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If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: Princess Sukey - The story of a pigeon and her human friends - -Author: Marshall Saunders - -Release Date: January 4, 2023 [eBook #69707] - -Language: English - -Produced by: Richard Tonsing and the Online Distributed Proofreading - Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from - images generously made available by The Internet Archive) - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PRINCESS SUKEY *** - - -[Illustration: PRINCESS SUKEY.] - - - - - Princess Sukey - THE STORY OF A PIGEON AND HER HUMAN FRIENDS - - - By - MARSHALL SAUNDERS - - - “_Despite neither cats, birds, dogs, nor any member of the animal - kingdom, for are not all created beings little brothers of the earth, - the air, and the sea?_” - -[Illustration] - - NEW YORK: EATON & MAINS - CINCINNATI: JENNINGS & GRAHAM - - - - - Copyright, 1905, by - EATON & MAINS. - - - - - I DEDICATE THIS STORY TO ONE WHO HAS SHOWN A KIND INTEREST IN EVERY - LIVING CREATURE ON MY FARM—TO MY DEAR BROTHER-IN-LAW, CLARENCE KING - MOORE, OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ROCHESTER - - MARSHALL SAUNDERS - - MEADOW BROOK FARM - JANUARY 26, 1905 - - - - - LIST OF CHAPTERS - - - CHAPTER PAGE - I. THE PIGEON PRINCESS 1 - II. MRS. BLODGETT’S OPINION 15 - III. HAPPY TIMES 28 - IV. THE JUDGE’S VOW 36 - V. A SURPRISE FOR THE JUDGE 58 - VI. IN THE PIGEON LOFT 74 - VII. BIRDS OF HEAVEN 91 - VIII. TO ADOPT OR NOT TO ADOPT 98 - IX. ANOTHER SURPRISE 110 - X. THE ENGLISH BOY 124 - XI. DECEIT AND FORGIVENESS 142 - XII. THE YELLOW SPOTTED DOG 155 - XIII. HIGBY AND THE OWLS 163 - XIV. A CALL FROM AIRY 177 - XV. A DRIVE WITH THE JUDGE 192 - XVI. THE SPOTTED DOG AGAIN 203 - XVII. TITUS AS A PHILANTHROPIST 210 - XVIII. AIRY’S SECOND CALL ON THE JUDGE 219 - XIX. DALLAS TAKES A HAND AT MANAGEMENT 226 - XX. THE CAT MAN AND THE JUDGE’S FAMILY 235 - XXI. MAFFERTY UNFOLDS A PLOT 248 - XXII. THE JUDGE GETS A SHOCK 262 - XXIII. MRS. EVEREST BEGINS TO EXPLAIN 275 - XXIV. THE EXPLANATION CONTINUED 286 - XXV. VISITORS FOR THE JUDGE 299 - XXVI. THE ONLY SON OF A WIDOW 308 - XXVII. MR. HITTAKER CALLS ON THE JUDGE 324 - XXVIII. THE JUDGE REVIEWS HIS FAMILY 330 - - - - - LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS - - - PRINCESS SUKEY Frontispiece - - “W-w-whew!” he said after a time, “isn’t she a beauty—a - real princess!” Facing page 32 - - “Go tell the servants that she is found,” said the - Judge to Titus Facing page 91 - - “In the middle of the hall stood the grinning colored - boy and the ugly yellow spotted dog” Facing page 204 - - “Why are you dressed like a little boy?” I asked. Facing page 292 - - - - - PRINCESS SUKEY - - - - - CHAPTER I - THE PIGEON PRINCESS - - -Dear little Princess Sukey sitting by the fire—pretty little pigeon—of -what is she thinking as she dreamily eyes the blazing wood? If a pigeon -could review its past life, what she has of bird mind would be running -back over the series of adventures that she had ere she established -herself in this well ordered household. - -Has she any mentality of her own, or are all pigeons stupid as has been -said? Listen to her story, and judge for yourself. - -To begin with—she is not a common street pigeon like those who are -looking in the window, and who are probably envying her the silk cushion -on which she sits, her china bath, her lump of rock salt, and her box of -seeds. For it is a bitterly cold day. The wind is blowing fiercely, the -thermometer is away below zero, and the ground is covered with snow. In -summer these same street pigeons seem to be laughing at the pigeon -princess on account of the abnormal life that she leads, but just now -they certainly would change places with her. - -The princess is a Jacobin—a thoroughbred, with a handsome hood that -nearly hides her head, a fine mane and chain, and her colors are red and -white. - -Her parents were beauties—show birds with perfect points, and they were -owned by a young pigeon fancier of the small city of Riverport, Maine. - -The lad’s name was Charlie Brown, and he had a friend called Titus -Sancroft, or, more familiarly, “Stuttering Tite,” from an unfortunate -habit that he had formed of catching his breath at the beginning of -nearly every sentence he uttered. - -Now, young Titus walked most opportunely into Charlie’s pigeon loft just -a day after Princess Sukey had been hatched. - -Just before he came in the clock struck four. A male pigeon always helps -the female in the work of incubation, and bringing up the young ones. -About ten o’clock every morning the mother pigeon leaves her eggs, goes -to get something to eat, and walks about the loft with the other -pigeons—a pigeon rarely plays; even young ones are phlegmatic. As she -comes off her nest the male pigeon goes on and sits there till four in -the afternoon. Then the female returns for the night. - -Well, the young princess was a sickly pigeon. There had been two sickly -pigeons, for usually two eggs are laid at a time. One had died, and the -father Jacobin, thinking that the young Sukey was also going to die, -took her in his beak, lifted her from the nest, and gently deposited her -on the floor at the other end of the loft. - -There is little sentiment among birds. They believe in the survival of -the fittest, and the weak are calmly taken from the nest. - -The young pigeon was not desperately ill. However, blind and naked as -she was, she could not have survived long, away from the warmth of the -nest, unless this boy Titus had discovered her. - -“H-h-hello, Charlie,” he stuttered, “here’s a squab out of the nest.” -Charlie took the bird by the legs. - -“W-w-what are you going to do?” asked Titus. - -“Strike its head against the wall.” - -Titus did not approve of this. - -“Wh-why don’t you put it back in the nest?” he asked, excitedly. - -“No good—once the old ones put it out they won’t look at it.” - -“C-c-can’t you feed it?” - -“Too much trouble. I did have some birds that would feed young ones—two -fine old feeders, but I sold them.” - -Titus had a mercenary little soul. “A-a pity to throw away good money,” -he said, looking at the pigeon. “I-I should think you could worry some -food down its throat yourself.” - -“I could, but it’s an awful bother. I’ve tried it. This is a sick thing -anyway. It will be dead in five minutes. See how it’s gasping.” - -“B-b-bet you my jackknife it won’t die,” replied Titus. - -So they waited five minutes, and, as good fortune would have it, the -future princess gasped them out, and Charlie laid her in Titus’s palm. -“The squab is yours.” - -“B-b-blest if I know what to do with it,” remarked Titus, turning the -pigeon over in his hands. - -Charlie smiled mischievously. “I guess your grandfather will give you a -time if he finds out.” - -“H-h-he shan’t find out,” said Titus. - -“It’s mean that you can’t have pigeons or something,” observed Charlie. -“All the fellows have. Why don’t you make tracks for another -grandfather?” - -Titus grinned. His grandfather was a great trial to him, but it was only -in one respect. In other ways he was a model grandfather. - -“Hope it will live,” said Charlie, generously. “Tuck some food down its -throat—some feed one way, some another—and mix some sweet oil in it. -I’ve heard that’s good when you take them from the parents.” - -Titus stood a minute longer; then seeing that the pigeon was near her -end, and that Charlie was unconcernedly going on with his work of -feeding and watering the other pigeons, he scampered home. - -Titus lived with his grandfather, Judge Sancroft, and Judge Sancroft -possessed a somewhat foolish and provoking but most devoted old family -servant man called Higby. - -Titus ran all about the house looking for this man. He was really -forbidden to talk to him unless he was positively forced to do so. The -Judge had commanded that Titus should only request a service from Higby, -and thank him for one rendered. There was to be no conversation, for old -Higby stammered terribly, and the Judge feared that it was from him -Titus had caught the tiresome habit. - -Finally the boy found the man in the attic superintending some painters. - -“S-s-see what I’ve got, Higby,” he said, opening his palms, where he was -keeping the pigeon warm. - -“A s-s-squab,” said Higby, “a-a-and and an ugly w-w-worm of a thing it -is.” - -“W-w-what shall I do with it?” asked Titus. - -“W-w-wring it’s neck, young sir,” said Higby, who was much worried by -the painters. “’Tis a s-s-sad world for m-m-man, woman, or pigeon.” - -“B-but it’s worth money,” said Titus. “It’s a Jacobin—the parents cost -twenty dollars.” - -Higby looked at it again. Neither he nor the lad was much animated by -sentiment in saving the life of a bird. Then he felt the pigeon’s crop. - -“Th-th-there ain’t nothin’ in there, Master Titus. You’ve got to -fe-fe-feed it mighty quick.” - -“Y-you come help me,” said the boy. - -“I ca-ca-can’t leave these workmen.” - -“I-if you don’t,” replied Titus, “I’ll tell my grandfather that you seek -me out and talk to me. Then he’ll discharge you.” - -Higby flew into a rage. As he choked and spluttered and stammered he -stepped backward. That was his way when wrestling for words, and when he -at last got his words he struck one foot sharply on the floor. - -Young Titus, on the contrary, always stopped stuttering when he became -deeply moved about anything, but in his excitement he had formed the -habit of stepping forward. So if he were talking to Higby there was at -the same time advance and retreat. - -The painters were nearly killing themselves laughing, and when Higby -discovered this he shuffled downstairs after the boy. - -Titus led the way to the kitchen. “Mrs. Blodgett,” he called to the -housekeeper, who was directing the maids, “please make me some warm feed -for this pigeon.” - -The housekeeper stared at the bird. “O, law! what a nasty little thing!” - -By this time the future little princess was nearly dead, and Titus in -dismay called, “Hurry up.” - -“Master Titus,” she replied, snappishly, “the girls are preparing -dinner. You’ll have to wait.” - -“I can’t wait,” returned the boy, angrily, and he began to step forward. -“Don’t you see the bird’s dying? Higby, you talk to her.” - -Titus’s eyes were flaming, and Higby, who was at heart a coward, and -terrified of anyone in a real rage, subdued his own disturbed feelings, -and in a wheedling voice asked Mrs. Blodgett for just a little -“ro-ro-rolled oats,” with boiling water poured on. - -Mrs. Blodgett frowned, and grumbled out something about having men and -boys in the kitchen at mealtimes. However, she drew out her keys and -went to the storeroom, and in a few minutes Titus and Higby were in a -corner of the kitchen with a cup of soft food before them, but with -nothing but their clumsy fingers to put it in the pigeon’s small beak. - -The young bird smelt and felt the food, and nearly wriggled out of -Titus’s grasp in trying to get it. - -“T-t-this won’t do,” exclaimed the boy, when she jabbed her beak against -his hand, “w-w-we’ve got to have a feather or a stick.” - -Mrs. Blodgett gave them some turkey feathers and some toothpicks, and -between them they managed to worry a little food into the pigeon’s beak. - -“You ought to h-h-have a syringe,” said Higby, “the old birds fe-fe-feed -their young ones by putting their b-b-beaks crosswise in their mouths to -pu-pu-pump the food down.” - -“I-I know, I’ve seen them,” replied Titus. “You just run along to the -drug store and get me one.” - -Higby had to go, and by putting a rubber tube in the pigeon’s beak they -managed to feed her pretty well. - -When her crop was quite round and full Titus called for a basket and -cotton wool, and put her behind the kitchen stove. - -“That basket is mortally in the way,” said Mrs. Blodgett, fretfully; “it -is just in the place where we put our plates to warm.” - -“B-b-blodgieblossom,” said the boy, cajolingly, thrusting his arm -through hers, “it’s for your boy.” - -The housekeeper gave in. When young Titus called her “Blodgieblossom,” -and said he was her boy, she would do anything for him. - -“Mind, don’t any of you knock that basket over,” she said, turning -frowningly to the maids. - -Titus was running upstairs, when suddenly he stopped and hurried back. -They all thought he had come to thank them for helping him, but he had -not. - -“L-l-look a-here!” he said, sternly, “If I catch any of you prattling to -grandfather that I’ve got a pigeon I’ll make it hot for you.” - -They all grinned at each other. The Judge was a good man, but he was -rather severe with his grandson when he deceived him. - -The Judge did not find out. He never entered the kitchen, and the young -pigeon grew and thrived, but not behind the stove on the plate-warmer, -for Titus, finding that her little body was almost like a furnace -itself, appropriated a corner of one of the big kitchen tables for her -basket. - -Young Titus and old Higby fed her several times a day. One had to hold -her, while the other pushed the food down her throat, and cross enough -the old servant man was when Titus would call out, “T-t-the goose hangs -high.” - -Titus did not dare to say, “It is feeding time for the pigeon, Higby,” -for the Judge might have heard, and Titus feared that he would be -exceedingly annoyed if he found out that a bird was being kept in his -house. - -It was really curious that such a dislike for the lower creation should -have been imputed to a really benevolent and kind-hearted man like Judge -Sancroft. True, he did not care particularly for animals. He had been -brought up in a city, and he had never had any animals about him but -horses and cows. He was not actively fond of them, but he always saw -that they were well cared for. None of his children had been fond of -animals. Certainly he was not the kind of man to have said, “No,” if any -of his young sons or daughters had come to him years ago and said, -“Father, I want a dog or a cat.” - -However, his own children were all dead, and the opinion had -strengthened with years that the Judge did not care for dumb creatures. -Titus did not know that his grandfather would have listened with dismay -to anyone who said to him, “Sir, you have a young grandson under your -roof who is pining for pets such as other boys have, and he is afraid to -ask you for them.” - -The Judge was unmistakably a very good man. His white head, large, -handsome face, and portly frame bore the marks of good temper, sound -judgment, and eminent respectability. It was rather a wonder that he had -not made himself known as a philanthropist. However, he had in early -life been devoted to his profession, then he had had much trouble and -bereavement, and had traveled extensively, and then his health had -partly broken down, and he had resigned his judgeship, given up most of -the active duties of life, and settled down to a sedentary old age. - -But old age did not come. Renewed health did come, and at the time when -our story opens the somewhat bewildered Judge found himself in the -position of a man who sees the map of his life turned upside down in his -hands. - -He really had not enough to do. He had made enough money to live on, -really more than enough, but he began to think seriously of opening that -long-closed law office. He was only restrained by a question of dignity. -He had been so long on the bench that he would hate to come down to -office work again—and yet he could not rust out. He sighed sometimes as -he thought of his future—sighed, not knowing what responsibilities -Providence was preparing for him. Probably if he could have foreseen he -would have sighed more heavily. However, the responsibilities brought -also their alleviations with them. - -Young Titus was not at all like his grandfather in appearance. The Judge -was a large, rotund, handsome man, always carefully, even exquisitely, -dressed. Titus was slim and dark, loose-jointed and always awry. His -collar was shady, his clothes tumbled. He was not in one single outward -respect like the dignified white-haired man who sat opposite him at the -table. But there was the mysterious tie of blood between them. -Apparently the elderly man and the boy were not at all alike, but there -were points of resemblance. They both felt them, and in their way were -devoted to each other. - -The Judge was a much-afflicted man. Wife, sons, daughters, all were -gone, but this one lad, and he often looked at him wistfully. If -anything should happen to this sole grandchild the good old name of -Sancroft would die out. - -A day came when it looked as if the family name would go. A terrible -thing happened to young Titus, and his grandfather’s house was wrapped -in gloom. The lad’s unfortunate habit of stuttering was at the root of -the trouble. - -The Judge knew perfectly well that any physical or mental peculiarity -about a boy subjects him to an intermittent martyrdom from his fellow -boys, who with respect to teasing are part savages. Therefore he had a -private teacher who wrestled with Titus on the subject of stuttering for -several hours a week. He also was willing that Titus should have all his -lessons at home, but this the boy would not agree to, and the Judge -respected him for it. - -Titus always went down the street with his eyes rolling about him. It -was such an irresistible temptation to the boys to imitate him that -usually the air was vocal with mocking-birds. - -Fortunately, Titus was exceedingly wiry, and utterly fearless. Otherwise -he would certainly have been cowed or injured long before our story -begins. - -He always marched out of school with the other boys, never waited to -walk home in the shadow of a teacher, and if a call of derision reached -him and he could locate the boy, if he had time, he took off his coat, -intrusted it to a friend, and rushed into the fray. The boys in his set -never carried books in the street. They had duplicate copies at home. - -On one particular day, which turned out to be the disastrous day for -poor Titus, he had got halfway home with, strange to say, not a single -fight. - -It was not a school day but a holiday, and he had been downtown with a -companion. Suddenly, as he strolled along beside him, a teasing voice -rang out: - - Stuttering Tite, stuttering Tite, - O, he is a daisy! - Give him time and give him words, - And he’ll make you crazy. - “An S and an S, and a T and a T, - And a stam and a stutter, and don’t you see—” - -The boy got no further. His song was so malicious, his manner so -exquisitely provoking, that young Titus, without waiting for a single -preliminary, flew upon him like a whirlwind. - -Provoker and the provoked one rolled over and over in the middle of the -street. It was a rainy, muddy morning in the late summer, and in their -dark suits and bedaubed condition they soon had very much the appearance -of two dogs. - -So thought a young man who was driving a fast horse and talking to a -lively young girl by his side. One careless glance he gave the supposed -dogs; then, thinking that they would get out of the way, he scarcely -took pains to avoid them. - -Needless to say, the dogs made no effort to avoid him. On the contrary, -they rolled right in his path. One terrified shriek he heard from -Titus’s opponent, then there was silence. - -The horrified young man sprang from his buggy. One boy was not hurt, he -was only frightened. The other lay with his dark young face turned up to -the sky. There was blood on his hands and his forehead. The horse’s -hoofs had struck him, and the wheels of the buggy had gone over his -legs. - -The young man did not lose his head. He asked the uninjured lad for -Titus’s name and address, he put him in the buggy, and requesting a -bystander to notify the Judge he drove rapidly to a hospital, his girl -friend tenderly holding Titus’s injured head. - -The succession of troubles that Judge Sancroft had had during his life -had all been of a deliberate kind. His wife and children had all had -long illnesses, and much suffering, so much so that death had come as a -welcome release. He did not remember anything just as sudden as this, -and his chastened and subdued heart died within him. He feared that he -was going to lose his last treasure. - -He happened to be in his club when the news came to him, and taking a -carriage he drove at once to the hospital. - -What a contrast—from the quiet luxurious rooms of the club, from the -peaceful reading or talking men, to this abode of pain and distress. - -The Judge reverently bared his head as he entered the door. “God pity -them!” he murmured, as he walked through the long halls and corridors to -the private room where his young grandson had been carried. - -There was a white-capped nurse in the room. The Judge bowed courteously -to her, then he turned to the bed. - -Was that Titus—was that his lively, mischievous grandson—that pale, -quiet lad with the bandaged head? - -The Judge stretched out both hands and laid them on the lad’s wrists. - -“My boy,” he said, piteously, “my boy, don’t you know me?” - -“He is quite unconscious, sir,” said the nurse. - -“Will he die?” asked the Judge. - -“Sir,” she said, protestingly, “the operation has not taken place—only -an examination.” - -The Judge sat down by the bed. Bitter, rebellious thoughts, resigned -thoughts, protesting thoughts, chased each other through his mind. - -At last he got up and went to the back of the room. “God’s will be -done,” he said, with a great sigh. - -The nurse gazed surreptitiously at him. She was very young, and to her -the Judge in his vigorous late middle age, and with his white head, -appeared to be an old man. - -“And a good one,” she said to herself. Then she listened. - -The Judge was also listening. His senses were unnaturally acute. Before -her he heard the soft footfalls and the whispering at the door. The -hospital attendants had come to take his boy to the operating room. - -“I shall wait here,” he said, and with a piteous face he watched the -lifting and taking away of the quiet little body. But when the door -closed he went on his knees by the bed. - -“O, Lord, spare my boy—take my life if necessary, but spare his. I am -getting old, but he is young. Spare him, spare him, dear Lord!” - - - - - CHAPTER II - MRS. BLODGETT’S OPINION - - -What was becoming of the poor princess all this time, for that station -in life had been assigned her as soon as the delighted Titus noted her -aristocratic manners. - -She was now a lively bird of three weeks of age, and though, according -to well bred pigeon ways, she had not yet left her nest she was always -looking about, and quite well aware of what took place around her. - -The accident to young Titus had occurred about noon, when he was on his -way home for lunch. It was now seven o’clock in the evening, and -Princess Sukey was inquiringly raising her pretty hooded head from her -basket to stare about her. - -Higby and the maids were serving the dinner. Mrs. Blodgett had had a -dreadful fit of hysterics when she heard what had happened to the boy of -the household, and had disappeared, no one knew where. - -Higby was whispering the news. The Judge had stayed at the hospital till -dinner time. The doctors said that there was just a bare chance of -Master Titus’s life, but they were afraid of his