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 gently meanwhile till it glowed with a fresher pink. When they ended, he smiled, well-pleased.

"Yes, indeed," he said: "the Grandfather shall stay. He is my old friend. I knew him when he was no bigger than you, and he knew me. But then the time came, as it will to you, when he saw without seeing, and I was to him but a name. To the very young and the very old only am I visible; for they are children alike. He will know me at once, be sure of that."

So saying, he walked in, sat down close by the oaken chair, and laid his hand on Grandfather's arm. The old man turned slowly, and a look of recognition crept into his dim eyes.

"Catch! Carl, catch!" he murmured. "Where's the basket? There never were so many beech-nuts on the tree before."

"That was the other boy," explained October, in a whisper. "They always went about together. But it's a long time since I saw him."