Then she wiped the tears from the cheeks of the "littlest ones," straightened their bonnets, and, in the end, proposed that she should carry one of them to the 'bus. Down in her heart, she was coddling the wild, improbable hope that Mr. Richard Flanders might be somewhere in the neighbourhood, watching her with proud, but remorseful eyes! Mr. Bingle turned to her after the children were safely stowed away in the 'bus and ready for the long ride home. He had his hat in his hand and he bowed very low, with the old-fashioned courtesy that time and environment had failed to modify. "My dear young lady, you remind me of the fairy princess that I knew so well as a boy. You spring up out of the ground and--Whist! you perform deeds of magic and enchantment. I am sorry that we cannot have you hovering about us forevermore. We are all enchanted." "Thank you," she said, with her gay smile. "Do you still believe in fairies?" "I do," said he. "And witches?" "Absolutely," said he, with boyish enthusiasm. "And wizards, too--and, I'm ashamed to admit it--ghosts. Good-bye. Thank you for the spell you've cast upon us. I think it has done all of us a lot of good. I undertook a task that was beyond me, bringing these youngsters here for a lark. But you see, I had promised them the trip, and I don't believe in going back on a promise. The governess left us yesterday, most unexpectedly. She said her sister was ill, but--well, I shouldn't say anything unkind. Perhaps her sister really is ill. So, then, I brought them all by myself. Mrs. Bingle is in the city looking for a new governess. She--" "Would you consider--" began Miss Colgate eagerly, and then flushed to the roots of her hair, What had come over her? Was she on the point of applying for a position as governess in a family of--But why not? Why not? She was tired, discouraged, and a failure at the work she had tried so hard to perform. "Yes?" She laughed confusedly. "It was nothing, Mr. Bingle, nothing at all. Good-bye. I hope you'll get them home safe, sound and--intact. They are dears." Mr. Bingle surveyed his brood. Every eye was riveted on the face of the strange, lovely lady, and in each was the look of complete subjugation. "You've hypnotised them," said he, wonderingly. She looked away. After a moment's hesitation, she cast the die--urged by the queerest impulse that had ever come over her. "Would you consider me, Mr. Bingle, for the position that has just been given up by the--the woman whose sister is ill?" He heard, but he could not believe his ears. "I--I beg pardon?" he said.