reason. There had been -injury to the brain. - -“It’s powerful sa-sa-sad to see the old man,” he went on. - -Higby was much older than the Judge, but still he always called him “the -old man.” - -“He sits and ea-ea-eats,” he stammered. - -“Surely,” said the young rosy-faced cook, “he aint eatin’ with the boy -’most dyin’.” - -“Did I s-s-say he was?” retorted Higby. “He’s p-p-playin’ with his food -just like a ca-ca-cat with a mouse, only he ain’t goin’ to e-e-eat it.” - -“He feels bad inside,” said the parlor maid sympathetically. “I know the -feelin’—kind of sick like. I had it when I lost my little brother. Not a -bite of food passed my lips for two days. What’s the matter with that -pigeon?” - -The unfortunate little princess was nearly starved. Her crop was quite -empty, and she was experiencing some of the torment that the healthy -young of any kind suffer from acute hunger. Titus always fed her at -noon, and it was now night. Imperiously agitating her long red and white -wings, she made the whistling noise which a young pigeon strives to -attract the attention of its parents. - -“Hush, gor-gor-gormandizer,” said Higby, turning fiercely on her. “Is -this a time for st-st-stuffing when y-young master is nearly dead?” - -The pigeon understood nothing of what he said about the boy, but she -clearly saw that no food would be forthcoming now, so she uttered a -complaining “Wee! wee!” and squatted down in her basket. - -As she did so the kitchen door leading into the back hall was thrown -violently open and Mrs. Blodgett walked in. - -She was a short, stout, middle-aged woman, with red cheeks and a skin -that looked as if it were too tight for her fat body. Her clothes, too, -were tight, giving her generally an uncomfortable appearance. The -expression of her face was often fretful. However, she was on the whole -a good sort of woman. - -Just now she was greatly excited. She untied her bonnet strings, flung -them back, and said in a loud voice, “I’ve seen him.” - -“S-s-seen who?” asked Higby, stopping short with a tray in his hands. - -“The boy. Where’s the Judge?” - -“Master T-t-titus!” exclaimed Higby, walking backward and striking his -foot. - -“Yes—hush—I’ll tell you later. Give me that pigeon.” - -Before anyone could reach the princess Mrs. Blodgett had snatched the -basket from one of the kitchen tables, and was walking toward the -stairway leading to the upper part of the house. - -Suddenly she turned back. “Where’s the Judge?” - -Higby stared at her. Then he said, “I-i-in his study—he ordered -co-co-coffee there. You’re not going to s-s-see him?” - -“Why aint I?” she asked, irritably. “Why aint I?” - -“I d-d-don’t know,” stammered Higby. “Only you don’t generally call on -him this time of day.” - -“Lead the way,” she said, grandly. “Step out.” - -Higby stumbled up the steps before her, the dishes rattling as he went. -When he opened the study door Mrs. Blodgett walked in after him. - -The Judge was standing before the fireplace in a melancholy attitude, -with his hands behind his back. - -He looked at Mrs. Blodgett as she came in, but did not seem surprised. -His servants often came to him with their troubles. - -“Well, Mrs. Blodgett,” he said, patiently, when Higby poured out his cup -of coffee and handed it to him. - -“I’ve somewhat to say to you, sir,” she replied, with a toss of her -head. - -The Judge looked at Higby, who went into the hall, closing the door -reluctantly behind him. - -Mrs. Blodgett was struggling with a variety of emotions. At last she -burst out with a remark, “I’ve seen the boy, sir!” - -“Have you?” said the Judge, eagerly, and turning he put his coffee cup -on the mantelpiece, as if glad of an excuse to be rid of it. - -“Yes, sir, I’ve seen the boy, and he spoke to me.” - -“He spoke!” exclaimed the Judge, “but, Mrs. Blodgett, what does this -mean? No one was to be admitted.” - -Mrs. Blodgett smiled. She knew that the Judge was too just to condemn -her without a hearing. - -“It was this way, sir,” she said, gently putting the pigeon’s basket -down on the table, and taking a handkerchief from her pocket to mop her -flushed face. “It was this way,” and as she spoke she felt herself -getting calm. There was a peaceful, judicial atmosphere in the Judge’s -study, and about the man himself there was something genial and -soothing. “When I heard of that boy’s head run over and smashed, the -heart stood still in my body. Now, if it had been you, sir, or me, or -Higby—but that only bit of young life about the house—it did seem too -awful. ‘I’m goin’ to see him,’ said I. ‘I’m goin’ to see him afore he -dies.’ Bells were ringin’ in my ears, an’ my head was in a kind of fog -like a ship at sea, but I crawled out to the street, I walked to the -hospital. Many’s the hour I paced up and down waitin’ for you to come -out, for I knew you’d stop me if you saw me. When you was out of sight I -hurried to the door—I rung the bell.” - -The Judge drew a long breath, and leaned his head slightly forward in -the intensity of his interest. - -“‘Could I see the bed where Master Titus lay?’ I asked,” continued Mrs. -Blodgett. “No, I couldn’t. I was prepared for that. But can you stop a -woman when she makes up her mind? No, sir. I sat in the waitin’ room an’ -I cried for a solid hour, and then they said I might look in the room -for one minute, if I’d promise not to speak above my breath. - -“I promised, and I meant to keep it, but I didn’t. When I walked into -that quiet room, when I looked at him lyin’ so still with them white -cloths on his black head, then, may heaven forgive me, sir, I let a -screech of ‘Master Titus, me darlin’!’ - -“He opened them impish eyes, sir, he give me a glance. ‘Blodgieblossom,’ -says he, ‘feed the pigeon, an’ tell grandfather.’ - -“He spoke, an’ he went to sleep again, an’ I was hustled out into the -hall, an’ my! didn’t them nurses give me a tongue-lashin’! But I had -heard my boy speak, sir; his mind were there.” - -The Judge’s face was disturbed and bewildered. - -Mrs. Blodgett was hurrying on, though she kept a keen eye on him. - -“So, sir, I says to myself, ‘Go right home, tell the Judge what the boy -says. Tell him that if the Lord in his mercy spared an innocent bird -when it was tumbled out of its nest, maybe he will spare a helpless -boy.’” - -The Judge’s face was radiant. “Then there is a pigeon?” - -“Indeed there be, sir,” she said, pulling at the princess, who, -perceiving herself in a new environment, had crouched down in her -basket. “Your young grandson’s pet pigeon, hid for fear of you—O, sir, -’tis sad to see him cravin’ dogs an’ cats, an’ havin’ only this -senseless fowl!” - -This was an unkind slap at the princess, who, however, took it -good-naturedly, but the Judge looked sharply at Mrs. Blodgett. - -“Sir,” she said, in an earnest voice, “I’ve been thinkin’ of the many -years I’ve served you. You’ve been a good, kind master to me, bearin’ -with my faults an’ my temper, an’, sir, when I heard of the boy’s mishap -I blamed myself for somethin’ I’ve often thought of doin’, but have -never done.” - -The Judge made no remark, but his round, full, honest eyes were bent on -her intently as she went on. - -“You couldn’t get me to leave your employ, sir, not unless you chased me -out. There aint a servant ever comes in this house that leaves on -account of you. It’s me, or Higby. An’, sir, likin’ an’ honorin’ you, I -can’t help takin’ an interest in your grandson. There’s a soft spot in -him, spite of his provokin’ ways, an’ many’s the time I’ve shed a tear -over his motherless head. I, bein’ as it were the only woman in the -house—them senseless, gigglin’ girls, an’ you an’ that poor foolish -creature Higby, not countin’. An’ takin’ an interest, I’ve often thought -that boys bein’ naturally fond of live stock, it’s a pity you don’t let -Master Titus have some to potter over. If he had he’d hurry home from -school like Charlie Brown, an’ not spend so much time in loiterin’ -around the streets an’ pickin’ up quarrels.” - -The Judge contracted his eyebrows. - -“Sir,” said the woman, solemnly, “if I’d come to you long ago an’ said, -‘Your young grandson just craves the pets the other boys have,’ you’d -have got him some.” - -“Mrs. Blodgett,” said the Judge, kindly, “let the past alone.” - -“But, sir, you’d have done it,” she said, tearfully. “You’re that kind -of a man. Young Master Titus has always hid that set of feelin’s from -you. He pretended he didn’t want a pony or a dog. He wanted to please -you. An’, sir, the fear of the extra clutter of work was what kep’ my -mouth shut. Says I, ‘If he has rabbits and fowls I’ll have more work to -do.’ An’ when I heard of what happened this holiday mornin’, when there -was no school to take him out, an’ when he naterally would ’a’ been with -pets if he had had ’em, I said, ‘The Lord has punished me!’” - -She was sobbing bitterly now, and the Judge felt his own eyes growing -moist. - -“Mrs. Blodgett,” he said, slowly, “we all make mistakes. With shame and -contrition I acknowledge that my life has been full of them. But tears -do not blot out errors. Turn your back on past faults, and go forward in -the new path you have marked out. Do not waste strength in lamentations. -I see that I have done wrong not to find out a natural, wholesome -instinct in my grandson. If the Lord spares him we shall see a different -order of things. Let us say we have done wrong—we will do better in -future.” - -The woman looked up in a kind of awe. She was only of medium height. The -Judge stood far above her. He had straightened himself as if to take new -courage. His tall form seemed taller, his eyes were fixed on vacancy. -And this grand, good man, without forgetting or laying aside his -dignity, had before her, a humble servant, clothed himself with -humility. He had done wrong, he said. - -“Sir,” she replied, with her woman’s mind rapidly darting to a new -subject, “I’ve heard say that once the biggest lawyer, the chief of all -the lawyers in the Union—” - -She hesitated, and bringing back his gaze to her the Judge said, kindly, -“The chief justice of the Supreme Court?” - -“Yes, sir, I’ve heard say that he got stuck, and he asked your opinion. -Is that so?” - -“Not exactly, Mrs. Blodgett,” he said, smiling slightly and shaking his -head, “not exactly, but—” - -He looked at a clock on the wall. He was in trouble, and wished to be -alone, but, like the courteous gentleman he was, did not care to dismiss -her. - -However, she understood him. “I ask your pardon, sir,” she said, humbly, -“for takin’ up so much of your valuable time, but I was in sore straits -about this pigeon.” - -“Ah! that is the bird, is it?” asked the Judge, stepping forward. - -The princess rose up in her beauty. That kind face leaning over her -meant food, and shaking her wings she uttered a pitiful “Wee! wee!” - -Mrs. Blodgett was anxiously watching the Judge. - -“I take it, sir, as how the lad is thinkin’ of it in his deliriumtries. -He wants you to know about it, an’ have it looked after. The unthinkin’ -creature has been brought up near the kitchen range, but now that -precious lamb is worryin’ about it I don’t dare to leave it there. -Suppose the girls should spill gravy on it!” - -All this talk was very fine, but in the meantime the princess was dying -of hunger, so in her distress she did what she had never done before. -Leaning over the edge of her basket, she raised one coral claw, held on, -scrambled, then hopped out, and trotted over the writing table toward -the Judge. - -“She’s hungry, sir,” said Mrs. Blodgett. “If you like, sir, I’ll bring -her food here.” - -The Judge was looking at Sukey with a most peculiar expression. He knew -nothing about birds. How many things he had dipped into apart from his -profession, but never once had he ever felt the slightest curiosity with -regard to the lower creation. Birds and animals existed, but he did not -care to know anything about them. Now, as he looked at the pigeon in the -light of his grandson’s interest, a series of thoughts flashed into his -mind. The creature had the breath of life in its nostrils just as he -had, it was hungry, it could make its wants known. How many other points -of resemblance to human beings had it? - -“Why is it doing that?” he asked, when the pretty hooded head was thrust -into his hand, and the pink beak tapped his fingers. - -“It’s food, sir, she’s after. Shall I ring for Higby to bring some?” - -The Judge was just about to say, “Take it away,” when he reflected that -it was Titus’s bird, and stretching out a hand he rang the bell by the -fireplace. - -Higby came hurrying into the room with a precipitation that told he had -not been far away. - -“Pigeon food, Higby,” said Mrs. Blodgett, grandly; “some warm water to -drink, and all Master Titus’s syringes and things for feedin’ the fowl.” - -Higby disappeared at the wave of her hand, and presently came back with -a box full of things. - -“Here,” said Mrs. Blodgett, clearing a place on the Judge’s writing -table, “here.” - -Higby put down the things, then he stared at her. - -“Take the pigeon,” she said, “hold it in your hands. I’ll fix the food.” - -Higby, in surprise, did as she told him, and the Judge, silently -standing beside them, watched with interest. - -“Let’s see,” said Mrs. Blodgett, turning over the things in the box, -“there’s nothin’ mixed. We’ll give her millet seed, sand, scraped -cuttlefish, and soaked bread. I’ll mix it,” and, pouring the various -ingredients in a cup, she stirred them as briskly as if she were making -a pudding. - -Higby was amazed. He did not suppose that Mrs. Blodgett knew anything -about the pigeon, but she was pretty shrewd, and had always kept one eye -on him and the boy as they took care of the princess. - -“No, I don’t want that syringe,” she said, pushing it away when Higby -offered it to her. “To my mind, this bird is too big for soft food. I’ll -make it pills,” and she rolled the bread and seed together. “Now for a -feedin’ stick,” she said, looking around. “I can’t push the food down -that small throat with my fingers.” - -Turning her head to and fro, she espied a slender silver penholder on -the writing table. Catching it up, she tore a strip from her -handkerchief, wound it round the tapering end of the penholder, and -pushed the pill into the princess’s beak. - -“That pill sticks,” she said, briskly; “I’ll dip the next in water.” - -Higby looked at the Judge as if to say, “Isn’t she a wonderful woman,” -and the Judge in a quiet way seemed to return the glance and say, “She -is!” - -The poor little princess was delighted to get some food. She flapped her -wings, which had now grown quite large, until she embraced Mrs. -Blodgett’s hand with them. She loved to feel the food slipping down her -throat, and how comfortable was her crop when at last it was quite full, -and Mrs. Blodgett was giving her sips of water from a coffee spoon. - -The princess had learned to drink in that way, though it was very hard -for her, as a pigeon, unlike most other birds, keeps its head down while -drinking. - -After Mrs. Blodgett had finished feeding the princess she carefully -wiped her beak, and put her back in the basket. - -Then in a somewhat hesitating and embarrassed manner she cleaned up some -water drops from the table, and cast scrutinizing glances at the Judge -from under her eyelids. - -He did not see her. His mind was wandering. His body was in the room, -but his thoughts were at the hospital with his cruelly injured grandson. - -Mrs. Blodgett waved Higby from the room. Then, soberly depositing the -basket on a corner of the hearth rug, she too slipped out. - -The princess lay quietly in her basket, just keeping one eye on the -Judge. She was a discreet young pigeon, but then all pigeons are -discreet. They are hatched with serious dispositions. Play rarely enters -into their thoughts. They want to work, to eat, and not to be taken from -their homes, for, next to cats, pigeons love their own locality. - -The Judge never looked at the princess, and after standing up to clean -and arrange her feathers, the last thing a well bred pigeon does at -night, she went to sleep. - -The poor Judge sank into an easy-chair. Hour after hour he sat buried -there, buried in sorrow. At midnight he got up and went to the telephone -on a desk by the window. - -“Give me the City Hospital,” he said, and then he went on: “Judge -Sancroft is speaking. How is my grandson?” - -He groaned when he received the message: “Boy remains the same—condition -unchanged.” Then he went back to his easy-chair. - -At intervals all through the night he went from his chair to the -telephone, and back again. - -His face would light up when he approached the desk. Then as the too -familiar reply came back it would fall, his head would sink on his -breast, his shoulders would droop, and with the step of an old and weary -man he would turn away. - -Toward morning, when he painfully dragged himself to the desk, his face -did not light up. He was giving up hope. However, it did light up, and -with an unearthly radiance too, when the answer this time came to him: -“Boy better—has regained consciousness, and is asking for you. Come at -once.” - -The Judge sprang up like a boy. He raised his two hands to heaven, “God -be praised—if the boy lives, a double contribution to the poor—another -boy to share his life—an end to my selfishness—if he lives—if he lives,” -and burying his face in his hands the dear old Judge sobbed like a baby. - - - - - CHAPTER III - HAPPY TIMES - - -Ah! that was the beginning of happy times for the princess. - -“Grandfather!” said Titus, weakly, “I have been acting a lie, but don’t -punish the bird.” That was one of the first sentences he uttered. - -“Hush, hush!” said the Judge, soothingly. “Hush, my boy, your pigeon is -in my study. Go to sleep—there is nothing to worry about.” - -Then he sat and looked blissfully and curiously at the tired, closed -eyes. What fancy was this, or, to go deeper, what sympathy, what -affinity was it that drew the first thought of an almost mortally -wounded boy to a member of the bird world? That pigeon was more to him -than anything else, apparently. - -“Doctor,” he said in a low voice, getting up and going over to the -white-haired superintendent of the hospital who happened to be at the -other end of the room, “are all lads fond of animals?” - -“Almost all healthy, normal ones are, according to my observation,” -replied the doctor. - -“What is the philosophy of it?” - -“I don’t know,” said the man, frankly. “I can remember my own passion -for animals when I was young, but I have outgrown it. A little girl -loves her doll, a boy his dog. The woman casts aside her doll for her -daughter—” - -“And the boy, or the man, has his sons,” whispered the Judge. - -The doctor nodded. “The young of any kind of creature is interested in -the young of any other. Sometimes they keep the interest to maturity, -sometimes they don’t.” - -“I can understand a boy’s interest in a dog,” murmured the Judge, “but a -pigeon—” - -“Is that lad attached to a pigeon?” inquired the doctor, with a sharp -look at the bed. - -“Yes, very much so.” - -“And is inquiring about it?” - -“Yes.” - -“Then take good care of it,” said the doctor, “and if it dies don’t let -him know.” - -The Judge nodded, and went back to the bed. - -The doctor’s advice was repeated at home in the big stone house. - -“Didn’t I tell you so!” exclaimed Mrs. Blodgett in huge delight, “didn’t -I tell you so!” and she immediately went downtown and bought a new -basket for the princess, who fell into a most unaristocratic rage when -she was put into it. - -“Pigeons is like ca-ca-cats,” remarked Higby, who was watching Mrs. -Blodgett induct the princess into her new home. “They h-h-hate changes.” - -“But, darlin’ princess, look at the white ribbons,” said Mrs. Blodgett, -cajolingly, “an’ the pretty German straw. Why, it’s a lovely basket.” - -“Rookety cahoo! rookety cahoo!” said the princess, stepping high and -wrathfully shaking her hood. - -“Rookety cahoo! or no rookety cahoo!” said Mrs. Blodgett, decidedly, -“you’ve got to have it. No dirty old baskets in the Judge’s study. -You’ve got to be kept as clean as clean. Higby, you clear up that litter -of straw. She aint goin’ to sit on it any more. I’ve got a roll of scrim -to make her cushions. She drags the straw about with her claws all over -the carpet—and we aint goin’ to feed her in here any more. She drops -seeds. We’ll take her in the pantry. I don’t want the Judge to turn her -out of his room. If anything happened to her anywhere else we’d be -blamed.” - -“The Judge don’t take n-n-no notice of her,” grumbled Higby. - -“Don’t he—that’s all you know. I see him lookin’ at her, an’ weighin’ -her actions, an’ sizin’ her up. I’ll bet you he never knew so much about -pigeons afore.” - -It was true that the Judge was observing Princess Sukey. He was obliged -to do so, for as soon as Titus was allowed to talk he seemed bewitched -to get on to the subject of his pigeon. How did she look, had she grown -much—there were a few little feathers under her wings that had not -started—had they appeared yet? and the Judge was obliged to answer all -his questions, and if his observations of the pigeon had not been -sufficiently narrow he had to promise to make more. - -The days passed by. Young Titus went steadily forward. He never lost a -step. The hospital authorities declared that his recuperative powers -were marvelous, and the Judge, who had painfully feared some hereditary -weakness, silently bowed his head and gave thanks. - -One day Mrs. Blodgett went into the Judge’s study, which was a beautiful -room looking south, and having large windows opening on a balcony. She -was in search of the princess, and the pigeon, seeing her coming, -hurried somewhat apprehensively out to this balcony. She had been out of -bounds, and Mrs. Blodgett owned a little switch which she kept hidden -behind one of the bookcases. - -The princess was only allowed to sit or stand in her basket, which stood -on a square of oilcloth by the fireplace, to walk directly to the -balcony, or directly back. She must not linger in corners of the room, -or fly up on the bookcases, the tables, or the desk. - -Just now she had been loitering under one of the tables, picking at the -flowers in the carpet; therefore, seeing Mrs. Blodgett, she took to the -balcony. - -Mrs. Blodgett laughed good-humoredly, “I am not going to whip you -to-day. I am ordered to take you to the hospital to see your young -master, and mind you are a good bird.” - -The princess submitted to being caught and put in her basket. Mrs. -Blodgett tied a piece of stout paper firmly over her, then putting the -basket on her arm she went downstairs and out of doors to the street, -where the coachman Roblee was awaiting her with the Judge’s carriage. - -The rubber-tired wheels moved softly over the asphalt pavement, but the -princess liked neither the confinement nor the motion, and she was a -frightened-looking bird when she reached the hospital. - -Titus did not say much, but his black eyes sparkled when Mrs. Blodgett -put the basket down on his bed. - -“W-w-whew!” he said after a time, “isn’t she a beauty—a real princess!” - -Sukey cared nothing for his admiration. She was in a strange place, and -raising her beautiful hooded head she gazed apprehensively