126 STORIES OF PLANTS AND ANIMALS 



and mother near to read a delightful story aloud ; 

 but now the entire household seemed to be upset 

 in some way. Her mother was not well, and her 

 father had taken his writing up to her room, and 

 Aunt Prue, forgetting to tell her how careless she 

 had been, pushed Tommy- Anne's little white iron 

 bed into the study, leaving her to sit up or lie 

 down as she pleased. Even Waddles grew sud- 

 denly independent, and trotted off through the 

 snow in spite of his mistress' remonstrances. 

 Surely the world must be coming to an end, 

 thought Tommy- Anne. 



After two or three days the young lady felt 

 much better, though she had to stay in the study 

 for fear of draughts. This she did not mind, 

 however, for she could see Obi coming down the 

 hill dragging the precious Christmas tree through 

 the snow, and whistling like mad, and of course 

 he had to come in and help place it in the corner 

 of the study and then put the candles and other 

 fixings on the highest branches, as her father was 

 very busy; so Tommy-Anne soon felt quite cheerful 

 again. 



" You ought to hurry up and get well and come 

 out," said Obi, in one of the pauses, sitting on 

 the step-ladder while Tommy- Anne untangled the 

 strings of pop-corn that would curl themselves 



