“Poor Infant of Prague!” she said.  “Has Ronnie forgotten even to put you to bed?  Never mind!  To-morrow you and he shall sing Christmas hymns together, while I and his little son listen and admire.”

She closed the case.  Then some impulse made her open it again.  Her sweet eyes filled with tears.  No one was there to see.  Ronnie’s wife knelt down and gently kissed the unconscious, shining face of the Infant of Prague.

* * * * *

Turning from the settee beneath the window, she saw herself reflected in the mirror—­a tall fair figure in trailing garments, soft and white.

She held the candle high above her head, looked at her own reflection, and smiled.

She was glad she was so lovely—­for Ronnie’s sake.

Ronnie’s love to-night was very wonderful.

She moved towards the door, but paused in passing, to look into the smouldering embers of the fire.

At that moment the clocks struck midnight.  She heard the Westminster chimes, up on the landing.

It was Christmas Day.

“Unto us a Child is born; unto us a Son is given,” murmured Helen.  “Oh, holy Christ of Christmas, may the new life to come be very perfect for my Ronnie, my baby, and me.”

* * * * *

“Helen!” came Ronnie’s eager happy voice, shouting over the stairs.  “I say, Helen!  Where are you?”

“Coming, darling!” she called, passing out of the studio, and moving swiftly down the corridor.

Ronnie, on the landing, was leaning over the banisters, an expression of comic dismay on his face.

“Oh, I say!” he whispered.  “I’ve done it now!  I believe I’ve woke the baby!”

Helen, mounting the stairs, paused to look up at him, love and laughter in her eyes.

“Undoubtedly you have, you naughty boy!  No shouting allowed here now, after dark.  But what do you think I was doing?  Why, I was in the studio, putting to bed the Infant of Prague.”

THE END.

Almost One Million Copies of Mrs. Barclay’s Popular Novels Printed.

* * * * *

By Florence L. Barclay

The Rosary

==Cr. 8vo. $1.35 net. ($1.5O by mail.) Holiday Edition, with Illustrations in Color by Blendon Campbell. $2.50 net.  By mail, $2.75.==

“An ideal love story—­one that justifies the publishing business, refreshes the heart of the reviewer, strengthens faith in the outcome of the great experiment of putting humanity on earth. The Rosary is a rare book, a source of genuine delight.”—­Syracuse Post-Standard.

The Mistress of Shenstone

==Cr. 8vo. $1.35 net. ($1.50 by mail.) Holiday Edition, with 8 Illustrations in Color by F.H.  Townsend. $2.50 net.  By mail, $2.75==

“A worthy successor to The Rosary.”—­Phila.  Press.

The Following of the Star