and miserably -about her. - -Not one sound would she utter, and when Titus tried to caress her she -would slip her soft back from under his hand and trot toward Mrs. -Blodgett. - -“S-s-she has forgotten me,” said the boy, with a chagrined air. - -“Don’t you believe it, Master Titus,” replied Mrs. Blodgett, -consolingly. “She always do act that way when you takes her in a strange -place.” - -However, she had forgotten Titus, or she had transferred her affections -to others. That was confirmed when the boy returned home a few weeks -later. - -His grandfather had insisted upon his staying in the hospital until he -was quite well, but everything comes to him who waits, and at last the -day arrived when Titus’s belongings were packed. He himself limped out -of his room, and down the long halls and staircases, and entered the -carriage waiting for him. - -A nurse went with him, for his grandfather was confined at home with a -slight cold. - -When the carriage drove up to the door Titus hobbled up the steps and -greeted the servants, who were all waiting for him. - -“H-h-how do you do, everybody?” he called out, cheerily, “H-h-here I am -as good as new, except a scar on my forehead, and one foot a little bit -crooked. W-where’s grandfather?” and he limped upstairs to the Judge’s -study. - -[Illustration: “W-w-whew!” he said after a time, “isn’t she a beauty—a -real princess!”] - -He was not a demonstrative boy, but on this day he gave his grandfather -a bearish hug; then, as if he were ashamed of so much expansion, he -turned on his heel and said, “Where’s the pigeon?” - -His grandfather smiled. “There she is.” - -Titus looked around. The princess’s back was toward him; she was very -busy about something, he could not tell what. - -He stepped forward and recognized an enormous pincushion, the property -of Mrs. Blodgett. It was stuck full of large, round-headed pins, and the -pigeon was amusing herself by pulling out these pins and throwing them -on her square of oilcloth. - -“W-w-what is she doing that for?” asked the boy, in amazement. - -“To kill time, I suppose,” replied his grandfather. “It is my proud -privilege to pick up the pins and stick them in the cushion when she has -drawn them all out.” - -“W-w-well, I never!” exclaimed Titus, with open mouth. “I never saw a -pigeon play before.” Then he said, “Sukey!” - -The pigeon turned round. - -“P-p-pretty bird,” he went on. - -“O, rookety cahoo!” she said, irritably, and as he continued to pet her -she walked up and down the oilcloth, shaking her head and setting her -hood quivering. - -There was a lovely greenish sheen on the red neck feathers, and Titus -exclaimed admiringly, “Y-you beauty!” - -Sukey in a rage uttered a series of choking “Rookety cahoos!” then she -flew on the Judge’s shoulder. - -Titus was awestruck. “Do you let her do that?” he asked. - -“I can’t help it,” said the Judge, sheepishly trying to drive her away. - -She resisted him, and rapidly turning would give Titus a wrathful -glance, and would then peck lovingly at the Judge’s ear. - -“I’ve spoiled her,” said the Judge, weakly. - -Titus sank into a chair. - -“Here take her,” said his grandfather, reaching up both hands, seizing -the bird bodily, and depositing her on his grandson’s knee. - -The boy held her, and gently stroked her head. Struggling furiously, she -caught hold of his fingers, bit them sharply until he released her, when -she flew to the Judge’s knee, and seemed to be telling him a long story -of insult and injury. - -The Judge could not help laughing, and finally Titus laughed too. Then -he said, “W-w-well, I’ve lost my pigeon.” - -“Never mind,” said his grandfather, “you shall have some others for -yourself. I spoke to a carpenter the other day about making a loft up at -the stable for you.” - -Titus gave his grandfather a queer look. Then after a long silence he -said, strangely, “Y-you don’t mean it?” - -“But I do.” - -The boy was overcome, and turning round in his chair he laid his head on -his arm. To have pigeons—to have a loft like Charlie Brown’s—to see his -very own birds strutting about in it, to buy and sell and bargain in the -way so dear to boyish hearts. - -“Grandfather,” he said after a time, and now he was so much moved that -he did not stutter, “I’m not just the same as when I went into the -hospital.” - -“Indeed!” said his grandfather, kindly. - -“No, sir. I thought,” and he pointed a finger at the princess, “that I’d -raise and sell her, but now I don’t want to.” - -“Why not?” - -“I don’t know, sir.” - -“I will tell you,” said his grandfather, very kindly and very seriously, -“your hard lesson has taught you that a boy is not all legs, stomach, -and brain. He has also a heart.” - - - - - CHAPTER IV - THE JUDGE’S VOW - - -The Judge often looked up at a large painting on his study wall—“Even -This Shall Pass Away.” - -The words were issuing from the lips of an Oriental king who, seated on -a magnificent throne, was receiving the homage of his courtiers. A -half-sad, half-indulgent smile played about his face, and on his -uplifted hand there could be seen the words deeply cut on a finger ring, -“Even This Shall Pass Away.” - -The Judge often looked at this picture. How many, many things had passed -away in his experience—things that apparently never would pass away! How -the time had dragged when Titus lay ill in the hospital! It had seemed -as if he would always be ill, as if his grandfather would always be at -home, a worried and suffering man. But now only a few weeks had gone by -and Titus was at home, and things were going on as they had before his -accident. - -The boy was going to school again—no fear of fights now. He could -stutter as much as he pleased. The boys, half savages as some of them -appeared to be, were afraid to touch him. - -After breakfast the Judge read his paper, went downtown to the post -office, the bank, and his club, then came home. - -The princess was always waiting for him, in her basket by the hearth rug -if it were raining, or on the balcony if it were fine. - -As soon as he appeared in the doorway she flew to meet him, lighted on -his shoulder, rubbed her beak gently against his ear, saying “Rookety -cahoo!” a great number of times. - -When he put her on the hardwood floor she would circle round his feet, -and finally retire to her basket, where she sat and watched him. - -He had become her prime favorite. She liked Mrs. Blodgett and Higby, and -she endured Titus, but she loved the Judge. - -On this particular day, or rather evening, she was very much disturbed. -The Judge had had his nap in the afternoon, and his drive, and his -dinner, and now in the firelight and incandescent light, when the room -was snug and cozy, he ought to be reading in his big chair, with -herself, the princess, on one arm of it, occasionally getting her head -scratched. But instead of following the usual order of things he was -muttering to himself something about a vow, and was pacing about the -room. - -The princess did not like it, and showed her displeasure by a succession -of sulky “Rookety cahoos!” uttered from her basket. - -After a time the Judge rang the bell. - -“Jennie,” he said when the parlor maid appeared, “ask Master Titus to -come here after he finishes studying his lessons.” - -Half an hour later Titus came whistling down the hall. - -“W-w-well, grandfather,” he said, as he came into the study, “what do -you want—a-a-a game of backgammon?” - -“No,” said the Judge, “I want to talk to you. Sit down.” - -Titus threw himself into a chair, and stared at him. - -“When you were ill,” began the Judge, “I, in my extremity, promised my -Maker that if you were spared to me I would show my gratitude by -adopting some poor child who had no home of his own.” - -“W-w-whew!” exclaimed Titus, and he drew his black brows together. - -The Judge was not surprised. He had feared that Titus might be jealous -of another lad. - -He waited a minute or two, then he went on firmly: “This was not blind -impulse. I have all my life known that it was not good for a child to be -brought up alone. Being alone tends to egotism. We are very happy, you -and I, yet I know it would be better for you to have another lad to -share your sorrows and joys.” - -“H-h-he might fight me,” said Titus, gloomily. - -“I shall get one much younger than you,” replied the Judge. - -“O-O-O!” said Titus, easily, “then I can lick him.” - -“Titus,” said the Judge, “you know that there are boys and girls in the -world less favored than yourself.” - -“Y-y-yes, sir, but they are dirty and lazy, and they have awful -manners.” - -“If we get a young child we can mold him. I feel it my duty, boy. I have -enough for you and another lad. There is a fearful amount of suffering -in the world. We should do what we can to lessen it.” - -“I-I-I don’t want one of those River Street cubs,” said Titus, sharply. - -“I shall take the greatest pains to get a boy of good antecedents,” said -the Judge, decidedly. “You know that my profession has brought me into -contact with crime and criminals. I have a horror of inherited vicious -tendencies.” - -“A-a-all right, sir,” replied Titus, with a sigh. “If you’ve promised -we’ve got to do it,” and getting up he walked over to his grandfather -and threw his arm over his shoulder. - -Titus was a reserved boy, but just now his slim young figure, pressed -close to the chair in which the Judge sat, was brimful of eloquence. - -The Judge’s lip quivered. “Titus,” he said, slowly, “I shall never love -another boy as I love you, and, to tell the truth, I half wish now that -I had not made that vow; but I was in dire trouble, and the Lord -delivered me out of it. Should I not show gratitude?” - -“Y-y-yes, sir,” said Titus, hastily. “We’ve had a hard time. I had -thoughts too, sir, when I was lying in bed so long. I’ve deceived you in -lots of things. I’m going to be more straight—I-I-I guess it’s all right -to take a kid. W-w-we’ll bring him to be just like you and me,” and with -a grin he rubbed his black head against his grandfather’s white one, and -then scampered away to bed. - -Now the princess was happy. With a great sigh of relief the Judge -settled himself back in his chair, pulled the reading light toward him, -and took up a book. - -Sukey flew to his side, and when he became too much absorbed in his -reading to rub her white head she leaned over and gently pecked his -hand. - -Young Titus’s illness had extended over a long and cold autumn and into -the first part of December. By Christmas time he was dashing about in -his old way, though he still had a slight limp. Only time would cure -that, the doctors said. - -The limp did not keep him off his feet. From morning till night he was -rushing about somewhere, and when the Christmas holidays came he was -simply omnipresent. - -According to a long-established custom, he and his grandfather went -downtown every Christmas Eve to see the shops and the people. They -started early on this Christmas Eve—just as soon as they had had their -dinner—and they both would have been very much surprised if anyone had -told them that during this evening a chance would come for the -fulfillment of the Judge’s vow. - -Ever since he had mentioned the matter to Titus the Judge had been -quietly looking about for a boy. He had visited several orphan asylums, -and he had written to friends, but though the orphans were plentiful he -was fastidious, and so far some defect had been found in every one -proposed to him. - -“This is a joyful season, sir,” said young Titus, as he endeavored to -stride along in a manly fashion beside his grandfather. - -The Judge nodded, for this particular season was, as Titus said, an -ideal one. Enough snow had fallen to make sleighing pleasant, the air -was clear and frosty, but not too sharp, and the days were cloudless and -the nights bright. It was a pleasure to be out. - -The usual Christmas stir prevailed. The streets were full of people, the -shops were crowded. The Judge and Titus had nothing to buy. The boy had -bought his presents for his grandfather and the servants, and the Judge -had his gifts all neatly done up and labeled. They were in two of the -big drawers of one of his bookcases, and Princess Sukey, the pigeon, had -been the only one to see them as yet. - -Everything was gay and cheerful. Nobody seemed sad, nobody sorry. Boys -and girls, men and women, were laughing and talking cheerily, and Titus -was staring about, his eyes going this way and that way, until at last -his grandfather turned his wandering gaze in one direction by saying, -“What do you suppose is the matter with that boy?” - -Titus looked straight in front of him. - -A small child clad in a long coat and having on a shabby fur cap was -trotting along in front of them. Sometimes he would take several steps -in a straight and assured way, then he would falter and stagger. Once in -a while he would reel up against the shop windows. Upon one of these -occasions he pressed his little face against the frosty glass and gazed -in at the toys. - -The child’s cheeks were white and dirty, his eyes were sleepy, and Titus -said in a puzzled way, “Do you suppose anyone would give him anything to -make him stagger?” - -“Hardly,” said the Judge, “the little fellow must have extraordinarily -weak ankles. Watch him.” - -The child set out again, and this time he staggered so badly that he -fell on the snowy pavement. There he sat with his little face bent, a -curious smile playing about his lips as he gazed, not at the passersby, -but down at the ice and snow. - -The Judge and Titus were the first to reach him. “Here,” said the Judge, -and he looked down at the child, “try again,” and he set him on his -feet. - -The little boy gave him a slow, scrutinizing glance, then he smiled -mysteriously and said, “My little trotters slipped on the ghosts of -running things.” - -“A-a-are you ill?” asked Titus, sharply. - -The child softly patted the front of his coat with his mittened hand, -“They kept me late, and Mr. Rat is at his old tricks.” - -“You are hungry,” said the Judge. - -The child yawned—such a tired, weak little yawn that, to the Judge’s -surprise, he tried to suppress. Then he nodded his little head a great -many times. “There’s something in the oven for me, but it’s a long way -there.” - -“We are obstructing the way,” said the Judge, and indeed many persons -had stopped and were listening. “Take his hand, Titus—here, child, come -into this restaurant.” - -Like one walking in sleep he gave his hand to Titus, and allowed himself -to be led into the brilliantly lighted white and gold room. - -“W-w-wonder what he thinks of it?” murmured Titus to himself. “Here, -boy, take off your cap.” - -The little boy struggled to keep his hairy or almost hairless headgear, -but Titus was inexorable. He finally gave it up, but he gazed at Titus -with a slightly injured air, as the bigger boy handed the shabby fur -thing to the waiter. - -Then with babyish vanity he put up a hand and smoothed the thin crop of -curls plastered down on his forehead by a band of perspiration. - -“What will you have?” said the Judge to him after they had seated -themselves at a small table. - -“Cats like milk,” he said, dreamily, “and dogs like broo.” - -Titus stared at him, then he said under his breath to his grandfather, -“I-i-is he crazy?” - -“No, he is repeating a Scotch jingle. ‘Broo’ is broth. He is terribly -tired. Child,” he went on, “would you like me to read you the _menu_?” - -“Please, sir,” he said, shyly, and with tired grace he handed the Judge -the bit of cardboard with which he was playing. - -The Judge elevated his eyebrows, put on his eyeglasses, and took the -_menu_ from him. - -“Oysters, sir,” said the child, seriously, when the Judge had run over -the list, “_bouillon_, and Democrat-Republican ice cream.” - -Democrat-Republican ice cream was a specialty of this same first-class -restaurant, and Titus, hearing this poverty-stricken child show -familiarity with its merits, snickered aloud in his amusement. - -His grandfather gave him a warning glance, but the child had not heard -him. He was wearily looking about the pretty room with an air that said, -“I have seen all this before.” Then, while waiting for their orders to -be filled, he quietly dropped to sleep. - -Meanwhile the Judge and Titus studied his appearance. - -“Do you see,” said the Judge, “that though his face and hands are dirty -his wrists are clean. He is only dirty outside. Look at his ragged -little shirt cuffs. They are quite white—and how nicely his coat is -darned.” - -Titus nodded, and as the Judge noted the kindly look on the boy’s face -as he surveyed the sleeping child a light broke over his own face. He -was not romantic nor sentimental, but he was a religious man, and he -believed in the leadings of Providence. - -He had been guided to this boy. What a brother he would make for -Titus—that is, and he prudently added an afterthought, if he was without -incumbrances, and his antecedents were good—and meanwhile the little -child slept on. - -“B-b-boy,” said Titus, presently, “wake up, and eat your victuals.” - -The child opened his eyes, smiled sweetly at him, and calmly took up a -fork. - -He went to sleep between oysters and _bouillon_, and _bouillon_ and ice -cream. He slept putting a piece of bread to his mouth—indeed, he slept -with such frequency that Titus wondered how he managed to tuck away so -much food. - -At last he had finished, and then he did something that considerably -mystified the Judge and Titus. - -After wiping his mouth with his napkin he put the napkin on the table, -and unbuttoning his coat he slipped a hand in the front of it. - -As he did this the sleepy look left his eyes, and a sorrowful one came -in its place. Drawing out a small handkerchief with a border of -marvelous lions and tigers, he unrolled it, pretended to take something -out of it and put it on the table. Then he placed crumbs of bread and -cake before this imaginary thing. - -“W-w-what are you doing?” asked Titus, bluntly. - -“Feeding the little one,” said the child, solemnly. - -“W-w-what little one? There isn’t any there.” - -“Don’t you see my little mouse?” he asked, impatiently. - -“A-a-a mouse!” exclaimed Titus, “je-whillikens! I don’t like mice.” - -“He’s dead,” said the child, softly; “a strange pussy killed him—not our -pussy.” - -“H-h-how can you feed him if he’s dead?” pursued Titus, with boyish -callousness. - -“But he has a little ghost,” said the strange child, gently shaking his -head, “and I carry it here—have you had enough, mousie?” and he tenderly -lowered his head to the table. - -“Yes,” he said, softly speaking to himself; then he took up the ghost, -wrapped it in his handkerchief, and put it back in his little bosom. - -The Judge felt a strange misgiving. Another animal enthusiast—and this -one worse than Titus, for Titus had little imagination, and interested -himself only with the live bodies of animals, not their dead shades. - -The mouse episode over, the child again became sleepy. Titus, who had -managed to dispose of some ice cream himself, jammed the boy’s fur cap -down on his head, and guided his steps behind the Judge to the door of -the restaurant. - -There the child sank down on the doorstep. - -“U-u-upon my word,” stuttered Titus, “he’s saying his prayers. T-t-this -time he’ll be off for good—must have been drugged.” - -“It’s a case of natural or unnatural fatigue,” said his grandfather. -“Drugs would probably cause him to sleep uninterruptedly. Go get a -sleigh and we will drive him home. Child,” and he bent down and slightly -shook him, “where do you live?” - -“Forty-five River Street,” he replied, drowsily, “at Mrs. Tingsby’s.” - -When he found himself lifted in among warm fur sleigh robes he slept -more soundly than ever. - -“River Street—River Street,” said the Judge. “Poor child!” - -In a short time they had left the crowded, brightly lighted streets, and -were traversing the long, dingy narrow one that Titus so much disliked. - -On one side of the street there were wharves behind the houses. The -traffic for the day was over, and the wharves were dull and deserted, -but there was some life on the street, particularly about the saloons -and small shops. - -Even River Street must have its Christmas Eve. - -“Forty-five,” said the driver, “here it is,” and he stopped beside a -narrow house—the middle one of three dingy, uninviting dwellings. - -“Mere shells of buildings,” muttered the Judge, glancing up at the -houses, “and the poor haven’t coal to heat them, while we with well -built houses have plenty of fuel.” - -When the sleigh stopped, and the merry jingle of the horses’ bells -ceased, a curtain was pulled aside from a window of number forty-five, -then the door flew open, and a thin slip of a woman in a cotton dress -ran out to meet them. - -“O, the child! the child!