She placed these by his side, and stood back quizzically a second.

Then she threw a big leather cushion at his feet and walked to the switches, turning off the main light and leaving only the shaded radiance of the reading-lamp.

She turned the shade of it so that the light would fall on the letter while she sat on the cushion, and then she bent down, kissed her godfather, and went to the door.

"I won't be a moment, Uncle Bob," she said.

"Help yourself, and get comfortable." Five minutes later the door opened and she came in.