Hush! Kitty heard a sound. It was at first like that of the wind rising; it grew more distinct, and it was that of a hustling and a bustling. Little feet running, little feet shuffling; their airy tread sounded in every direction; it came from the right, it came from the left, it came from all around.

Nearer and nearer, quicker and quicker they seemed to come, those eager, running, scampering, flying feet. And presently Kitty saw the children. Hosts of children; any number of children, leaping, rushing headlong toward where Love was standing.

Out of the fog they came; out of falsehood’s net, torn cobwebs hanging about their necks, their hair, clinging to their clothes; tired children, bleeding and footsore, from Disobedience 158Maze; selfish children, white and hoary with icicles; cruel children, with tear-stained faces anxiously turned toward Love; passionate children, bruised and disfigured; greedy children, heavy-eyed and sallow; the vain children, with open-eyed gaze fixed upon the white lady; lazy children, in their unmended rags; it was quite astonishing to see how fast their stumpy legs could carry them. From all parts they came, nearer and nearer, quicker and quicker. Still they came, calling, crying, sobbing, entreating, “Give us the kiss of forgiveness.” They pressed toward Love, closer and closer; little 159arms outstretched, little faces upturned, little mouths pursed up for a kiss, and on all sides that sobbing cry, “Give us the kiss of forgiveness.”

And Love stretched out her arms and gathered the children into them, and kissed them one by one. As she kissed them the cobwebs fell from those who had escaped from falsehood’s net; the wounded feet of the disobedient were healed; the icicles melted and dropped away from the selfish children, who seemed dissolved into a rain of tears; the passionate children lost their disfigurement; the greedy children grew rosy; the vain children cried out with glee as, looking around, their own faces no longer popped out to greet them; the rags of the slovenly, idle children were mended; their legs and hands grew supple.

It was a wonderful sight to see the children after they received Love’s kiss. Their eyes shone; they danced for joy; their hair seemed to stand out in a crest of light about their heads. Kitty fancied some bright presence must be hovering above them.

160Then Love folded Kitty in her arms and kissed her on the forehead.

That kiss was the strangest, sweetest kiss Kitty ever received.

It was sweeter than any comfit; it was pleasanter than any music to which her feet had danced; it brought a feeling of peace like that that came to her when her mother kissed her in the dark night; but this kiss also brought to her a sense of pain.

Something like fire touched Kitty’s heart, and stirred a memory that had lain asleep all this time. She had forgotten something. What was it? Vaguely she remembered the blue rose, the bullfinch, then suddenly her mother and Johnnie.

She had forgotten Johnnie. Johnnie, who was ill unto death, whose illness had come through her fault. She remembered it all now: how she had crept downstairs, and then she thought of the doctor’s words: “Christmas Eve would decide if he were to live or die.”

Why had she gone away from him? Would 161she ever get back in time for Christmas Day? Would Johnnie be alive or dead when she reached home? As she stood there, asking herself these questions with a yearning homesick feeling overflowing her heart, Kitty felt something brushing tears from her cheek. She looked up. A tiny child, with little pink 162wings, was hovering about her. He was clothed in a tunic made of a bit of rainbow, and his face was the face of Johnnie. He had rosier cheeks, and he did not carry a crutch, for his little legs were straight.

“Who are you?” asked Kitty.

The rosy-winged child laughed, and the laugh was Johnnie’s laugh. Kitty heard Love’s voice speaking.

“I have given you each a guardian child. It was born of my kiss. But another companion also goes with you.”

Over every child Kitty now saw that there hovered a tiny figure on rosy wings, clothed in rainbow drapery. She saw with surprise also that every child had another attendant crouching on its left shoulder, a small elfish figure, which every now and then appeared to her to be half-animal, half-child, and in a strange fashion to take the form of an animal that bore some likeness to the child itself.

“You do not know,” Love went on, “and it is no wonder you should not, for you are all so young, that you have each a higher and a lower 163nature. To-night is Christmas Eve: good and evil sprites are abroad, fairies and elves. Strange sights are seen. To-night the lower nature&mdash............