—don’t say death to me!” - -“Motherly anxiety,” commented the Judge to himself, and strange to say -his heart sank. If the boy had a mother he would never get him. - -He stared at the excited wisp of a woman who was dragging the child from -the fur robes, and was violently hugging him. “O, Bethany! Bethany! you -aint dead.” - -“Dead, no,” said the Judge, “he is only asleep,” and he proceeded to -tell the woman the story of their finding the child. - -She listened to him, holding her head up, and with a strained expression -on her thin face, and after a time the Judge stopped talking, for he -discovered that she had not heard a word of what he was saying. - -“I’m deef!” she exclaimed, “deefer than that iron post. Come in, come -in,” and clutching the little boy firmly by the hand she backed into a -tiny hall, and threw open the door of a small front room where a table -was set as if for a meal. - -“Wait for us,” said the Judge to the cabman, then he followed her. - -The cloth on the table was white but threadbare, and the appointments -were all so meager that the Judge averted his head. He had a tender -heart, and now that he was getting toward old age the awful inequality -between the lot of the rich and the poor struck a painful sympathy to -his heart. - -“What makes this boy so sleepy?” he asked, pointing to the little child. - -The woman saw his gesture. “Ah! sir,” she said, “it’s cruel to keep them -so late. They begin work at nine in the morning.” - -“Work!” echoed Titus. - -His clear young voice reached the deaf woman’s ear. - -“That there child,” she said, pointing to the little boy, who was -sitting on a small stool stifling yawns, “has been at work sence nine -this morning with bare an hour for lunch—just as sure as I’m a livin’ -woman.” - -“What work does he do?” asked the Judge. - -The woman did not hear him, but she guessed what his question would be. - -“From nine to five is the hours, and in the sight of my Maker I vow I’d -not let any child in my care go to sech slavery, if it weren’t that I’m -so hard pressed that upon my word the soul is fairly racked out of me to -get victuals for my children.” - -“What does he do?” roared the Judge in her ear. - -“Do, sir—makes paper boxes. You know about Christmas time how the rich -folks must have boxes to put their candy in. The contracts for boxes is -let out to men who swallow up the poor. There’s dozens of poor children -a-slavin’ in this city, agin’ the law and unbeknownst to the law. I wish -the Lord had never made Christmas. It’s a good time for the rich. You -take out your fat pocketbooks an’ order presents for each other, an’ you -wait till the last minute, an’ then the poor has to go to work.” - -The Judge wrinkled his white brows. - -“Look at that table, sir,” continued the woman, “set sence five o’clock -this evenin’—the time the poor is supposed to git off. Look at the sour -bread the baker sells us, an’ the salt butter the grocer weighs us, an’ -the molasses, an’ rind of cheese. That’s our Christmas Eve supper, but -sech as it is it’s been waitin’ for hours for my boarders.” - -The Judge said nothing, but his gaze went round the shabby room. Nothing -more unlike his idea of a boarding house could be imagined. - -The little thin woman with the sharp eyes interpreted his glance. - -“Yes, sir, I earns my livin’ by keepin’ boarders—ever sence my husband -was poisoned to death by work in the city sewers. There’s that boarder,” -and she pointed to a plate on the table—“Matthew Jones. He works in a -fur store—overtime now, because it’s Christmas, and some grand lady must -have her set of sables to-night. The light is poor in his workroom, an’ -his eyes is bad, but no matter—he’s got to work or be fired. Then next -to him sits Harry Ray. He’s in the express employ. Only seventeen, an’ -an orphan. He’s drivin’ till one and two every night now, an’ eatin’ his -lunch on his seat in his cart. He’s got an awful cold. After Christmas -he’ll likely take time to have newmania or grip. Then there’s old man -Fanley. He’s carryin’ parcels for a small firm—poor old soul, stumblin’ -round in the cold at night when he ought to be in bed. O! sir, we don’t -hate work, we poor uns, we’ll slave all day, but I do think the rich -might let us have our nights. We’d serve ’em better, sir, we would.” - -The Judge bent his white head and nodded it sadly. At times there seemed -no joy, no pleasure in life, only stern taskmasters and shrinking -slaves. - -“It’s hardest on the children,” pursued the woman in a lower tone. “My -heart bleeds for ’em. I’ve just got me own in bed. They’re all workin’ -too, now that it’s holiday time. I was just waitin’ for this stray -lamb,” and her glance softened as it fell on the bobbing form of the -sleeping child. - -The Judge raised his head. “Isn’t this your child?” he asked, sharply. - -The woman turned to Titus. “What do he say?” - -Titus repeated the question, and she intently watched the motion of his -lips. - -“My child!” she exclaimed. “O, law no! Look at my hair, sir, black as a -crow’s. Those curls be quite light,” and she stepped over and laid a -hand on the child’s head. - -“Whose child is he?” asked the Judge. - -The woman turned to Titus with an impatient gesture. “You say it. His -mustache do cover his lips. I can’t see ’em.” - -“P-parents,” cried Titus, “of that boy. Who is his mother?” - -“Mother!” repeated Mrs. Tingsby, “nay, that I can’t say till I finds an -owner for the child. ‘Susan Tingsby,’ said his ma when she lay a-dyin’ -in this very house, ‘Susan Tingsby, you’ve been a good friend to me. -When the Lord sends some one to take my baby tell my poor story, such as -it is’—an’, sir, I’ve kept the child these ten months. Often I’ve hardly -had bread for me own, but the child of the stranger never suffered.” - -The Judge sat quietly for a few minutes. Now that his attention was -called to the fact that the woman was not the child’s mother he saw -quite a difference in their faces. Mrs. Tingsby’s sharp, dark features -were very unlike the pale, plump face of the little one. - -“Yes!” she suddenly ejaculated, “the child’s fat enough.” - -The Judge looked at her. Though deaf she was not stupid, and she was -marvelously clever at understanding one’s thoughts. - -“The children of the poor is mostly that,” she continued. “Much sour -bread puffs ’em out, an’ likewise fresh air which they has plenty of. -But bless your heart, it aint good flesh like rich children’s. Newmania -and consumption takes ’em off like smoke.” - -“Ask her to what station in life the boy’s mother belonged,” said the -Judge to Titus. - -“W-w-was its mother a lady?” vociferated the boy, with a nod toward the -child. - -“A lady! Well, I guess so,” replied Mrs. Tingsby, indignantly, “as much -as you be. She were a school-teacher—out of New York. I know her maiden -name. Her husband’s name weren’t nothin’ remarkable. I don’t mind sayin’ -it. It were Smith.” - -“Ask her what the husband’s character was,” said the Judge. - -“H-h-husband,” continued Titus, “was he good?” - -“He were an imp,” said Mrs. Tingsby, shortly. - -“An imp,” murmured the Judge. “Go on, Titus, extract some more -information. You can guess pretty well what I want to know.” - -“W-w-what do you mean by an imp?” stuttered the boy, speaking very -slowly, and shaping his words well with his mouth. - -“Well, young sir,” said Mrs. Tingsby, ironically, “when you grows up and -marries a wife, and goes off an’ leaves her in a poor boardin’ place -like this, an’ only comes home once in a while, an’ takes her an’ the -child to a swell restaurant for lunch, an’ then goes off an’ leaves her -to bread and molasses again, I’ll say you are an imp.” - -“I-I-I don’t care much for this woman,” said the abashed Titus under his -breath to his grandfather. - -“Never mind, boy—she means well. Ask some more questions. What was the -husband’s business?” - -Titus grinned in an embarrassed way. “W-w-what was the imp’s business?” -he inquired. - -“Servin’ his master,” said the woman, shortly, and with a glance at the -now sleeping child, “an’ sometimes gettin’ big pay, an’ sometimes -poor—what’s his business?” and she abruptly jerked a forefinger in the -Judge’s direction. - -“H-h-he’s a judge,” said the boy, proudly, “retired a few years -ago—o-o-on account of ill health,” he added; “but he’s all right now.” - -“Ah!” replied Mrs. Tingsby, and still staring at the Judge she addressed -him significantly, “maybe you’ve seen him purfessionally.” - -Judge Sancroft felt an inward recoil, though he said nothing. But he -rose almost immediately, and looked at his grandson. - -Mrs. Tingsby was a remarkably shrewd woman. Under the Judge’s reserved -exterior she saw plainly that his heart had been going out to the orphan -child. - -“The father is dead,” she said, briefly, “buried by the mother—an’ she -were a saint on earth, an’ is now a saint in heaven.” - -The Judge said nothing, and picking up his fur gloves he slowly began to -draw them on. - -Mrs. Tingsby’s strained, eager face was bent on him. “The father of the -imp were a minister of the gospel,” she continued, “an’ the imp’s wife—” - -She paused an instant. The dead woman had told her clearly not to reveal -her maiden name except to the person who would adopt her child; but Mrs. -Tingsby was so sure that this person stood before her that she made up -her mind to a slight breach of confidence. - -“The mother were a Hittaker,” she said, grandly. - -The Judge had never heard of the Hittakers, and therefore did not look -impressed. - -The woman in her anxiety pulled Titus by the sleeve. “Ask him—aint he -heard of Hittaker—big soap manufacturer. Why, it’s in all the -groceries.” - -Titus shook his head. He saw that his grandfather did not know the name. - -“Inquire why she does not apply to these people,” said Judge Sancroft. - -Titus asked her. - -“Apply to ’em! Bless you, didn’t she? What won’t a woman do for her -child. But her own parents be dead. These Hittakers be uncle and cousin -to her, an’ they wouldn’t do a thing—sent back her last letter.” - -The Judge got up. “I’ll send some one to you,” he said. “Titus, you tell -her. I’ll report her case, and have some aid given her.” - -Titus in his boyish fashion rattled off a sentence. “M-m-my grandfather -will send help to you. Maybe he can get the child a home.” - -Mrs. Tingsby laid a lean hand on Titus, but she looked at his -grandfather. “An’ you don’t want the orphan yourself, sir?” - -The Judge shook his head. - -Mrs. Tingsby locked her hands together. “I like your face, sir. There -has been people fancyin’ the child, but I didn’t fancy ’em.” - -Judge Sancroft smiled faintly. Then his hand went toward his pocket. - -The little woman’s face flushed crimson. “I’m no beggar, sir. I’ve no -wish for money I can’t earn.” The Judge put out a hand and took hers. -“Titus, shake hands with her,” he said. - -“G-g-grandfather,” ejaculated the boy as they stepped over the threshold -of the door leading into the little dark hall, “look at her!” - -Mrs. Tingsby stood holding the small lamp aloft for them, with tears -running down her cheeks, and a painful, almost terrified, expression in -her eyes. - -“I’ve told a dead woman’s secret, sir,” she said in response to the -Judge’s look of inquiry. “I’ve risked me soul, an’ it aint done no -good.” - -The woman’s expression of suffering was so genuine that the Judge -stopped short. How cruel to lay another burden on this already -overburdened back! - -She was an honest woman, he could see that. He had had a long experience -in the study of human nature, and she would not have been able to -deceive him if she had wished. Suppose he took the child from her. With -his connections and influence he could easily find a home for it. - -“Madam,” he said, courteously, and stepping back, “this is Christmas -Eve, and from my heart I wish you good cheer. If it will give you -pleasure, I am willing to take the child, and to pledge myself to find a -good home for him.” - -The woman again twitched Titus by the sleeve. She had partly, but not -wholly, understood. - -Titus, who was getting excited, stopped stuttering and told her. - -When he finished she turned round, set the lamp down on the table, and -threw up her hands. - -“Thank the Lord! Thank the Lord! Here, duckie, old Mother Tingsby has -found you a home. Stir up, and go with the gentleman,” and in feverish -haste she aroused the sleeping child, got him on his feet, and put his -cap on his head. - -“Well, well,” said the Judge, in some hesitation, “I did not think of -taking him to-night.” - -The woman did not hear him, though she spoke as if she had. “Better have -it over in darkness, with none to see and none to hear. I don’t want to -drag down that sweet woman’s child by any connection with me. Ah! sir, -she was like a sister to me. I’ll miss her child,” and with very genuine -regret she embraced the bewildered little boy. - -“I assure you,” vociferated the Judge, “that I am not in the habit of -doing things in secret. I do not care who knows that I have taken a poor -child from River Street.” - -Mrs. Tingsby did not hear him, and Titus was too excited to report, so -the Judge slightly shrugged his shoulders. - -“I’ll miss my baby—I’ll miss my baby!” she cried, “for there’s not a -soul younger in the house but the kitten—good-bye, pet—good-bye. Old -Mother Tingsby will sometimes sneak up to look in your windows. Sir, -you’ll never give up this child—you’ll let your soul go first.” - -The Judge smiled slightly, and catching this smile she suddenly flung up -her black head and fixed two shrewd eyes on him. - -“Sir, don’t you be afraid of no fathers an’ grandfathers. Some of my -boarders was talkin’ the other evenin’. Says one of ’em, says he, ‘I’ve -been readin’ a magazine article. It says everyone of us has had thieves -an’ robbers in our ancestors.’ Do you believe that, sir?” - -The Judge, in a slightly bewildered state of mind, was pushing his way -out to the hall door, beyond this flood of talk. He had a feeling that -he would like to reach the quiet of his own home, and think things over. -However, some sort of an answer was due to her, so he turned once more. -“I would rather have had that boy’s father an honest man.” - -Mrs. Tingsby was so close on his heels, and was listening so intently, -that she caught a few words. - -“Boy—yes!” she exclaimed, nodding her head at Titus, and grinning -amiably, “an honest boy!” - -“I say,” roared the Judge, stopping short, “that I wish your little boy -had had an unblemished parentage.” - -“My boy,” she responded, sadly, “my boy—why, sir, I have three—an’ how -I’m goin’ to raise ’em the Lord knows.” - -Meanwhile the child was drawing back. He was now thoroughly roused from -sleep, and his little face was quite disturbed. - -“Mother Tingsby,” he said, pulling at the woman’s gown, and drawing down -her ear to his small mouth, “is this the husband of the good third -mother?” - -“Yes, lamb, yes,” said the woman, nodding her head a great many times, -“an’ your second mother bids you go. Be good an’ clever.” - -The child gave her an anguished glance. He did not wish to go with these -strangers. However, he had been trained to look forward to just such an -event, and he made no protest. Putting his little hand in the one that -Titus held out, he followed the Judge to the street. - - - - - CHAPTER V - A SURPRISE FOR THE JUDGE - - -No one spoke on the way home. The Judge and Titus on the back seat of -the sleigh scarcely took their eyes from the serious, little face of the -strangely pale, quiet child opposite. - -He was not sleepy now. They could see the two large brown eyes shining -with the steady light of two solemn stars. - -When they reached their home on the avenue, Titus politely assisted the -child to alight, and took his hand as they went up the long steps. - -Higby had gone to bed, and the parlor-maid’s face as she opened the door -was a study. Nobody explained matters to her, and in a complete state of -mystification she was sent to request Mrs. Blodgett’s immediate presence -in the parlor. - -Titus had lifted the little stranger to a chair, and was drawing off his -cap and mittens. - -“Mrs. Blodgett,” said the Judge, when that good woman appeared, “I wish -you to take charge of this child. Put him to sleep at once. If he is -nervous, some one must sleep in the room with him. Don’t give him a bath -to-night. He is very tired. In the morning dress him and bring him down -to breakfast.” - -Mrs. Blodgett, in amazement, looked down at the shabby child. Who was -this? She was not fond of children, except her own—and poor and dirty -children she detested. - -However, a little hand was stealing into hers. A tired, unhappy face was -looking trustfully up at her, seeking the kind glances of a third -mother. - -Mrs. Blodgett would have been less than a woman if she could have -resisted. This was probably some child who was here only for the night. - -“Yes, sir,” she said, respectfully, and with the little boy clinging -closely to her, instead of bestowing glances on the Judge and Titus, she -went upstairs. - -The Judge and his grandson did not talk much that night. The Judge -slowly sipped his glass of hot milk and then went to bed. He lived a -quiet life, and the adventure of the evening had given him many problems -to think over. - -Titus was quite excited. Ordinarily the approach of Christmas Day did -not stir him very much, but now that there was another young person in -the house he felt his pulse quickened. This strange boy must have some -presents. Should he give him some of his new ones, or would old ones be -sufficient? He would consult his grandfather about it. He had a lot of -old toys up in the attic. To-morrow morning he would ask Higby to get -them down, or, better still, he would take the youngster up there. Poor -little chap—how mean to make him work, and with some hitherto unknown -generous impulses animating his sturdy young breast Titus fell asleep. - -He was late for breakfast the next morning. His grandfather had already -had prayers, the servants had scattered to their various employments, -and Higby was just taking in a second supply of coffee to the dining -room. - -“B-b-beg pardon, grandfather,” said Titus, hurrying in after the man. -“I-I-I fell asleep again after Higby knocked at my door. M-merry -Christmas and many of them!” and seating himself at the table he looked -around in great approbation. - -The long handsome room was flooded with sunlight. - -“G-g-good old sun,” ejaculated Titus, approvingly. “I-I-I can dress -better when he shines on me. I-I-I hate the dark, early part of the -morning. W-where’s the child, sir?” - -The Judge looked toward the door. Higby was just throwing it open for -Mrs. Blodgett and her charge. - -Then an amusing scene took place. In the doorway stood Mrs. Blodgett, -and a pale, pretty little girl dressed in a dainty white cloth dress -trimmed with gold braid. - -The Judge and Titus looked at Mrs. Blodgett. They both knew that she -possessed a little granddaughter of whom she was inordinately proud. -This child sometimes came to the house, and she often presented her to -the Judge for a word or a kind glance. - -Just now he gave both—“A merry Christmas, little one. Come here and get -an orange. Mrs. Blodgett, how is the boy this morning?” - -Mrs. Blodgett pushed the child, who did not seem inclined to leave her, -toward the Judge, then she said in a puzzled way, “The boy, sir?” - -“Yes—the boy I brought home last night,” replied the Judge. - -“The boy, sir,” she repeated in amazement, while an additional flood of -color swept over her rubicund face. “There weren’t no boy, sir.” - -The Judge gazed patiently at her. Mrs. Blodgett was getting older. He -had noticed several times lately that she seemed a little stupid and did -not understand quickly what was said to her. - -“You surely remember the little boy I brought home with me last -evening?” - -Mrs. Blodgett gazed up at the ceiling, down at the floor, under the -table, and behind her out into the hall as if seeking a lost child. - -Then she said, faintly, “As I am a mortal woman, sir, I didn’t see no -boy, sir. He must have slipped off on the doorstep. I know these poor -children. They’re sneaky as foxes.” - -“No, he did not slip away,” said the Judge, with a quiet smile. “I -brought him in and gave him to you.” - -Mrs. Blodgett’s face was purple, and she turned to Higby in quiet -exasperation. “Now, if you’d been about, instead of bein’ in bed, I’d -have said it was some of them queer tricks of yours.” - -“Do not make a scapegoat of Higby,” said the Judge, decidedly, “but let -your memory go back to last evening. This is a serious matter, Mrs. -Blodgett. I had a young boy in my charge. I am answerable for his -safety. I brought him in the house and gave him into your care. Now, -what has become of him?” - -“Lawks-a-massy!” exclaimed Mrs. Blodgett, joining her hands in -embarrassment and staring wildly about her, “Is it you, Judge Sancroft, -speakin’, and am I, Dorinda Blodgett, a-listenin’?” - -“You seem to be listening,” remarked the Judge, dryly, “but you -certainly are not understanding. Please go away and search your memory -and the house for that boy. Titus, what is the matter with you?” - -“Are you crazy, too?” the Judge felt like adding, but fortunately for -himself he did not do so. While he had been speaking the child had been -creeping shyly toward him, and Titus’s eyes were glued on her. The Judge -turned his eyes quickly on the little girl. Now that he examined her -more closely he saw that this was no offspring from the Blodgett stock. -Where had he seen before that thin band of curls, those big, solemn -eyes? - -“Sir,” Mrs. Blodgett was sniffling miserably, while she made a ball of -her pocket handkerchief, “you aint never doubted my word afore. It’s -time for me to quit your service.” - -“I am not doubting your word,” he said, absently, “only—” and he again -stared at the child. - -“Where did you get this little girl?” he asked, shortly. - -“’Tis the same little girl you brought in last evenin’, sir, the same -little girl what weren’t accompanied by no boy, sure as I’m alive. -Jennie, she saw her—ask her if there were a boy too.” - -“Upon my word!” exclaimed the Judge, bringing his hand down on the -table. “Upon my word!” - -Titus’s eyes were absolutely sticking out of his head. Then he began to -cough, then to laugh, then to choke. - -“Sir,” said Mrs. Blodgett, uneasily, “she were dressed something like a -boy outside, but inside was such a miserable little frock that I took -the liberty of putting on her one of my grandchild, Mary Ann’s, outgrown -party ones that I’m goin’ to give to an orphan asylum.” - -Still the Judge did not speak, and Mrs. Blodgett went on. “’Pears to me, -now I think of it, you did tell me to take this little boy an’ put him -to bed. I didn’t pay no attention, sir. As much as I honors you, I -couldn’t think to change my Maker’s decrees by makin’ a little girl a -little boy.” - -“O, grandfather!” gasped Titus, half under the table. “O! O! -grandfather!” - -The Judge’s face relaxed, then he looked about him and began to smile. -Then he laughed—laughed so heartily that Mrs. Blodgett, who was no -simpleton, and who was beginning to understand, joined in. Higby, -delighted to find no share of mismanagement attributed to him, snickered -agreeably, and even the maids who had just come up from the kitchen and -were going to their work in different parts of the house, hearing the -sound of enjoyable laughter, echoed it light-heartedly. - -“This is a good Christmas joke on you and me, Titus,” said the Judge at -last, putting his handkerchief to his face to wipe his eyes. “It is said -that one finds what one looks for. We were looking for a boy, and we -persuaded ourselves that we had found one.” - -“Did that woman try to deceive you, sir?” asked Titus, drawing his head -from under the table and casting a comical glance at his grandfather, -then at the little girl. - -“No, she had the appearance of an honest woman, but her deafness -prevented her from hearing us fully. Now that I think of it, she did not -once say that the child was a boy. We jumped to that conclusion. Why did -you not tell us what you were?” and he turned to the child. - -She gave him a quiet smile that assured him that she had not -intentionally deceived him, and then he saw that her mouth was parched -and open, and that her lips moved slightly as she looked beyond him -toward the table. - -“You are hungry,” he said, courteously. “Higby, lift her to her seat.” - -The child looked over her shoulder at Mrs. Blodgett. She wished to sit -down at the table with her, and with a deeply gratified smile the -housekeeper stepped forward and arranged her in her chair. That glance -would be set down to the little stranger’s credit. - -“I have to beg your pardon, Mrs. Blodgett,” said the Judge. “There was a -misunderstanding all round. This little girl is an orphan. I offered to -find a home for her, thinking that she was a boy because she was dressed -like one. She has probably had on the borrowed garments of a little boy -belonging to the kind woman who has taken care of her.” - -“It’s all right, sir,” said Mrs. Blodgett. “I might a-remembered what -you said. I call back now that you told me plainly she was a boy, but, -as I said afore, you can’t change nater,” and with another gratified -smile she waddled away. - -Meanwhile Titus, having recovered, or nearly recovered, himself, for he -found it necessary to drop his napkin on the floor every two minutes and -to be a long time in picking it up, stared almost uninterruptedly at the -little girl. - -She was eating an orange that the Judge had given her, eating it -prettily and quietly and without splashing the juice on her white gown, -and casting meantime curious and searching glances about