chubby to caper nimbly--and Ethel and Milly played and sang neither well
nor ill.

I think they were more afraid of me than I had been of the servants at
dinner. They are not very pretty, with their light, wavy hair and pale
flower faces, though I'm afraid I set my standard too high now--now that I
know what is possible.

I went to the piano myself afterwards and played. Played! It was terrible!
Never would I have believed that I could make such a mess of it. I didn't
sing until they began trying carols. I didn't mean to do so then, but I
chimed in before I thought, when they sang:--

He set a star up in the sky
Full broad and bright and fair.

"That song was taken from the Ormulum," said the Judge; "a poem of the
thirteenth century--"

"Nelly! Was that you?" cried Aunt Frank, interrupting.

The music of the new, fresh, vibrant voice had thrilled them all--all
except the unconscious Judge--and there they sat, spellbound. But as they
shook off the witchery, there was all at once a babble of voices, and
before I quite knew what had happened, I was at the piano again, singing
"The King in Thule:"

There was a king in Thule
True even to the grave
To whom his mistress, dying,