had never been in such spirits. His own Christmas dinner had been the success of his life. He could still see those happy faces about his board, and hear those joyous voices echoing through his house.
The day seemed to have been one long dream of delight. From the moment when he had turned to go after the little child to ask her to show him the way to help others, he had walked in a new land; lived in a new world; breathed a new air; been warmed by a new sun.