the room. - -The boy or girl problem disturbed the Judge somewhat. He could not get -it out of his head that she was a boy. It was extremely disappointing -that she was not, for now she would be no companion for Titus. - -“Child,” he asked, kindly, “what is your name?” - -“Bethany,” she replied, in a low voice, “little Bethany. My mamma was -big Bethany.” - -“Little Bethany,” said the Judge, “that is a nice name. Now, what are -you going to have? Will you eat mush, cornmeal mush?” - -“If you please, sir.” - -“Higby, give her some—put plenty of cream on it—Indian corn is what our -ancestors here in New England raised and gave to their children. We -don’t eat enough of it nowadays.” - -Titus, stricken with sudden shyness, would not talk to the child. He -knew nothing about girls, and did not care for them, so the Judge felt -it his duty to keep up a conversation. - -“How old are you?” he asked. - -“Seven, sir,” she replied. - -“Do you like that mush?” he continued, politely. - -She paused with spoon uplifted, “It is simply delicious, sir.” - -Titus got up and took a turn to the sideboard. His grandfather eyed him -warningly. He had laughed enough. - -Suddenly the clock struck ten, and as it struck the child lost her -quietly contented air and, blushing painfully, counted the strokes as -they rang out. - -“O, sir,” she cried, with a guilty start and laying down her spoon, “I’m -an hour late. I must get to work—the boss will be _so_ angry.” - -The Judge stared at her. The light died out of his own eyes, an iron -hand gripped his heart. - -In the face of that tiny child, in her start, her fear of consequences, -he suddenly felt the pain of the world. Outraged childhood with its -bleeding wounds stood before him. - -A great lump rose in his throat. For a minute it seemed as if his agony -could not be borne. - -He groaned heavily, then he threw up his head. “Child!” he said, -harshly, “your slavery is over.” - -His tones were severe, and the child was frightened. She slipped from -her seat at the table and stood pale and shrinkingly before him. “Sir, I -want to go back to Mrs. Tingsby.” - -Titus came to the rescue. “But you haven’t fed your mouse,” he said, -kindly, and with the cunning of one young thing in understanding -another. “And we’ve got some prime German cheese. Higby—” - -The old man went to the big mahogany sideboard and presently came back -with some crumbs of cheese. - -The little girl’s thoughts were turned in a new direction. Putting her -hand in her little bosom she drew out the marvelous handkerchief, -produced the ghost of the mouse, fed it, and put it back again. Then -Titus skillfully drew her toward his grandfather’s study. “About eleven -o’clock on Christmas morning we always have our presents in here.” - -It was a pretty sight to see them go down the hall—the dark boy and the -pretty little white girl, so much younger than he. - -The Judge followed closely behind them, and as they reached the study -door and paused, he paused too. - -The little girl had caught sight of Princess Sukey sitting on her -basket. She stopped short, caught her breath, stepped close to Titus and -remained motionless. - -“W-w-what’s the matter?” asked the boy, bluntly. - -“O, hush,” murmured the child, in an ecstasy, “don’t speak, don’t move, -or she will vanish.” - -“I-i-indeed she won’t—she is grandfather’s bird.” - -“Then she is no ghost,” said Bethany, drawing a long sigh of relief. - -“Ghost, no. Watch her dance when I tickle her feet,” and he stepped -forward to the hearthrug. - -The princess got out of her basket when she saw them coming and, bowing -a great many times, said, “Rookety cahoo!” - -“H-h-happy Christmas,” replied Titus, politely; “lots of seeds and the -best of health. Now dance for the little girl,” and gently touching her -claws he caused her to spin round and round. - -Finally she flew over their heads to the Judge’s shoulder. - -“O, if I could touch her,” said the child, and she shivered in the -intensity of her emotion. - -The Judge sat down and put the pigeon on the arm of his easy-chair. - -“Come here, little girl,” he said, “and stroke her.” - -Bethany shyly approached and held out a forefinger to the Judge. - -With another sharp pang at his heart he felt that the tiny finger was -roughened by work. Then guiding it to the white head under the hood of -feathers he looked away from the bird and out the window. God helping -him, this child should never toil again. - -When Bethany felt her hand touching the velvety feathers she gave a long -shudder of delight. - -After a time, when the princess had impatiently thrown off the little -caressing finger, Bethany threw up her hands to the ceiling. “I have -seen them in the street, I have called to them, but they never let me -touch them. I think they thought I was a cat.” - -“W-w-what do you mean—pigeons?” asked Titus. - -“Yes, birds—pretty birds of the air. I love them, but they don’t love -me. Only dogs, and cats, and rats, and mice love me.” - -“H-h-hello!” exclaimed Titus, “there goes eleven. N-n-now we’ll have the -presents.” - -The Judge rang the bell, and the servants, headed by Higby and Mrs. -Blodgett, filed into the room. - -Bethany’s serious brown eyes took in every detail of the scene. The -presentation of the good-sized parcels done up in white paper, the -untying of strings, the exclamations and expressions of gratitude, all -belonged to a world that she had never entered before. - -Fur-lined gloves, mufflers, fur capes, and warm dresses for the maids, a -dressing-gown for Higby, beautifully bound books and a new watch for -Titus, were all spread before the eyes of the astonished child, and she -surveyed the various gifts without a suspicion of envy or jealousy. The -Judge saw this by her transparent face, and with a gesture he told Titus -to give her a small box of candy that lay unnoticed among his many -presents. - -The boy hastened to give it to her. - -“For me,” she ejaculated, her now pink face growing red, “for Bethany?” - -“Y-y-yes, for Bethany,” said the boy, good-humoredly. - -“O, charm of novelty,” reflected the Judge, and he looked round the -room. He had as good a set of servants as there was in the city. They -were as grateful as they could be to him for his kindly remembrance of -them, but it was the gratitude of custom, of anticipation. They knew he -would give them handsome presents; any other well-to-do and well -disposed employer would have done the same, but this child—he looked at -her again. - -She was in a quiet rapture. “O, the cunning candies,” she murmured, -“each one in a little dress; O, the pretty pink flounces.” - -“Why don’t you eat some?” inquired the Judge. - -She touched them daintily with the tips of her fingers. “O, sir, I could -not eat them. I shall keep them forever and ever and ever.” - -“But they will spoil; they were made to eat.” - -“Would you like one, sir?” she asked, anxiously. - -“No, thank you.” - -She gazed seriously into the box and began to count one, two, three, -four, and so on. “Sir,” she said at last, “there are just enough to go -twice round for Mrs. Tingsby’s children and the boarders.” - -The Judge smiled. She was not a selfish child. - -“I could spare one for the dear bird with the overcoat on and its collar -turned up,” she said, sweetly. - -The Judge looked puzzled. - -“S-s-she means Sukey,” explained Titus. - -“Thank you, little girl; pigeons do not eat candy.” - -“Then I think you had better take one,” she said, shyly, coming toward -him with the box outstretched in her hand. - -O, sweet little childish face and childish grace!—and the judge’s eyes -grew moist. Once years and years ago God had given him two little -daughters—two dream children, it seemed to him now, so many were the -years that had passed since he laid the little childish forms away in a -country churchyard. O, children, so long lamented, yet now almost -forgotten. - -“Little girl,” he said, gently, “I once had two small daughters not as -old as you.” - -Bethany looked over her shoulder, as if he were speaking of some one -present. - -“What do they look like?” she asked, wistfully. “Are their faces white -like mine, and have they thin brown curls?” - -“My child, they have been in their graves for many a day.” - -“But their ghosts,” she said, with sweet impatience, “you see them, -don’t you?” - -“Do you believe in ghosts?” asked the Judge, quietly. - -Bethany pursed up her lips. “The air is quite, quite full of them, sir. -Every night my mamma stands by the foot of my bed. Last night she waited -so patiently until I was undressed. When I was all alone in the room she -came forward, she sat down beside me, she put her hand on my forehead. -She said, ‘Little daughter, do not be lonely, I am with you.’ Do not -your little girls sit beside you at night?” - -“No, dear,” said the Judge, very gently. - -“How queer,” and Bethany gazed at him as if he were a new and strange -kind of puzzle. Then she said, “Please tell me what they were like. -Perhaps I will see them.” - -“What an imagination,” murmured the Judge, then he said aloud, “Some -other time, child.” - -Bethany possessed an extraordinary amount of tact for a child of her -age, and instead of pursuing the subject she looked round the room. The -servants were wrapping up their gifts preparatory to taking them away. -Titus was deep in one of the volumes of travel his grandfather had given -him. - -“Sir,” she said, suddenly turning to the Judge. “There are other ghosts -besides children and mothers.” - -The Judge quietly bowed his head in token of acquiescence. He would -indulge her humor. - -“There is my mouse ghost,” she said, touching her breast; “then there is -the ghost of the spotted dog with yellow eyes.” - -“Indeed,” remarked the Judge, highly amused and interested, “and who was -the spotted dog?” - -“He is a ghost,” said the child, earnestly, “but he really isn’t dead. -He ran away. I can see him as plain as I see these candies,” and she -tightly shut her eyes for a few instants. - -Suddenly opening them, she exclaimed, “There he is, running with a -bone—quick! catch him. I should like to tell him that Bethany still -loves him.” - -As she spoke she started dramatically forward and extended her hands. - -“W-w-what’s the matter?” asked Titus, lifting his head. - -“My spotted dog,” she cried; “my dear spotted dog. Take care that he -doesn’t bite your clothes. He is a very peculiar dog.” - -The servants in alarm thought that a real dog had entered the room by -the open door and began to tumble over each other. - -Higby, on account of his infirmity of tongue, tried to open his mouth as -little as possible in the presence of his employer, but now in his -fright he called out, “W-w-where is the d-d-dog?” - -“There,” exclaimed the little girl, “right between your feet. Do catch -him for me, but take care, for he hates old men, and might give your -coat a snap.” - -Higby caught his foot in his highly prized dressing-gown that he was -carrying across his arm and stumbled against Titus’s heap of books. He -sent them flying; then, to recover himself he clutched one of the maids, -who shrieked with fright. - -The Judge carefully examined the child’s face. Had she called up the -spotted dog in a spirit of mischief? No, for there were tears in her -eyes. - -“You have frightened him away,” she said, sadly. “He has run outdoors. -He may never come back,” and, sitting down, she buried her little face -in her hands. - -Higby tumbled out of the room. He believed that the spotted dog was -there yet, hidden in some corner and waiting to bite him. - - - - - CHAPTER VI - IN THE PIGEON LOFT - - -After lunch at half-past one, the Judge went to his study for a nap, but -he could not sleep. - -The face of the strange child was ever before him. He wondered what she -was doing. Titus had taken her up to the attic to see his old toys and -to choose some for herself. He would like to watch her expression as -Titus exhibited his cast-off playthings. For her that attic would be a -kind of treasure-house. - -How like a mirror her face was, how different from his, even from -Titus’s, for the boy, young as he was, had learned to conceal his -emotions; and now what was he going to do with her? - -With a sigh he got up, went into the hall and downstairs, put on a -fur-lined coat and a fur cap, and was just about to go out when the two -children came down the staircase, Titus not running as usual, but -soberly walking beside his little companion. - -Bethany’s eyes were shining. She had a clown doll under one arm, a -trumpet under the other, and her hands were full of games—toy-dogs and -horses, a Noah’s ark, and a little cart. - -Titus had a bag slung on his back. - -“G-g-grandfather,” he said, “I suppose it’s all right to give these -things to the Tingsby children.” - -“Certainly.” - -“H-h-how will I get them there? Are you going to have the sleigh out -to-day?” - -“I was not planning to do so. I am going to walk.” - -“L-l-let’s take the young one for a drive,” exclaimed Titus. - -Judge Sancroft smiled. Titus ordinarily hated to drive. He did not care -to sit still for any length of time. - -“Very well,” he said at length. - -“I-I-I was just going to take her up to the stable to see the pigeons,” -said Titus. “S-s-she’s so crazy about birds.” - -“Then tell Roblee to harness, and remember not to keep me waiting. Don’t -take the child outdoors in that garb.” - -“I-I-I don’t know what to put on her,” said Titus, in a puzzled way. -“S-s-she can’t put her old dirty coat over that white rig.” - -The Judge opened the hall closet. “Let us see what we have here.” - -Titus came forward and, rummaging in drawers and on hooks, brought out a -small cap. - -“H-h-here, child, try this on.” - -Bethany carefully put her toys on the floor and obediently held up her -head. - -The cap was several sizes too large, but she did not complain, only -quietly pushed it to the back of her head. - -“Here is a scarf,” said the Judge, “wrap that round your neck.” - -Bethany did as she was told, and Titus next brought out a short coat of -his own. - -“I-i-it’s worlds too large,” he observed, “but it will keep her warm.” - -“What about her feet?” inquired the Judge. - -“W-w-well, here’s a big shawl,” stuttered Titus, bringing out a -traveling rug. “I guess we’ll just wrap that round her after she gets in -the sleigh.” - -“It will cover all deficiencies,” said the Judge, “but how will you get -her up to the stable in those thin slippers?” - -Titus emerged from the closet and surveyed Bethany with a face flushed -from exertion. “I guess I’ll have to carry her up. It isn’t far. Once -there she’ll be warm enough.” - -The Judge smiled and followed slowly as the two went down another -staircase and opened a door leading to a back veranda. From there a -plank walk led through the garden to the stable. - -Titus manfully shouldered his burden on the veranda. - -Bethany clasped her arms about his neck and smiled back at the Judge, -who caught up to them at the stable door. - -There was a furnace in the stable, and the air was warm and comfortable, -so Titus allowed Bethany to slip to the floor. - -“Is this where your horses live?” she asked, shyly, looking up at the -Judge. - -He nodded his head. - -She continued to look about her. “I wish Mother Tingsby had been born a -horse; it would be better for her.” - -The Judge wrinkled his forehead. Poor child—she, too, was grappling with -the mystery of the inequality of the human lot. - -“W-w-well,” said Titus, hurrying back from the stalls where he had been -to speak to Roblee. “T-t-the sleigh will be at the door in twenty -minutes. N-n-now let us go up to see the pigeons,” and he led the way -toward a flight of steps. - -Bethany tripped behind, occasionally extricating a hand from the long -sleeve of Titus’s coat to push back on her head the capacious cap, which -persisted in falling over her brows. - -Titus, with Charlie Brown’s help, had had a fine place made for his -pigeons. His grandfather had allowed him to have a part of the hay loft -inclosed, some extra windows put in, and a floor of matched pine laid. - -“There isn’t a better loft in the city,” Charlie had said when it was -finished. - -Clean, coarse sand had been put on the floor, movable nest compartments -had been placed against the wall, and the latest things in feed hoppers -and drinking fountains had been bought for the boy. - -He was full of joy over his new possession, and, as Mrs. Blodgett -prophesied, most of his leisure time was spent here, either alone or in -company with other boys. - -He did all the work himself, and with a worthy pride in the clean home -of his birds he stood at the top of the steps and eagerly waited to hear -what the little girl would say. - -Bethany came up the steps, walked through the screen door that Titus -held open, and looked about her. - -It was the middle of the afternoon, and in view of the fast approaching -darkness the pigeons were bestirring themselves in order to have their -last feed before going to bed. They were all promenading over the sanded -floor, going from one rack to another looking for the choicest grains. - -They made a very pretty picture in the gloaming. Titus had not as many -varieties as his friend Charlie had, but still he had a goodly number. -There were dark Jacobins, with nodding red hoods surrounding their white -faces; pure white Jacobins and buff Jacobins; clean-shaped, slender -magpies; graceful archangels; shell-crested, nasal tufted priests; cobby -frill-backs with reversed feathering; swallows; tumblers; runts; demure -nuns in black and white costumes with white hoods passing below their -side curls; and globular cropped poulters. - -Bethany surveyed them in profound silence. The Judge, striving to read -her face, could make nothing of it but confusion. - -Finally he put out a hand to steady her. The child was swaying. - -“Do you feel ill?” he asked, gazing apprehensively at her deathly white -face. - -She nodded. “Yes, sir, Bethany feels sick.” - -He took her in his arms and carried her downstairs, and the discomforted -Titus, after a farewell glance at his beautiful birds, followed -disconsolately behind. He had so hoped that the little girl would like -them. She had seemed to like Princess Sukey. Well, girls were queer. -Boys were much more satisfactory. - -“What is the matter with you?” asked the Judge when he had set Bethany -on her feet. - -“Sir,” she said, in a whisper and looking up at him with an awed face, -“Was it heaven or were they ghosts?” - -The Judge tried to do some thinking. It was hard for a man of his age to -send himself back to childhood—and then he had not been an imaginative -child. But he tried to think of himself as highly strung, as having a -passion for dumb creatures, as being poor and unable to have pets about -him, and then suddenly to be confronted with a number of beautiful -specimens of the bird world. - -Yes, he could just faintly picture to himself something of Bethany’s -ecstasy. The child had been overcome. - -“Don’t you want to go in the house and lie down?” he asked, gazing -kindly at her white face. - -“Yes, sir,” she whispered. The Judge carried her along the plank walk, -while Titus lounged slowly behind. - -“Where is Mrs. Blodgett?” asked the Judge of a maid when they entered -the lower hall. - -“Gone out, sir.” - -“Then you take care of this little girl while I am away.” - -Bethany made no protest. The girl smiled kindly and put out a hand, and -the child went quietly with her. - -“Let her lie down and have a sleep,” said the Judge, “she is tired.” - -Then he turned. “Well, boy, what are you for—remaining at home or going -with me?” - -Titus looked at his grandfather. It was Christmas Day, and he ought to -keep with him. “I’ll go with you, sir,” he said, brightening up. - -The Judge smiled, then together they went upstairs and out the big hall -door down to the waiting sleigh. - -Higby carried out the toys for the Tingsby children and tucked them -under the fur robes. - -It did not take long for the Judge’s fast horses to reach River Street. - -The street was very quiet. It was a cold day, and the people were mostly -celebrating their Christmas indoors. - -“P-p-pretty poor pickings, I guess, some of them have,” stuttered Titus, -compassionately, and his grandfather agreed with him. - -Mrs. Tingsby’s house was as gray and dingy outside by daylight as it had -been by electric light the day before, and it was apparently cold and -uninhabited. No children’s faces appeared at the windows, no cheerful -gleam of firelight shone from between the threadbare curtains. - -Titus jumped out and pounded on the door. After a long time, and a -liberal application of both fists, Mrs. Tingsby herself came. - -She gave them a most joyful welcome. - -“Come in! Come in!” she screamed in her excitement, “come in, gentlemen, -come in an’ come down to where we’re celebratin’, poor as we be. No, -no—not there,” as the Judge mechanically turned toward the door of the -small room in which they had sat the evening before. “Here, sir, down -here in the cellar,” and she trotted before him to a dark stairway, and -with alarming celerity disappeared in the depths of a basement, while -the Judge and Titus felt their way down after her. - -“Here, here,” she called, opening a door and suddenly allowing a streak -of light to dart into the almost pitch-dark hall, “here we be—merry as -coppersmiths after our good dinner.” - -“S-s-seems to me I’d rather be some other kind of a smith,” grumbled -Titus to himself, wrinkling his nose in the goose-laden atmosphere as he -followed her, for he was preceding his grandfather, with the charitable -intention of breaking his fall if he had one. - -“Merry, merry—O! so merry,” repeated the little woman. “Here we be—all -the family.” - -Titus stood aside and blinked his eyes, while the Judge walked by him. - -“For warmth, sir, an’ comfort, an’ good times, we’re all in the -kitchen,” said Mrs. Tingsby. “Gen’l’men,” and she turned to her boarders -with a ridiculous little bow, “this is the jedge that tooked Bethany. -Jedge, here be my children,” and she indicated half a dozen poorly -dressed but bright looking children who got up from the floor and from -cracker boxes to make their best bow to the company. - -“Yes, we be all here,” exclaimed Mrs. Tingsby, a-huggin’ the fire, -“which is a good one if I does say so myself. There’s Harry Ray, the -express boy, Harry an’ his cough, which I’m glad to say is a mite -better owin’ to peppermint tea or his half holiday, I don’t know -which; Matthew Jones an’ his poor eyes, but he aint grumblin’, because -it’s Christmas; an’ old man Fanley, glad to rest his weary legs from -parcel-carryin’—aint you, Fanley. An’ Barry Mafferty, which is a -temp’rary boarder.” - -The Judge looked round him. From the bottom of his heart he pitied them. -At first sight it seemed to him the height of misery to be crouching -round a medium-sized fire, breathing an atmosphere so redolent of goose, -with no comfortable seats; and yet in a few minutes he modified his -opinion. - -Two of the few chairs in the kitchen had been given to him and to Titus. -As they sat in the shabby but clean kitchen he reflected that it was -warm, that these people all looked contented, that with their dingy -clothes they would certainly not be happy in rooms like his own. - -“It is very comfortable here,” he said, drawing off his gloves and -rubbing his hands, “very comfortable after the cold outside.” - -“If only the landlords would give the poor better houses,” he continued, -reflecting, “they would not be so uncomfortable. Really, they are spared -some of the worries of life that we better off ones have to endure.” - -But he must listen to Mrs. Tingsby. “We’ve had such a good Christmas,” -she was exclaiming, “such a good one. Look-a-here, an’ here,” and she -took from one child a tiny doll, from another a bag of candy, from -another a whistle, and proudly exhibited them. - -Needless to say, the presents were from the boarders, who somewhat -sheepishly averted their faces while she was praising their generosity -to the Judge. - -He was greatly touched. They were so pitiful, so insignificant, these -little presents, and yet how they had pleased the recipients. - -“An’ now,” called Mrs. Tingsby, “may I be forgiven for not havin’ put -her first—how is that blessed child?” - -The Judge’s lips formed the words, “Very well.” - -“Aint she a darlin’! O, you’ll get to love her like your own flesh an’ -blood.” - -“I am sorry that she is not a boy,” vociferated the Judge; “a boy would -have been more of a companion for my grandson.” - -“Yes, sir—yes, sir,” said Mrs. Tingsby, beaming on him, “a boy an’ a -girl—just a nice family. I always did despise two boys or two girls for -a set piece.” - -“You tell her,” said the Judge, with a wave of his hand toward his -grandson. - -Titus approached his lips somewhat nearer to the little woman’s ear than -they were. “M-m-my grandfather says he is sorry the girl is not a boy.” - -“Boy!” repeated Mrs. Tingsby, “O, yes, she should have been a boy. They -do get on easier than girls, but we can’t change her now, you know.” - -The semicircle of boarders, children, and the Judge could not but agree -with this statement, and she looked approvingly round at them. - -“Tell her that even though we do not keep the child, we shall still be -interested in her,” said the Judge. - -Titus, in slight embarrassment, again cried in her ear, “Maybe we can -get her a good home somewhere else.” - -“Good home!” replied Mrs. Tingsby, “yes, yes, I know—the Lord will bless -you for that.” - -“I guess your mamma is pretty deaf to-day, isn’t she?” asked Titus, -patiently, of one of the older children. - -The children were all staring rather disdainfully at him and his -grandfather. They did not lack smartness, and they had jumped to the -conclusion that the Judge’s visit meant that he was tired of Bethany and -wanted to return her. - -“I’ll make her hear,” said the eldest girl, grimly, and she applied her -lips to her parent’s ear, and, without making a steam whistle of -herself, as poor Titus did, she said, in a low, blood-curdling tone, -“The gemman is tired of Bethany—wants to return her like a parcel sent -on approbation.” - -Mrs. Tingsby, who had more of the milk of human kindness than this -particular one of her offspring, turned to the Judge with an amazed, -reproachful air. “Be that true, sir?” - -“No,” said the Judge, stoutly, “it isn’t.” - -Immediately there ensued an altercation between him and the smart girl. -To his own great confusion and astonishment, he, Judge Sancroft, leading -citizen of Riverport, actually found himself bandying words with a saucy -little shopgirl, for such she appeared to be—and she got the better of -him. - -At last he appealed to the boarders. “Can’t some of you explain how -matters are? The child is a charming little creature. I have no wish to -bring her back. I will see that she is comfortably placed.” - -The new temporary boarder, or visitor, Barry Mafferty, suddenly began to -laugh. The old boarders, at the entrance of the Judge, had been suddenly -stricken with bashfulness. This poorly dressed, brown-faced man of -middle age had alone preserved his composure. After a slight bow he had -taken an unlighted cigarette from his mouth, had calmly looked the Judge -over, from his white head to his black overshoes, had bestowed a slight -glance of admiration on the half-open, fur-lined coat, and had then -again directed his attention to the red-hot bars of the grate in front -of the old-fashioned cooking-stove. - -Now, as if irresistibly amused by the passage-at-arms between the -gentleman and the flippant child of poverty, he did not try to conceal -his amusement. - -The Judge turned to him. - -“Don’t worry yourself, sir,” said Mafferty, easily, “things will all -come out right. Our hostess is a good sort.” - -The Judge stared. Who was this man? - -“Broken down gentleman,” said Mafferty, still more easily; “lots of time -to study human nature. I have seen the child you took. I advise you to -hold on to her if you value a nice child. She belongs to a different -rank in society from these—” and he raised his hand comprehensively at -the Tingsby children. - -The smart girl immediately turned her attention upon him. - -“Easy now, easy,” he said, coolly, nodding his really fine-featured head -at her. “Easy, or you will upset your basket of china.” - -“China,” she cried, in a fine, thin voice, curiously like her mother’s, -“what do you know of china, you low-down, gutter-raggy, broken-weazled, -shilly-shally—” - -Mafferty began to laugh again, and such is the power of a long -drawn-out, hearty, sustained peal of laughter in which there is nothing -nervous, nothing satirical, nothing to wound, that one by one his -listeners began to join him. - -The Judge laughed, Titus laughed, the boarders giggled, the children -shrieked, and even Mrs. Tingsby, though she had not heard a word of what -was said, laughed with the best of them, and was soon wiping the tears -from her eyes. - -“I don’t know what’s amusin’ you,” she gasped, convulsively, “but it -must be somethin’ powerful funny.” - -At this Mafferty redoubled his own merriment, and presently the uproar -became so loud that the Judge rose. He really could not take part in -this any longer, though he was still laughing himself. - -Mafferty paid no attention to him. His eye was on the smart girl. She -alone of all the children had not once allowed a crease of amusement to -form itself on her face. She was stubborn, disagreeable, even ugly. - -“Laugh, you goose, laugh,” he suddenly cried, stopping short and -snapping his fingers within an inch of her nose. “If you don’t learn to -laugh the devil will catch you. You can’t go through life kicking at -Providence and have any sort of a good time.” - -The girl drew herself back and began an hysterical giggle. - -“Not bad to start with,” said the man, complacently. “I’ll teach you to -laugh better than that, though, you insolent wisp of humanity.” - -The Judge again stared at him. He was curiously attracted by this man. - -“Have you been on the stage?” he asked, suddenly. - -“Yes, sir,” said Mafferty, good-humoredly, “the stage of the world. -First as a physician, then down, down through various stages of -trampdom. Great at deceivin’ farmers’ wives. Now imposing on society as -proprietor of a cat farm.” - -“O, you are out at Bobbety’s Island?” - -“Yes, sir.” - -“How can you leave your cats?” - -“My wife is there, sir. I’ve come up to the city to spend Christmas.” - -“What about your wife?” - -“O, sir, women can enjoy the pleasures of solitude better than men, and, -then, she is fond of the cats.” - -The Judge looked disapprovingly at him, then saying, “We must go,” he -made a sign of farewell to Mrs. Tingsby. - -“Beat him,” said Mafferty, nodding at Titus, “if he doesn’t work. Don’t -let him idle if you half kill him. The devil’s real name is ‘Loafer.’” - -The Judge nodded significantly, and all the boarders and children stood -up as he left the kitchen. - -“By the way,” he said, turning suddenly, “the little girl sent some toys -to you children.” - -“Hooray!” cried the boys and girls, who were still hilarious—that is, -all but the eldest, smart girl. Then they pressed out of the kitchen -after Titus, who volunteered to show them where the toys were. - -The Judge stood looking at Mrs. Tingsby. He was sorry for her. She did -not quite take in the situation of affairs, and was troubled and -anxious. - -He turned to Mafferty as the one who would best understand him. - -“Explain to her, will you?” he said. “I have no intention of again -placing the child on her hands. I cannot keep her myself, as she is not -a boy, but I shall find a suitable home for her.” - -“Yes, I will,” said the man, then he put out a hand and touched the -Judge’s coat almost lovingly. “I once had a fur-lined coat. I suppose -you haven’t another?” - -“Yes, I have,” said the Judge, promptly, “too small for me—just your -fit.” - -Mafferty smiled. He knew he would get it. The Judge gave a great sigh of -relief as he passed up the dark staircase. He had grown strangely -sensitive this Christmas season. It had seemed to him that he could not -go away comfortably and leave this man Mafferty without doing something -for him. True, he had not half the respect for him that he had for the -honest expressman, the furrier, and the parcel-carrier standing modestly -in the background. Those men would have died rather than beg from him. -They were workers, and Mafferty had been, and evidently still was, a -kind of drone. Yet the cat man was of the Judge’s class. They understood -each other’s Shibboleth, and the rich man’s heart was full of pity as he -went out to the frosty street. - -Roblee had sprung out of his sleigh and had gone to the horses’ heads. - -There was such a screaming and pulling from the young Tingsbys, who were -dragging at the toys and bearing them to the house, that he was afraid -of a runaway. Titus, scarcely less excited than the poor children, was -in the thickest of the fun. - -“Come! Come!” said the Judge, “stop this tumult,” and he waved his hand. - -Titus hurried the shrieking crew into the house and sprang in beside his -grandfather. - -“Home, Roblee,” said the Judge, and in a few minutes they were before -the big stone house on Grand Avenue. - -They were met by a disturbed household. Higby, after throwing open the -door, stammered and walked backward, and stamped, and tried to ejaculate -something, which was drowned by the exclamations of the maidservants, -who had assembled in the hall. Foremost among them was Betty, the girl -into whose care the Judge had put little Bethany. - -Her face was as white as death, and she was wringing her hands. -Presently the Judge made out her exclamation, “Child lost!” - -“The little girl, do you mean?” he asked, sternly. - -“Yes, sir; O! yes, sir.” - -“When?” - -“Just after you left, sir.” - -“Where were you?” - -“In my own room. I had laid her on the bed to go to sleep—she went off -like that, sir,” and she helplessly extended her arms. - -“Were you in your room when she disappeared?” - -“No, sir; O! no, sir. I was next door to Jennie’s room. I just went in -to borrow a fine needle.” - -“And when you came back the child was gone?” - -“Yes, sir.” - -“Have you searched the house?” - -“Every corner, sir.” - -“Did you run out in the street?” - -“Yes, sir; we’ve been searching the neighborhood for an hour. We were -just waiting now till you came.” - -The Judge stood stock still in the midst of his apprehensive domestics. -Had the little stranger run home? - -Probably, and yet—he reflected for a minute, his face heavy with what -the young lawyers of Riverport were pleased to call his “judicial -frown.” - -Suddenly he lifted up his head. “Have you searched the stable?” - -“The stable—no, sir,” ejaculated poor Betty. - -“Come with me, Titus,” said the Judge, “that child is a peculiar one. I -do not think that she has run away.” - -[Illustration: “Go tell the servants that she is found,” said the Judge -to Titus.] - - - - - CHAPTER VII - BIRDS OF HEAVEN - - -The Judge walked calmly out through the house to the garden and through -the garden to the stable. - -Arrived in the stable, he called to Roblee, who was unharnessing, to -turn on all the electric lights above and below. Then he and Titus went -up to the pigeon loft. - -The Judge pushed open the screen door. It was just as he had thought. On -a little stool by the door sat Bethany sound asleep, a white owl pigeon -in her lap, another on her head. Her own head was thrown back against -the wall, one hand resting caressingly on the beautiful creature in her -lap. - -The owls opened wide their large eyes and gazed at the Judge and Titus -in mild surprise. Other pigeons eyed them from nest boxes and perches. -They were all very tame, but not all would have allowed Bethany to -handle them as did the gentle owls. - -“Go tell the servants that she is found,” said the Judge to Titus. - -The boy rushed down the steps, and the Judge bent over Bethany. She had -no wrap on, and the pigeon loft was not kept very warm. - -He looked at a thermometer over her head—fifty degrees. - -“Child,” he said, gently shaking her, “wake up.” - -She drowsily opened her eyes and murmured, “Birds of heaven.” - -The Judge shook her again. “Come! Come! Don’t you want some Christmas -dinner?” - -She staggered to her little feet. “O! is it you, Mr. Judge! I was -dreaming of you and the birds.” - -The Judge smiled, took her hand, and conducted her down the steps, then -carried her in the house. Upon arriving inside they found Mrs. Blodgett, -who had just come from her midday Christmas dinner, eaten at her -daughter’s. She had been overwhelming the unfortunate Betty with -reproaches. If she, Mrs. Blodgett, had been at home the child would not -have been allowed to steal away and give everyone such an upsetting—just -like a careless, giddy girl, and she swept away the little child to make -her toilet for dinner. - -From her store of clothes she managed to unearth another dress of the -grandchild Mary Ann’s, for Bethany appeared at the dinner table in pale -blue. - -Very pretty she looked as she came gently into the dining room and -allowed old Higby to lift her to a seat beside the Judge. - -The table was decorated with holly and red ribbons and a miniature -Christmas tree. - -Bethany’s eyes shone brightly. At last she was wide awake, having had -sleep enough to last her for some time. - -She said nothing, but her appreciation of her gay and brilliant -surroundings was so intense that, to the secret amusement of the Judge -and Titus, she made up her mind to have a participator—some one who was -not used to this style of living. Instead of waiting for the end of the -meal she put up her hand at once, drew out the ghost of the dead mouse, -and placed him behind a sprig of holly. All through the meal, from soup -to fruit, mousie had his share of what was going. Not a course did he -miss, and it was a very stuffed and overcome ghost that the child -finally wrapped in her handkerchief when they left the table. - -The big parlor was lighted, the piano was open, and picture books and -games were laid out, but in some way or other the trio, after dinner, -drifted to the Judge’s study. There on the hearthrug by the fire, with -Princess Sukey, the two children, or, rather, the boy and the child, sat -and talked, while the Judge listened quietly from his armchair. Part of -the time Titus was shouting with laughter. In some marvelous way he had -got over all his bashfulness of the morning. Bethany was such a little -girl that it did not seem worth while to be afraid of her, and then he -was in honor bound to tell her about their visit to the Tingsbys. - -Airy, she said, was the name of the eldest girl. Airy, nickname for -Mary, then came Annie, Rodd, Goldie, Gibb, and Dobbie. - -“W-w-what’s Dobbie?” inquired Titus, “boy or girl?” - -“Why, boy, of course,” responded Bethany, “didn’t you see him?” - -“Y-y-yes, I saw a baby sitting on the floor, but I didn’t know which -name belonged to him.” - -“Then you had to think a name to him,” said Bethany, dreamily. - -“T-t-think a name—what’s that?” - -“Why, you know that everything has a name,” said the little girl, -staring at him wonderingly. “There isn’t any ‘it’ about anything. If you -don’t know the name, you just give one.” - -“O-o-of course, everything has a name,” said the boy, stoutly, “but if I -don’t know it I don’t give one. I wait till I find out.” - -“I don’t,” she replied, shaking her head. “I give a name to everything.” - -“Did you give me a name before you heard mine?” - -“Of course,” she replied, with dignity. - -“W-w-what name did you give me?” - -“You won’t be cross?” she said, surveying him doubtfully. - -“C-c-certainly not.” - -“I gave you the name of Blackie,” she said, with a glance up at his dark -head. - -Titus burst into a fit of laughter. “Y-y-you did that last night when -you were so sleepy?” - -Bethany nodded her head. “I wasn’t too sleepy to think.” - -“A-a-and now—what do you give me now?” - -“I give you your own name,” she said, patiently, “but the other one is -in the top of my mind. I could call it down if I wanted to.” - -“W-w-would you give this hearthrug a name?” asked the boy, teasingly. - -She caressingly passed a hand over the red velvet pile. “Yes, boy, I -call this rug Red Heart.” - -Titus did not laugh this time. He stared curiously and silently at her. - -The Judge interposed a quiet question. “Did you think me a name before -you knew my real one, little girl?” - -“Yes, sir,” she said, shyly, turning round to face him. - -“What was it?” - -“I called you Mr. White Tree because your white hair is so soft, just -like the blossoms on a little tree in the flower shop on Broadway.” - -“Do you call me by that name, now?” pursued the Judge, curiously. - -“No, sir.” - -“What do you call me?” - -She hung her head and twisted her fingers together. “Bethany would -rather not speak that name out loud,” she said, in a low voice. - -“It isn’t Judge Sancroft, then,” ventured her senior, kindly. - -She shook her head. - -“W-w-whisper it,” proposed Titus, bluntly. “I’ve seen girls whisper -things when they would not speak them out.” - -She mumbled something to herself that the boy could not hear. - -“G-g-go say it in his ear,” stuttered Titus, impatiently. - -Bethany looked shyly at the Judge. - -“Come, if you want to,” he said, with a smile. - -She edged up to him step by step. “It’s Daddy Grandpa,” she whispered in -his ear. - -“Why Daddy Grandpa?” he whispered back. - -“’Cause Bethany hasn’t any daddy and she hasn’t any grandpa, and she -likes to call you that.” - -The Judge had noticed before that in moments of great embarrassment -Bethany often spoke of herself in the third person, therefore he -hastened to reassure her. - -“You may call me that name all the time, dear child, if it will be any -comfort to you.” - -A strange glow came over her face, apart from the glow of the firelight. -Poor little lonely heart, craving for natural relationship and sympathy! -However, she had been schooled to restrain emotion, and with a simple -“Thank you, sir,” she went back to the hearthrug. - -“S-s-sir,” remarked Titus, “it’s getting pretty hot here, and that -pigeon is just roasting herself.” - -The Judge wrinkled his eyebrows. “It is most unfortunate that that bird -has contracted the habit of sitting by the fire—most abnormal, most -abnormal. Open the window and see whether she will go out on the -balcony.” - -Bethany, who had been sitting as close as possible to Sukey’s basket, -silently adoring her, moved back, and Titus got up and went to a window. - -“C-c-come, Sukey.” - -The pigeon understood him perfectly well, and, stepping out of her -basket, she walked round and round in a state of great indignation. -“Rookety cahoo! rookety cahoo!” - -“Let her alone, boy,” said the Judge, “she won’t go out to-night, it is -too cold. If we insist, she will stand outside and tap on the window -until our nerves are upset. There, close the window. You have cooled the -room. We will keep doing that, in order that we may not suffer from the -heat.” - -Titus concealed a smile as he looked out into the cold night. What a -change had come over his grandfather. Who would have imagined last -Christmas that this Christmas he would have a pet pigeon in his study? - -“And now you had better go to bed, children,” said the Judge, as the big -hall clock struck ten. “Have you had a nice Christmas, little girl?” - -Bethany went and stood beside his armchair. “Sir, it is the best -Christmas I ever had. I shall tell my mamma about it to-night.” - -The Judge said nothing, but held out a hand to her. - -She clasped his large fingers tightly in her tiny ones. “Good-night, -sir—may I say the name?” - -“O, yes—decidedly.” - -“Daddy Grandpa,” she murmured, “good-night, Daddy Grandpa. Now Bethany -is like other little girls. She isn’t all alone in the world, like a -poor stray cat.” - -The Judge stared dreamily into the fire. What a strange child! He must -take the greatest pains to find a home suitable for her in every -respect. - - - - - CHAPTER VIII - TO ADOPT OR NOT TO ADOPT - - -“Are you going out?” asked Bethany, wistfully, of the Judge the next -morning. - -She had breakfasted with the Judge. She had disappeared afterward to -visit the pigeon loft with Titus, and then when he left the house to -call on his friend Charlie she had gone to the Judge’s study to play -with Sukey. Now she stood regretfully watching him button on his -overcoat. - -“Yes, I am,” he replied. “I have a call to make; would you like to go -with me?” he asked, as an afterthought. - -Her little face beamed. That was just what she wanted. - -“But you haven’t any wraps,” said the Judge. “However, I can bundle you -up in something, and Roblee will drive us to Furst Brothers. There we -will find everything under one roof. Here you are,” and, laughing like a -boy, he smothered her up in the fur coat that he intended to give -Mafferty and carried her out to the sleigh. - -A quiet-living man, a man of simple pleasures, one who rarely -experienced new sensations, the trip through Furst Brothers’ -establishment was as full of interest to the Judge as a voyage of -exploration would have been to another man. - -First they visited the fur department, where Bethany stood in rapt -silence, with shining eyes which she sometimes tightly closed, and then -suddenly opened to make sure that it was not all a dream, while an -obsequious shopwoman tried on one little coat after another. - -The Judge’s choice finally fell on a white one with a cap to match, and -Bethany was clad in it. The Judge directed the woman to let the coat -hang open, as the store was very warm. The little cap was put on, -however, and, tightly holding his hand and occasionally glancing down to -smooth the pretty blue satin lining, Bethany walked as if in a trance to -the shoe department. - -There she was fitted with several pairs of shoes and slippers. Finally -rubbers were slipped on and a pair of warm, black, woolen gaiters -buttoned over them. Then gloves were chosen, and back they went to the -fur department to buy a little muff which the Judge had forgotten. - -“As for dresses and undergarments,” he said to Bethany, “Mrs. Blodgett -must bring you here. Now we will go to see my friend.” - -When they were again seated in the sleigh, and Bethany, with a bright -pink spot on each cheek, sat holding her hands tightly clasped in her -muff, the Judge said, “Did you ever hear of Mrs. Tom Everest while you -were living on River Street?” - -The child shook her head. - -“No; you would not. Well, I must tell you that she is a very charming -and philanthropic young woman, the granddaughter of a once eminent -jurist of this city.” - -Bethany had very little idea of what her companion meant, but she -enjoyed being talked to as if she were a young lady, and she gravely -bent her head and said, “Yes, sir.” - -“Her grandfather was a much older man than I am, but I well remember him -and his admirable wife, now also dead. Unfortunately, some time after -his death the family lost their money and went to River Street to live. -This girl Berty, or, rather, Mrs. Tom Everest, became greatly interested -in the poor people about her, and when she married she persuaded her -husband to come and live with her instead of moving to another part of -the city. They seem to be quite happy, and are doing much good. I am -going to see her to ask if she knows of any nice family where you would -have young children to play with and be kindly treated.” - -“Me, sir?” ejaculated Bethany, faintly. - -“Yes; my house is not a suitable place for you. You see, I thought you -were a boy when I brought you home.” - -“A boy, sir?” said Bethany, still more faintly. “O, yes, I remember.” - -“I wanted a companion for my grandson.” - -“I like boys, sir,” murmured the little girl, weakly. - -The Judge looked sharply down at her. The lovely color had faded from -her face. Large tears were rolling down her cheeks. - -“You have surely not got attached to us in this short time,” he said, -wonderingly. - -“It doesn’t take much to keep me, sir,” said Bethany, desperately. “I’ve -been trying not to eat too much—and mousie could get on with less. And I -can work, sir. Lots of times I’ve scrubbed down the stairs for Mrs. -Tingsby.” - -The Judge made some kind of a noise in his throat and looked over the -shoulder farthest away from Bethany. - -They were gliding swiftly through Broadway. O! the exquisite, clear, -cold air and the lovely sunshine. How good it was to be alive, even if -one were sixty-two; and he had just been stabbing this faithful little -heart beside him. But, pshaw! Nonsense! A child of seven formed no -strong attachments in a day. If he sent her away she would cling as -closely to a kind stranger as she now apparently did to him. - -But Bethany was talking, very weakly and brokenly, but still talking, -and he must listen. - -“Sir,” she murmured, “I could take care of the birds—those beautiful -birds, and if there was not room in the house I could sleep in that -lovely loft. I would not be nervous and cry, or make any noise to -disturb the horses. Only once in a while, when you were out, I would -like to creep in the house to see that little saint with the hood on.” - -The little saint was Sukey, and the Judge smiled. - -“Which do you love the best?” he said, sharply, “me and my grandson or -the pigeons?” - -“The pigeons, sir,” she said, simply. “But before my mamma died she -said, ‘Bethany, when you grow up you will love human beings better than -the animals and the birds.’” - -“Then why did you not stay at home with the birds this morning instead -of coming with me? You wanted to come, didn’t you?” - -“Yes, sir. I don’t know what made me want to come, but when I heard you -putting on your coat I left the lovely bird and ran in the hall. It -seemed as if I would be lonely without you.” - -The Judge smiled, a somewhat puzzled smile, and did not speak until -Roblee drew up in front of a large, old-fashioned, smartly painted house -on River Street, and said, “Mrs. Everest’s, sir.” - -The Judge started, then he turned to Bethany. “Do you want to come in -with me?” - -“I—I don’t just feel like it, sir,” she said, hesitatingly, and the -Judge saw that her cast-down face was again wet with tears. - -“I will not be long,” he said, kindly, and he rang the bell. - -“Yes, Mrs. Everest was at home,” a trim little maidservant informed him, -and she ushered him into a large room on the ground floor. - -The painted floor of the room had only one rug, on which a fat baby was -sprawling. A wire screen before a blazing fire kept in sparks and -prevented the possibility of baby’s hands being burnt, or, possibly, -baby’s precious body, for he was alone for the moment. - -Between partly open sliding doors the Judge saw in a second large room -an enormous Christmas tree loaded with gifts. - -The air of the house was sweet and wholesome. Looking beyond the -Christmas tree, and through long windows which appeared to be -old-fashioned ones made larger, the Judge had a magnificent view of the -river. - -“It is possible to be comfortable even on River Street,” he said, -standing with his back to the fire and obligingly giving one foot to the -baby, who was begging frantically for it. - -“Good morning, good morning,” said a sudden gay voice, and a -half-girlish, half-womanly figure entered the room and took both the -Judge’s outstretched hands in her own. “The very best of Christmas -blessings on you!” - -“And on you,” he said, heartily, “for you deserve them if anyone does.” - -“Hush, hush,” she protested, blushingly, then motioning him to the most -comfortable of the many comfortable chairs in the room she took the -roly-poly baby on her lap. - -“What do you think of Tom, junior? Isn’t he immense? You naughty baby, -your mouth is black again. He begs like a little dog for everybody’s -feet—licks the blacking off. Just imagine! Now, Judge, do you think -there is anything servile about me or Tom?” - -“No, I don’t.” - -“Well, this baby is an absolute lackey. Cringes and crawls to -everyone—hasn’t the spirit of a mouse. Fancy liking blacking and coal. -You young rogue!” and she shook him till the baby laughed in glee. - -“He is a fine child,” said the Judge, “the picture of health. And now I -must not take up your time, for I know you are a very busy person. You -may know, or may not know, that for some time I have been looking for an -orphan boy to adopt.” - -Mrs. Everest nodded her pretty black head. “Yes, I know.” - -“I didn’t apply to you,” said her caller, “because I know your tender -heart. You occupy yourself mostly with the very poor. I wanted a boy of -some respectability.” - -“Exactly. Baby, stop licking my belt. Did you ever see such a child?” - -“On Christmas Eve, just two days ago,” continued the Judge, “I happened -to stumble on a child that I thought was a boy, but perhaps you know -about it,” for Mrs. Everest was laughing heartily. - -“O, yes; River Street knows what River Street does.” - -“Then I can omit that part. You know Mrs. Tingsby?” - -“O, yes—know her and esteem her. She is a little shy of me because she -is so respectable and so self-supporting. She doesn’t want me to help -her. She thinks she would lose prestige as a boarding-house keeper. -Mafferty—Barry Mafferty, who runs our cat farm—was in last evening. He -gave a glowing account of your visit to Mrs. Tingsby. I wish you could -hear the nice things he says about you.” - -“Has he gone back to his farm?” asked the Judge. - -“Yes, we persuaded him to go this morning. He gets terribly bored on the -Island, and comes up occasionally to stay for a day or two at Mrs. -Tingsby’s. Then Tom and I have to watch him to see that he does not get -into the saloons.” - -“I promised him a fur coat,” said the Judge. - -“So he told me. If you leave it here I will see that he gets it.” - -“Well,” said the Judge, “to come back to my affair. I don’t want to keep -this little girl. I want to find a good home for her, where her -sensitive nature will be taken into account. I thought perhaps you would -know of such a home.” - -“Does she want to leave you?” asked Mrs. Everest, quickly. - -“Well, no,” said the Judge, honestly, “I don’t think she does, neither -did she want to leave Mrs. Tingsby to come to me. Children are fickle.” - -The pretty girl-woman shook her head. “Mrs. Tingsby’s was different. The -child had been brought up to believe that some day she would know -something better. You should have seen her mother. She was an exquisite -creature. Pale, and cold, and quiet, and shy, and aristocratic, and -making friends only with Mrs. Tingsby. I, in vain, tried to get -acquainted with her.” - -“Did you know that Mrs. Tingsby allowed the child to work at making -paper boxes?” asked the Judge. - -“No,” said Mrs. Everest, quickly. “She would not dare to have that get -to my ears. Do you know this to be true?” - -“Yes; the child was staggering home when I found her.” - -Mrs. Everest clasped her baby closer to her. “O, these poor people, -aren’t they extraordinary! Now, that woman’s false pride won’t allow me -to help her, and yet she lets this poor child work—and her own, too, I -daresay, for she would not require of one what she would not require of -the others.” - -“I understood her to say that they all had work of some kind through the -Christmas holidays. Can you in any way get at the employers of this -child labor?” - -“I shall make it my business to do so,” said Mrs. Everest, warmly. “I -shall go to see Mrs. Tingsby to-day and question her.” - -“If you want money for prosecution, call on me,” said the Judge. - -“Thank you, I will. Well, what are you going to do about the little girl -if you cannot find a home? Don’t send her back to Mrs. Tingsby’s. Give -her to me, rather.” - -“This would be a charming place for her,” said the Judge, looking about -him. “I never thought of that. I don’t know anyone I would rather give -the child to than to you.” - -“I should be delighted to have her,” said Mrs. Everest, heartily, “and -would try to make her happy; but in taking her I would not have you -suppose for one single instant that I think you are not a very suitable -and proper person to have charge of her. Do you know, I have often -wondered why you have not done more active charitable work. You are so -eminently qualified for it, and you have always been so generous and so -sympathetic in your donations, that we all know your heart is with us.” - -The Judge sighed. “I have had a very busy life, and then my troubles -have made me egotistical. May I bring the little girl in for you to see -her?” - -“Certainly, or let me ring. Daisy will get her.” - -The happy-faced little maid, upon being instructed, quickly ran -downstairs and returned with Bethany. - -Mrs. Everest put down the baby and went to meet her. “How do you do, -dear?” she said, kissing her. Then, drawing her to the fire, she took -off her gloves and rubbed her fingers. - -“Why, you are quite cold,” she said; “quite cold, and you look forlorn.” - -She took off the fur cap, and for a few minutes silently stroked -Bethany’s pale, unhappy cheeks. Then she whispered, “What is the matter, -darling?” - -Not since her mother’s death had a lady, a genuine lady, put her arm -round the shrinking, sensitive child and whispered to her in tones sweet -and clear. Something in Bethany’s heart responded. She could not speak, -but she silently returned the pressure of Mrs. Everest’s hands and gazed -into her eyes in dumb misery. - -The Judge, in the meantime, got up, walked about the room in some -embarrassment, and tried to avoid the overtures of the too-friendly -baby, who was creeping briskly after him, gurgling in his throat, and -begging for permission to play with his feet. - -“What is the matter?” whispered Mrs. Everest, “is it that you don’t want -to leave the Judge and Titus?” - -Bethany silently nodded her head. - -“Would you like to come and live with me and be my little girl?” pursued -Mrs. Everest. - -She felt the little form shrink within her arms. - -“You would rather stay with the Judge?” - -Bethany nodded again. - -Mrs. Everest looked over her shoulder. “What do you call him?” - -“My little pet name for him is Daddy Grandpa,” whispered the child, -brokenly. - -“Then leave me, run right up to him, throw your arms round his neck, and -say, ‘Please, dear Daddy Grandpa, don’t send me away from you.’” - -Somewhat to Mrs. Everest’s surprise, for she did not know what a relief -the suggestion was to the child’s breaking heart, Bethany broke from her -arms and rushed to the Judge, and, not being able to reach his neck, -clasped his coat, or as much of it as she could grasp, and fairly -shrieked in her nervousness, “Dear Daddy Grandpa, _please_ don’t send me -away from you.” - -The Judge stopped short. His first thought was that the active baby had -risen and was seizing him. Then he looked down into Bethany’s agitated -face and said, “What! What!” - -“Dear Daddy Grandpa,” she cried again; then her overwrought nerves gave -way, and she burst into a frantic fit of sobbing. - -“She doesn’t want to live with me,” said Mrs. Everest, shaking her black -head, and as if remarking, “I am sorry, but it is no concern of mine,” -she sat down and took up her own baby. - -Bethany was clasping the coat and crying as if her heart would break. - -“Upon my word!” ejaculated the Judge. “Upon my word!” - -This was his exclamation in moments of great perplexity. “Little girl!” -he said. “Little girl!” - -This torrent of tears distressed him and made him vaguely alarmed. - -“Bethany, child,” he said, in haste, “little girl, do you want to go -home?” - -Home! That was the magic word that the child wanted. - -“O, yes, sir; yes, sir!” she gasped, and with a hurried farewell to Mrs. -Everest the Judge picked up the sorrowful child in his arms and fairly -ran downstairs with her. - - - - - CHAPTER IX - ANOTHER SURPRISE - - -The Judge’s ship had sailed into clear waters—his venture of the other -day had, so far, proved eminently successful. - -It was just one week after his call on Mrs. Everest. On his way home -that day with the disturbed Bethany nestling close to him in the sleigh -he had said to himself many times, “I don’t know what Titus will say—I -don’t know what Titus will say.” - -Titus said very little. When his grandfather called him into his study -and told him that Bethany seemed to be greatly upset at the thought of -leaving them, Titus replied briefly, “T-t-then keep her, sir.” - -“But the brother for you—the boy I was going to adopt,” said the Judge. - -“I-I-I don’t want a brother, sir,” Titus returned; “never did want -one—a-a-am glad to get rid of the thought of one.” - -“Then you like this little girl?” said the Judge, anxiously. - -“D-d-don’t like her and don’t dislike her,” Titus replied. “She isn’t in -my way—isn’t bad as girls go.” - -The matter ended here as far as discussion went, and Bethany slipped -into her place as a member of the household. She was a very good child, -quiet and well behaved, and insensibly she was becoming a great comfort -and a great amusement to the Judge. He loved to see her down on the -hearthrug playing with the pigeon and talking to her. For it was -absolutely necessary for Bethany to have a listener. She dreamed such -wonderful dreams and saw such astonishing visions that it took several -hours a day of some one’s time to listen to her. - -Bethany felt that the pigeon was sympathetic. She always listened with -her greenish-yellow eyes bent attentively on her, and at times she -interposed a lively “Rookety cahoo!” So at least she was not asleep, as -the Judge sometimes was, when Bethany was relating her marvels. - -She had soon got the Judge to show her the pictures of Ellen and Susie, -his two little girls that had died, and now nearly every night Bethany -fancied that she saw them. She described them dressed in their -old-fashioned little garments, their hair braided in little tails tied -with ribbon, their talk quaint and demure and seasoned with Bethany’s -maxims. - -The Judge, touched and amused, listened to as many of her conversations -as he had time or inclination for, then he went to sleep, and Bethany -turned to the pigeon. - -On this particular day the Judge was reading his morning’s mail. - -Bethany had gone to school—the Judge had found a kindergarten round the -corner on a quiet street—and Titus was taking a lesson from a gentleman -who had effected a number of famous cures in cases of stuttering, and -who came all the way from Boston to treat him. - -So far he had done no good. Titus was a mild, persistent, and consistent -stutterer. He never failed to hesitate at the beginning of a sentence -unless he was deeply moved about something—he rarely stopped in the -middle of one. - -The Judge, fearing Higby’s bad example, had spoken of sending him away, -though it was with extreme reluctance that he even spoke of discharging -so faithful a servant. Titus’s teacher did not urge him to do so. He -said that Higby was a stammerer, while Titus, as yet, only stuttered. -The boy’s habit could be broken if he gave himself earnestly to breaking -it up. “Wait a little,” he said to the Judge. “He does not take himself -seriously yet. Wait till something rouses him and makes him coöperate -with me.” - -“I should think that his comrades making fun of him would arouse him,” -said the Judge. - -“It probably will, but later on,” replied the teacher, so the Judge was -obliged to possess his soul in patience. - -On this morning Titus was to finish his lesson and then go to school. At -present he was in a small sitting room, while the Judge was in his study -just across the hall. - -Presently the master of the house took up a note written in a dainty -feminine hand. - -It was from the lady who was teaching Bethany. The Judge read it, then -he began to laugh. Mrs. Hume was speaking of Bethany’s facility in -making paper boxes; she was a marvelous, a wonderful child; she -outdistanced all the others. She was a prodigy. - -The Judge laughed more heartily than ever. He could fancy demure little -Bethany’s slender fingers manipulating the too familiar cardboard. The -child had evidently not told her teacher where she had learned the art -of making boxes. She was an honest child, but she was inclined to be shy -with strangers. Just as well in this case for her to be so. Her -associates were mostly Grand Avenue children. Young as they were, they -might look strangely upon the little girl who had been obliged to earn -her living. - -It was very amusing, though, to the Judge to read this lady’s gushing -remarks on the subject of Bethany’s dexterity. He laughed again, and -this time with such heartiness that he had to put up a handkerchief to -wipe the tears from his eyes. Then he somewhat ruefully surveyed the -remaining heap of letters. - -“Who laughs hard prepares to cry harder,” he said, seriously. “There -will be something there to make me sad.” - -There was. The next letter he took up caused his jaw to drop like that -of an old man. - -He was absolutely confounded. He sat stock still, gazing with unseeing -eyes at the pigeon, who, sharp enough to perceive that there was -something the matter with him, flew up on the table, paraded over his -heap of letters and papers, and uttered an inquiring “Rookety cahoo?” - -The Judge did not hear her, and yet he was listening intently. His own -door was ajar, and when a few minutes later the sitting room door opened -and Titus came out into the hall he called, weakly, “Grandson!” - -Now he never said “Grandson!” unless something serious was the matter, -so Titus hastened to him. - -“What is it?” he asked, forgetting to stutter as he always did when -greatly excited. - -The Judge straightened himself. “I’ve had a blow. Read that—or listen. -The writing is bad,” and he threw himself back in his chair and, putting -on his glasses, took up the letter. - -“Who is it from?” inquired Titus. - -“Do you remember hearing me speak of Folsom, an old university friend of -mine?” - -“The fellow that was so crazy about work among the poor?” - -“The same. Poor Folsom, he was always an enthusiast, but I considered -him reliable. He became a clergyman and went to New York in connection -with the mission work of some church. Listen to what he writes: - - -“‘MY DEAR SANCROFT: What a whiff of good times I have had this morning! -I left the slums for a call on our dear old Georgeson of the Era, into -whose pockets my hand is permitted to go pretty freely. I found him -seated in his magnificent office, a financial king on his throne. He -showed me your letter to him about a boy to adopt. “Georgeson,” said I, -“I have just the thing.” He advised me to correspond with you, but what -need is there of correspondence when I have the very article you want. -An English actor died in my rooms the other day, a man of the highest -respectability. He left one lad—a jewel of a boy, fair-haired and -sunny-tempered. Just the companion you would wish for your own lad, who, -if he resembles his grandfather, will be dark as to hair and eyes. This -boy has absolutely not a relative in the world. He is a thorough -gentleman; you will love him as a son. I have not time to hear from you. -Will put him on one of the morning trains for Boston. You may expect him -some time Thursday. Don’t forget my work among the poor. God has blessed -you freely; freely give. - - “‘Your old friend, - “‘RALPH FOLSOM.’” - - -“Rattlebrain! Gusher! Enthusiast!” exclaimed the Judge when he finished. -His stupefaction was over. He began to be angry. - -“Do you see he does not even ask to hear from me what I think of this,” -he went on, shaking the letter at Titus, who sat open-mouthed. “He is so -sure he is right. He always was—rushed headlong into every breach. I -would not have had him mixed up in this matter for a very great deal. -Georgeson is a foolish man not to keep his own council,” and in -considerable excitement the Judge got up and paced the floor. - -“If I knew when he was coming I would meet him at the station and send -him right back to Folsom,” he said at last, stopping before Titus. - -“Well, sir,” said the boy, “he’s got to come on the 10:30 or the 3:15. -If he comes on the 10:30 he’s here now. I’ll look out the hall window -now,” and he stepped outside. - -“Jiminy!” he exclaimed, rushing back, “here’s an open sleigh coming full -tilt down the avenue with a boy in it.” - -The Judge wheeled round as if to go into the hall, then he stopped -short. “I can’t see him. After all, it isn’t his fault, and he has been -lately bereaved. Do you receive him, Titus?” - -“I-I-I was going to school,” said Titus, who, having recovered his -equilibrium, began to stutter; “shall I take him with me?” - -“Yes, no; I don’t care,” said the Judge. “Tell him how things are if you -get a chance. I’ll see him at lunch.” - -Titus darted out of the room, went running and limping down the stairs, -and was beside Higby when he opened the door. - -A tall, pale, handsome lad in a thin light overcoat stood on the -threshold. - -“Is this Judge Sancroft’s house?” he asked, fixing his bright blue eyes -on Higby and yet casting a glance beyond at Titus. - -Higby nodded. - -The boy turned, and the driver came running up the steps with a shabby -leather bag. - -The boy himself was carrying in his hand a small padlocked wooden box -with a perforated cover. After paying the driver he followed Higby, who -was taking his bag into the hall. - -Titus, in his confusion, was saying nothing, and the boy, turning to -him, remarked courteously, “I suppose you are Judge Sancroft’s -grandson?” - -“Yes,” replied Titus, simply, “I am.” Then he continued staring at his -guest, until a half smile on the stranger’s face recalled him to -himself. - -“Take off your coat,” he said, suddenly, “and come in to the fire. There -isn’t any in the parlor,” and he thrust his head