“DEAR BOBBY’S GRANDFATHER,

“We live next door to Bobby, who is quite often a nice boy, though he wishes us to say always, and we are sorry to learn that you are losing change money, for your sake, and for fear you’ll go on and lose ours, Grandmother Van Stark’s and the Home’s.  Ours doesn’t matter so much as the others, for we have $9.00 left of our birthday money, and it’s lasted so long that it will prob’ly go on lasting, specially if we forget it, or unless we buy more babies, which we shan’t do now because of not being able; but dear grandmother without money would be awful, and the Home not to have money for the poor little city children that are sick would be awful, too.  Please, please don’t lose that, and we will pray for you and love you hard all the days of our life.  Amen.

     “As there is no more paper in our boxes on account of spoiling so
     much we will say good-bye.

     “ETHELWYN, BETH, NAN, and BOBBY.

     “P.S.—­The first one she wrote it.

     “P.S.—­My mother said because she had faith in you was why you have
     our money, and so have we.”

When the banker had finished this somewhat remarkable epistle, of which the children had been so proud, there were tears in his eyes, although his mouth was smiling, and the lines of worry did not seem so deep nor so stern.

He pushed his other mail aside unread, and sat for a long time thinking.  Presently he called for his stenographer, and dictated telegram after telegram, the import of which made that impassive person start and glance up in amazement several times.  Then, seizing a sheet of paper, the banker started to write a letter for himself.

     “DEAR CHILDREN, (it began)

“Do not worry.  I shall not lose one penny of yours, nor Grandmother Van Stark’s, nor the blessed Home’s, nor any one’s, I hope, but my own, and not enough of that to hurt; at any rate, I shall still have enough, I think, to buy a railroad ticket to Bobby’s house.  So tell him that I wish he’d tell his mother to have a good supper to-morrow night, and you children must plan it and all come and eat with me.

     “Yours, with love,

     “BOBBY’S GRANDFATHER.

     “P.S.—­Be sure to have plenty of candy for supper.”

The excitement and the joy that this letter produced were something startling.  Away went the worry lines from Mrs. Rayburn’s dear face, and back came the laughter the children loved.  In Bobby’s house they planned a most wonderful menu of fried chicken, candy, cake, and ice cream.  Mandy baked spice cakes at Nan’s and Bobby’s special request, and nobody thought anything whatever about indigestion or after effects; for where everybody laughs and is happy, there is no need to fear indigestion.

The children went to the station to meet the guest, and, when the train came in, greeted him with shouts of welcome, and, proudly surrounding him, marched down the street like a royal procession.