"Oh, you mean Mother's picture; why, of course you may have it, and mine too, which has larger pearls round it,--may he not, Mother?" "Cecil, what is ours is his." "And better still, what is his must be ours, so I shall have the bow and arrows without asking. We will have our feast to-night, and we will set out all the candles in the house and deck the table with flowers of purification and the bowl of punch and the seed-cakes." "_Ave Maria Purificante!_" quoth Father White, who had entered unperceived at the open door. "Sir Christopher, you have borne yourself nobly under the shadow of a great tragedy." "Tragedy! Nay, the story with a happy ending is not such. My life is no tragedy." And Christopher Neville spoke truth, for the only real tragedy is the degeneration of the soul under misfortune, and the only real misfortune is that which dominates character. "Hurrah for Candlemas Day, raid and all!" cried Cecil. From the street came an echoing cry,-- "Hey for St. Mary's, and Wives for us all!" As for Christopher, he knelt beside Elinor, and putting his arms about her close he whispered, "Now I have thee for always. Fate itself could not separate us. So thou must e'en make the best of a poor bargain, and take me for a life tenant of Robin Hood's Barn." THE END. * * * * * THE HEAD _of_ A HUNDRED _In the Colony of Virginia, 1622_ By MAUD WILDER GOODWIN, author of "Sir Christopher," "White Aprons," "The Colonial Cavalier," "Flint," etc. Illustrated edition. With colored miniature and five full-page pictures by JESSIE WILLCOX SMITH, WILFRED S. LUKENS, SOPHIE B. STEEL, and CHARLOTTE HARDING. 12mo. Decorated Cloth. $1.50. Although this stirring colonial romance was written in 1895, its scene, its chief historical incident and several of its historical characters are the same as those of Miss Johnston's popular book, "To Have and to Hold." The heroine, Betty Romney, comes to the shores of Virginia in the first shipload of wives to escape a titled marriage with a man she hates, chosen by her father. Among the historical personages who figure in "The Head of a Hundred" are John Pory, John Rolfe, and George Thorp. "The climax of the story," says a writer in the _New York Times_, "is the same in both books, the bloody Indian uprising of the period in which both heroes distinguish themselves." This new illustrated edition of Mrs. Goodwin's charming companion romance to her delightful and highly successful story, "White Aprons," is printed from a new set of plates and well illustrated, and presents in attractive form a book that since its first publication has found thousands of readers. "The Head of a Hundred" has met with favor both as an accurate picture of the early days of Virginia, and as a fresh and entertaining romance. =LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY=