The Magic Painter 25

and Doris had learned many of the
Christmas songs most loved among the
people. Being a-bed, she saw that to sleep
would be the best way of passing the long
hours that must elapse before the morn-
ing. And so, to quell distracting thoughts,
she sang these carols softly to herself.
Her cares still troubled her, however, and
at last she bowed to the inevitable, ceased
her singing and let herself think of them.
Curiously enough, it was then she fell
asleep. On that point she and Martha
are agreed: she certainly fell asleep.

But in the middle of the night she must
have arisen and wandered a long way, for
when she became conscious of what was
going on around her she was in a place she
never had visited before. Another child
might have been frightened, but the place
in which she found herself was a studio,
and in front of her was an artist engaged
upon a half-finished portrait of herself. It
was all so natural that she was hardly
surprised, and before she had time to