"I ain't--I'm not crying."
"Yes, you are. I'm crying, too. Listen, Pip. Next year you're to come
back. Miss Thornton says so. 'Cause you're a real Penguin."
"Honest?"
"Honest. And Daddy wrote. He says that was a swell idea about not
staying mad in two rooms. He says you must be a swell kid. You're to
spend the Christmas holidays with us--and p'raps I can stay with you.
Daddy says your Pop and Ma might be able to knock some sense into us
all."
Pip-Emma choked. Janet was holding her hand hard.
"Pip--"
"Yes?"
"We're going to be friends always, aren't we?"
"You bet."
Taps sounded. It was a sad, lonely sound in the night. Pip-Emma stood
up bravely.
"We gotter go in now," she said.
Because, after all, she was coming back next year, and some day she
was going to be top Penguin. So she must keep discipline.
[TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE: This etext was produced from Good Housekeeping
magazine, October 1938. This submission was copyright-cleared under
Project Gutenberg's clearance Rule 6. Extensive research did not
uncover any evidence that the U.S. copyright on this publication was
renewed.]