'Is it like the cap you've got on now?' asked Mary, staring up at Sister Agatha's white cap. 'When I think I generally take that off,' said Sister Agatha, 'and after to-morrow I don't think I shall wear it again. Well, I put my thinking cap on, and I began to wonder whether I could manage to keep you with me always.' 'Oh!' exclaimed Mary, and she seemed to be hugging herself as if she felt very pleasant indeed. 'And,' Sister Agatha said, 'after thinking about it a long time, I fancied that perhaps I _could_ keep you with me always.' 'Here!' cried Mary. 'Should we live here?' 'No, we are going away from here to-morrow,' was the answer. 'Where to?' asked Mary. 'Suppose, now, we take a nice little house somewhere near the sea,' said Sister Agatha. 'I should like that!' cried Mary. 'I think I should like it too,' answered Sister Agatha. 'Because I shall always have some one to look after, and I like looking after people. And we shall grow very fond of each other, sometimes we shall play on the sands, or row on the sea, and then I shall teach you to read and write, and when you can read you will begin to see what a wonderful world you live in--and you will find that life is far more wonderful than any fairy-tale.' 'Shall I?' asked Mary, and rising from her stool, she stood leaning against Sister Agatha's knees. 'But, still,' she said presently, 'you'll be there, won't you?' 'Why, of course I shall be there,' said Sister Agatha. 'And you won't go away the same as Evangeline!' 'No,' said Sister Agatha with a smile; 'that is not at all likely.' 'And,' said Mary looking up anxiously into her face, 'you'll never send me away either?' 'No, I shall never send you away either,' answered Sister Agatha, and she placed her arms round Mary Brown and drew the child's head on to her shoulder. It rested there a long time, and Mary felt quite contented and not at all anxious any more. The next day they were driven to the station with their luggage, and they travelled to a small town by the seaside. At first they lived in lodgings, but presently Sister Agatha took a pretty house of her own; it had a nice garden where Mary likes to sit reading on summer afternoons. She can read easily now, if Sister Agatha tells her the meanings of the long words, and she has grown so tall that Mrs. Coppert would hardly recognise her if she saw her. But I don't think Mrs. Coppert will ever see Mary again. THE END The Dumpy Books for Children Selected by E. V. LUCAS. Each with End-papers specially designed by Mrs. FARMILOE I. THE FLAMP, THE AMELIORATOR, and THE SCHOOLBOY'S APPRENTICE. _Written by E. V. LUCAS_ II. MRS. TURNER'S CAUTIONARY STORIES III. THE BAD FAMILY, _by Mrs. Fenwick_ IV. LITTLE BLACK SAMBO, _by Helen Bannerman_. With Pictures in colours by the Author. V. THE BOUNTIFUL LADY, _by Thomas Cobb_ VI. THE CAT BOOK, _by Rickman Mark_. With Thirty Pictures _by H. Officer Smith_ CHILDREN'S BOOKS