'Fear not,' said he (for mighty dread.
Had seized their troubled mind);
'Glad tidings of great joy I bring
To you and all mankind.'

This time it was William that wiped her eyes.




WEE WILLIE WINKIE

AN OFFICER AND A GENTLEMAN

His full name was Percival William Williams, but he picked up the
other name in a nursery-book, and that was the end of the christened
titles. His mother's _ayah_ called him Willie-_Baba_, but as he never
paid the faintest attention to anything that the _ayah_ said, her
wisdom did not help matters.

His father was the Colonel of the 195th, and as soon as Wee Willie
Winkie was old enough to understand what Military Discipline meant,
Colonel Williams put him under it. There was no other way of managing
the child. When he was good for a week, he drew good-conduct pay; and
when he was bad, he was deprived of his good-conduct stripe.
Generally he was bad, for India offers many chances of going wrong to
little six-year-olds.

Children resent familiarity from strangers, and Wee Willie Winkie was
a very particular child. Once he accepted an acquaintance, he was