The rest of the day fairly flew.  The last night came, and the baby was put to bed.  I undressed him, which he regarded as such a joke that he worked himself into a fever of excitement.  He loves to scrub like Josie, the cook.  I had bought him a little red pail, and I gave it to him that night when he was partly undressed, and he was so enchanted with it that he scampered around hugging it, and saying, “Pile! pile!” like a little Cockney.  He gave such squeals of ecstasy that everybody came into the nursery to find him scrubbing his crib with a nail-brush and little red pail.

“Who gave you the pretty pail, Billy?” asked Aunt Lida, who was sitting by the crib.

“Tattah,” said Billy, in a whisper.  He always whispers my name.

“Then go and kiss dear auntie.  She is going away on the big boat to stay such a long time.”

Billy’s face sobered.  Then he dropped his precious pail, and came and licked my face like a little dog, which is his way of kissing.

I squeezed him until he yelled.

“Don’t let him forget me,” I wailed.  “Talk to him about me every day.  And buy him a toy out of my money often, and tell him Tattah sent it to him.  Oh, oh, he’ll be grown up when I come home!”

“Don’t cry, dearie,” said Aunt Lida, handing me her handkerchief.  “I’ll see that your grave is kept green.”

My sister appeared at the door.  She was all ready to start.  She even had her veil on.

“What do you mean by exciting Billy so at this time of night?” she said.  “Go out, all of you.  We’ll lose the train.  Hush, somebody’s at the telephone.  Papa’s talking to that same man again.”  I jumped up and ran out.

“Let me answer it, papa dear!  Yes, yes, yes, certainly.  To-night on the Pennsylvania.  You’re quite welcome.  Not at all.”  I hung up the telephone.

I could hear papa in the nursery: 

“She actually told him—­after all I said this morning!  I never heard of anything like it.”

Two or three voices were raised in my defence.  Ted slipped out into the hall.

“Bully for you,” he whispered.  “You’ll get the flowers all right at the train.  Who do you s’pose they’re from?  Another box just came for you.  Say, couldn’t you leave that smallest box of violets in the silver box?  I want to give them to a girl, and you’ve got such loads of others.”

“Don’t ask her for those,” answered my dear sister, “they are the most precious of all!”

“I can’t give you any of mine,” I said, “but I’ll buy you a box for her—­a small box,” I added hastily.

“The carriages have come, dears,” quavered grandmamma, coming out of the nursery, followed by the family, one after the other.

“Get her satchels, Teddy.  Her hat is upstairs.  Her flowers are in the hall.  She left her ulster on my bed, and her books are on the window-sill,” said mamma.  She wouldn’t look at me.  “Remember, dearie, your medicines are all labelled, and I put needles in your work-box all threaded.  Don’t sit in draughts and don’t read in a dim light.  Have a good time and study hard and come back soon.  Good—­bye, my girlie.  God bless you!”