in the doorway, “but -come in the dining room—there’s sure to be a good one there.” - -The boy threw his thin coat over a hall chair, put his small wooden box -under it and his hat on top, then followed Titus. - -“Are you cold?” inquired Titus, motioning his guest to one of the big -leather-covered chairs by the fireplace and taking the other himself. - -“Not at all, thank you,” said the boy, but the hands that he held out to -the blaze were red and covered with chilblains, and Titus, remembering -his thin gloves, felt sorry that he had asked the question. - -“I dare say you’re hungry,” observed Titus, suddenly. “I always am when -I’ve been in the train. What would you like? It’s a good while before -lunch.” - -“Ah, thank you,” said the other, politely; “if I might have a little -meat, just a little.” - -“Meat,” repeated Titus, “certainly. Higby,” and he turned toward the -man, who, with a face brimful of curiosity, was coming in with some coal -for the fire, “please have some meat brought up.” - -“And have it raw,” said the stranger, with exquisite courtesy. - -Titus threw a glance at the boy’s pale cheeks. He looked sick. Probably -he was taking a raw-meat cure. - -“What kind of m-m-meat?” inquired Higby, goggling at the newcomer. - -“Any kind,” replied the boy, smoothly. - -“What’s your name?” blurted Titus, in an embarrassed manner when Higby -had left the room. - -“Dallas de Warren.” - -“Ah!” said Titus, and he drew a long breath. Then a succession of -confused thoughts began to pass through his brain. He was not a -brilliant boy, but he was not without shrewdness. He felt that the lad -before him, though perfectly calm and apparently happy, had been led to -expect a different welcome from this. The enthusiastic, elderly -clergyman in New York had probably told the lad that the two Sancrofts -would fall on his neck. What could Titus do to be more agreeable? He -would better apologize for his grandfather. The lad had not mentioned -him, but Titus felt sure that he was thinking of him. - -“Dallas,” he said, bluntly, “my grandfather won’t be down till half-past -one. He is busy in his study—gets a lot of letters in the morning.” - -“Indeed,” replied the boy, with a movement of his head like that of an -older person, “I can fancy that he is very much occupied. And then he -would hardly get Mr. Folsom’s letter saying I was coming until this -morning.” - -“No, he didn’t,” said Titus, “he had just got it when you came.” - -“Then I would be a kind of surprise to him,” said the boy, pleasantly, -and his big blue eyes fixed themselves calmly on Titus’s dark face. - -The Sancroft boy was in torture. He felt himself growing crimson. His -cheeks would tell the whole story. - -They did. The English boy understood. He was not wanted. However, his -manner did not change. - -He coolly uncrossed his feet, put the left one where the right one had -been, so that it would get a little more heat from the fire, and -meditatively gazed at the leaping flames. - -Titus, with a dull pain at his heart, noted that the boy’s shoes were -more than half worn. One of them, indeed, had a hole in it. Why were -things so unequal in this world? He never used to notice that there was -a difference between other boys and himself. Now he was beginning to see -that boys just as deserving as himself and Charlie Brown were shabbily -and insufficiently dressed. Why, this boy, for instance, had not enough -on to keep him warm. Why was it? Why had he no rich grandfather to -clothe him? - -“Here is the meat, sir,” said Higby, trotting into the room with a plate -in his hand; “minced beef, sir,” and he respectfully put it on the table -near the English boy. - -A shade passed over the stranger’s face. With all his self-possession he -could not help showing that he was disappointed. - -“What’s wrong?” asked Titus, bluntly. - -“O, nothing—nothing,” replied Dallas, with a wave of his hand. “Only -that I would have preferred it whole. I should have said so; it was -stupid in me.” - -“Have you any more?” said Titus to Higby. - -“Yes, sir; a whole joint.” - -“Then take that away and get an uncut piece.” - -The English boy’s face lighted up strangely. - -“And, Higby,” said Titus, “bring crackers and something to drink. What -will you have, Dallas?” - -“O, anything,” said the boy, politely; “any kind of wine—sherry, -perhaps.” - -Titus drew his dark eyebrows together. “My grandfather is a strict -temperance man; won’t have wine in the house, even for pudding sauces.” - -“O, indeed,” said the boy, lightly, and with veiled amusement; “well, it -doesn’t matter. Cold water will do, or a cup of tea.” - -“We have homemade w-w-wines, sir,” said Higby, insinuatingly. - -“Bring him some rhubarb,” said Titus; “that is good.” - -Higby disappeared, and Titus sank back into his chair. There was a heavy -dew of perspiration on his lip. He did not like this business of -entertaining. What could he do to amuse his guest while Higby was -absent? Perhaps the new boy liked pigeons. - -“I say,” he remarked, suddenly, “do you like any kind of pet birds?” - -Dallas scrutinized Titus’s face intently before he replied; then he -said, “I’m awfully fond of them.” - -“What kind?” asked Titus. - -“Well, I like canaries and robins—” - -Titus’s face was unresponsive, and the stranger went on, tentatively, -“and doves, and linnets, and thrushes, and mocking-birds—” - -He had not struck the right kind of bird yet, and he put up a hand and -pushed back the light hair from his pale forehead. - -“Cage birds, do you mean?” he said, courteously, “or yard birds?” - -“I mean pigeons,” replied his host, dryly. - -“O, pigeons,” said Dallas, with relief; “they’re my favorite birds. I -love them.” - -He spoke so warmly that Titus’s heart was almost touched in one of his -tenderest spots. Almost, but not quite. He had a vague distrust of this -English boy, with his fine manners and his peculiar, lofty accent. -However, Titus felt ashamed of himself for this distrust, and therefore -said in a gruffly polite tone, “Want to see mine? I’ve got some -beauties.” - -The stranger’s face clouded the very least little bit in the world. - -“There are one or two things I should like to unpack first,” he said, -eyeing the tray that Higby was bringing in. “After that I should be -delighted—” - -“Very well,” said Titus, “you eat your meat and I’ll go see what room -you’re to have.” - -Catching sight of Mrs. Blodgett in the big upstairs pantry he rushed in. - -“Blodgieblossom,” he said, “there’s a boy here—he’s going to stay all -night. Which room shall I take him to?” - -“Bless me, Master Titus,” said the woman, withdrawing her gaze from the -china closet, “give me a little notice. The bed has to be aired and -clean sheets put on, and dusting to be done.” - -“I tell you, he’s got to go in it now,” said Titus, imperiously. “I want -him to hurry up and come with me to the pigeon loft.” - -Mrs. Blodgett smiled. She took to herself the credit of the acquisition -of so many handsome birds. Everything had to give way to the pigeons, -and, feeling in one of the pockets of her big apron for her bunch of -keys, she said, “You can follow me, dear lad, in five minutes to the wee -clock room. I guess that will do, won’t it?” - -“Yes, if it’s large enough,” said Titus, doubtfully. - -“It’s big enough for a night or two,” she said, easily, and she -proceeded on her way upstairs. - -Near the front hall door she met Higby. - -“Say,” he whispered, seizing her by the sleeve, “say, I believe the -Judge has ad-d-dopted another boy.” - -Mrs. Blodgett could not speak. She stared at him silently for a few -instants, then with a strange weakness at her knees began ascending the -stairs. - -Titus went back to the dining room. The new boy had eaten his crackers -and drunk the wine, but he had the plate of meat in his hand. - -“I think I will take this upstairs,” he said, pleasantly. - -“All right,” said Titus, and he slowly led the way to the hall. - -Everything was gone that belonged to the boy—leather bag, coat, and -wooden box. - -His face fell, and he looked almost angry. - -“The servants have taken them up,” said Titus, noticing his -discomposure. - -“O, very kind of them,” said the boy, hurriedly. “I am so unused to be -waited on,” and he went upstairs so quickly that, although not knowing -the way, he kept ahead of Titus. - -Mrs. Blodgett and Higby were both fussing about the little room, where a -Swiss cuckoo clock hung in the corner. - -The English boy tried to subdue his impatience as he glanced at them, -and as soon as they left the room he put his plate of meat down on the -dressing table and looked at Titus. - -“Wants to eat alone like a dog,” thought the latter to himself, and -saying, “I’ll wait for you outside,” he walked toward the door. - -He threw a glance over his shoulder before he went out and saw the -English lad go fussily toward the little padlocked wooden box that he -had been carrying in his hand when he arrived and carefully lift it to -the table beside the plate of meat. - -“Must have some treasure in it,” murmured Titus, and he went on his way -to lounge about the halls, wipe the perspiration from his face, and -wonder what his grandfather would say to the English boy. - - - - - CHAPTER X - THE ENGLISH BOY - - -Bethany came home from school that day full of glee. She had gained a -little prize for good work. - -“What kind of work?” inquired the Judge. - -Bethany looked up at him and smiled—such a demure, knowing little smile. -Then she pressed his hand to her lips. “Making boxes, Daddy Grandpa.” - -She was swinging on the Judge’s hand, leading him down to the lunch -table. Every day she ran up to his study at one o’clock when she came -from school. That gave her time for a little chat with him and a play -with Sukey before the bell rang for lunch. - -She noticed that the Judge was graver than usual to-day, and she said -suddenly, “Are you ill, Daddy Grandpa?” - -“No, child,” he said, slowly, but he immediately lapsed into gravity. He -always felt deeply mortified and ashamed of himself after any indulgence -in excitement or annoyance. He had been greatly disturbed this -morning—foolishly so. There was no necessity for annoyance. All that he -had to do was to take the affair calmly and to send the boy back. - -So it was really with kindness and sympathy that he shook the hand of -the orphan lad standing beside Titus in the dining room. - -The English boy was somewhat puzzled. At first he had been sure that -this old gentleman did not want him. Now he was not so sure about it, so -fatherly was the Judge’s manner. - -Bethany was the life of the table. She was not a chatterbox, but she -possessed a peculiar mind, and what she said often amused the Judge and -always amused Titus. - -The English boy was greatly taken with her. His glance rested often upon -her pretty brown head, and he secretly and bitterly envied her. Here, he -thought, in ignorance of her past life, is a child born to affluence and -delightful surroundings. How little she knows of the cold world and the -struggling for existence there. - -Bethany was prattling about ghosts, one of her favorite subjects. Last -night she had talked with Ellen and Susie, the Judge’s two little -daughters. - -“W-w-what were they doing?” said Titus, seriously. He did not dare to -jest upon such a subject, though sometimes his boyish soul was sorely -tempted to do so. - -“Ellen, she had a little basket in her hands, and she was going to pick -blueberries,” replied Bethany. “She said, ‘Bethany, come with us.’” - -“And did you go?” asked Titus. - -“’Course I did; I, and Ellen, and Susie set out. We hadn’t gone far when -we met a lion.” - -“A-a-a lion!” ejaculated Titus. - -“Yes, a truly lion,” said Bethany, smiling enough to show two rows of -white little teeth; “a kind Mr. Lion. Said he, ‘Little girls, come with -me. I’ll show you where the blueberries grow.’ Ellen said, ‘Mr. Lion, -how do you know where the blueberries grow, because we haven’t any lions -in America.’ Mr. Lion said he had run away from a circus because the men -beat him and fired pistols at him, and he was living on blueberries, and -they were very sweet.” - -“N-n-now, Bethany,” interposed Titus, “a lion is a meat-eating animal; -it couldn’t live on berries.” - -“But, boy,” she replied (she often called him boy), with an obstinate -little shake of her head, “this was a ghost lion.” - -“A dream lion, you mean,” said Titus. - -She turned her clear eyes on the Judge. “You understand me, Daddy -Grandpa?” - -Her faith in him was so great that he would not have had the heart to -shake it even if he had wished to do so. Therefore he nodded kindly, and -Bethany proceeded: - -“The dear ghost lion took us on his back—Ellen and Susie and me—and we -hadn’t gone far before we met a bear.” - -“A-a-a bear!” said Titus, in pretended surprise. - -“Yes, a bad, bad bear. Said the bad, bad bear, ‘I am looking for little -girls.’ - -“Said the dear ghost lion, with a sweet roar, ‘What kind bf little -girls?’ - -“Said the big black bear, ‘Little girls who haven’t any home. I eat them -up, or I take them to my cubs in my den.’ - -“Said the good ghost lion, ‘Why don’t you eat little girls that have -good homes?’ - -“‘’Cause,’ he said, ‘’cause the fathers and mothers would be so, so -angry. They would come and hunt me and kill my dear baby cubs. I’m only -looking for little orphan girls. Answer my question quick: Have those -little girls on your back got any parents?’ - -“‘No,’ said the dear lion, ‘but they have the next best thing—they have -a Daddy Grandpa. He’ll kill you and eat your cubs if you dare to touch -them. Stand aside, wretch!’” - -Titus, at this quietly dramatic command of the lion, became so convulsed -with amusement that Bethany, in confusion, stopped, and would not go on. - -Titus, recovering himself, begged her pardon, but she was inexorable. - -“’Ceptin’ Daddy Grandpa, no boy shall ever know what became of the good -lion and the bad bear,” she said, firmly, but without the slightest -resentment, for she immediately went on talking to Titus on other -subjects. - -She did not seem to show much curiosity with regard to the English boy, -though he was gazing at her with the greatest amusement and interest. - -Her prattle soothed the Judge; she was beginning to be a great comfort -to him. A little girl about the house was more company than a boy, and -she was quieter. He liked boys, and yet there were times when he would -just as soon have a whirlwind in his study as his dear grandson Titus. -Bethany was never noisy, never violent. She crept about the house after -him like a little mouse. - -“Yes, dear,” he said; “what is it?” for she was patiently waiting for -him to answer some question. “May you go to drive with me this -afternoon? Certainly; it is much pleasanter to have a little girl than -to go alone.” - -Then, for they had all finished eating, he got up from the table. - -“I want to speak to you, my lad,” he said, laying a hand on the shoulder -of the English boy. - -Titus looked pityingly after Dallas as the Judge led the way to the -large, handsome parlor—the one room that they all disliked, since there -was no woman in the house to give it a homelike air. - -The Judge closed the door after him, then he turned to Dallas. - -“My boy,” he said, kindly, “I am very sorry to inform you that you have -come here through a mistake. Mr. Folsom was not authorized to send you. -I do not see anything for you to do but to go back.” - -Whatever the English boy’s feelings were, he bravely surmounted them -and, quietly bowing his head, he said, respectfully, “very well; I will -do as you wish.” - -“You look pale,” said the Judge, kindly. “I do not think the air of New -York is good for growing lads, so if you wish I will allow you to stay -here a few days before going back to Mr. Folsom.” - -The boy’s face flushed gratefully. “I am greatly pleased to accept your -offer, sir; I will stay gladly.” - -“I will advise Mr. Folsom of my decision,” said the Judge, “so that he -can be making other arrangements for you. In the meantime, amuse -yourself as best you can. My grandson will, I know, do all he can to -entertain you,” and the Judge paused and glanced delicately at the lad’s -thin suit of clothes. - -“I will take you to my tailor’s this afternoon.” - -Dallas’s face became as red as fire. “I would rather not, sir; if I am -not to stay here I can accept no favors.” - -“Nonsense, my boy,” replied the Judge. “By staying a few days you are -accepting a favor, and you are not suitably dressed for this cold -weather. If I were a poor boy, and you a well-to-do man, would you not -give me a suit of clothes?” - -“Yes, indeed,” he said, earnestly. - -“Then think no more about it. It is no disgrace to be poor. It is a -disgrace to suffer when friends are willing to relieve you.” - -The Judge paused, and the interview was closed. - -Dallas went away, and Titus was informed by his grandfather of what had -occurred. - -“I want you to entertain him for a few days,” the Judge said. - -“Very well, sir,” replied the boy, submissively, but there was no -pleasure on his face, nor graciousness in his manner. - -“Don’t you like this boy?” asked the Judge. - -“I don’t know him,” said Titus, gruffly. - -The Judge pondered. Titus was not stuttering; he was disturbed in some -way. - -“He speaks peculiarly,” remarked the Judge, “at least to our ears. We do -not hear very much that broad sound of the ‘a’ here.” - -Titus maintained a grim silence. - -“Suppose you were alone in the world?” suggested the Judge, softly. - -“I’ll take care of him, sir,” said Titus, almost roughly, and he hurried -away. - -He kept his word. For five days he was just as attentive to the stranger -as one lad could be to another. They were scarcely separated one hour, -and there was not a hint of discord between them. The Judge saw very -little of them except at meal times. He was struck by the exquisite and -unfailing courtesy of the newcomer. Nothing ruffled him, nothing caused -him to forget his good manners. They really seemed to be a part of him. -Sometimes the Judge felt a vague uneasiness that all this politeness hid -something that ought to have been revealed—that the boy was too -agreeable to be genuine. He was pretty sure that Titus agreed with him -in this, although he had never heard him discuss his new friend with -anyone. - -“Titus,” he said one day when Dallas happened to be away with Charlie -Brown, “Dallas’s visit is drawing to a close. I hope that he considers -it a successful one.” - -Titus gave him a peculiar look. “I think he does, sir.” - -“The servants have been respectful to him, I hope.” - -“They’ve got to be,” said Titus, grimly; “he has a way with him—” - -“What kind of a way?” inquired the Judge. - -“Hard inside and soft out,” replied the boy, “and his blood is blue. -Theirs is only red.” - -“Is he proud of his culture?” - -“He’s got a pedigree,” said Titus, gloomily, “a pedigree as long as your -arm, and he carries it in that old leather bag. It takes the de Warrens -away back to William the Conqueror.” - -“Why, so have you a pedigree for that matter,” and the Judge smiled. - -Titus looked up quickly, and the Judge opened one of his table drawers. -“When I was in England last I went to a heraldic office. I knew that -Sancroft was an old English name, and I wished authentic information -respecting our descent. There I saw our armorial bearings and got the -pedigree. Here it is.” - -The boy eagerly took the long slip of paper. - -“Do you see,” said the Judge, “you can trace your ancestry back to a -viking of Norway.” - -“Hooray!” said Titus, suddenly brandishing the paper as if it were a -weapon, “farther back than his. May I show this to Dallas?” - -“Certainly.” - -The boy stopped on his way out of the room and said in an injured voice, -“Why didn’t you show me this before, sir?” - -“I didn’t know that you would be interested,” said the Judge, in much -amusement. “We pay, or have paid, so little attention to such matters in -America. However, you are typical. The younger generation is thinking -more about ancestral descent than ever the older ones have thought.” - -Titus ran away, and the Judge gazed thoughtfully out of the window. -Sukey was on the balcony nodding and bowing very energetically at a -number of common street pigeons who were very anxious to perch beside -her. - -Higby had put her bath out in the sun, and it looked very attractive to -them, but she was determined that they should not bathe in her china -bowl. - -One male pigeon lighted on the railing, and, strutting and talking to -the princess, at last persuaded himself that she was favorably inclined -toward him. He flew boldly on the edge of the dish. Whereupon Sukey ran -forward, seized him by the short, soft feathers of the neck, and in a -most unprincesslike rage shook him and dragged him about, until at last -he was glad to get away from her. - -The Judge smiled and stepped out on the balcony. - -He looked down on a calm, homelike scene. All about him were handsome -houses standing in their own grounds. The snow lay thickly over -everything now, even the trees were laden with it, but the winter scene -had a beauty of its own. The day was not cold; it was barely freezing. -Roblee was sweeping the concrete in front of the stable in his shirt -sleeves. Two of the maids were brushing a rug at the back door, and Mrs. -Blodgett was standing in the sunshine watching them, with nothing but an -apron thrown over her head. - -Presently Dallas came through the stable and down the walk to the house. -The Judge noticed what a kind smile he threw each of the servants as he -passed them and how respectfully they eyed him. - -He waited till he heard the lad coming up the stairs and through the -hall outside his study, then he stepped out to meet him. - -How well the boy looked! His new clothes had come the day before. In -deference to his wishes, the Judge had ordered black for him. Dallas had -been very much touched—indeed, he had almost broken down—and he had -confided the information to the Judge that his inability to put on -mourning for his beloved father had been a great grief to him. - -“Dallas,” said the Judge, kindly, “Mr. Folsom expects you to-morrow -evening. You must take the early morning train from here.” - -A quick, heavy shadow passed over the boy’s face, but he said, -composedly, “Very well, sir. I shall be ready.” Then he passed on to his -room upstairs. - -With a strange sinking of the heart the Judge paced slowly up and down -the hall. He was sorry to send the lad away, very sorry indeed, for he -feared that he did not want to go. - -Presently he paused in his walk and went to the big hall window -overlooking the street. Where was Bethany? The mild afternoon was -drawing to a close. It would soon be dark; she ought to be in. Just -after dinner she had gone for a drive with him, then had asked -permission to take some flowers to a sick child a few doors away, but -she should have returned by this time. Ah! there she was, crossing the -street. But what was the child doing? - -The Judge’s eyes were affectionately fastened on the little white-fur -figure coming toward the house. In the middle of the snowy avenue she -had paused. A coal cart, lately passing, had shaken off some black lumps -on the street. Bethany was surveying these lumps with interest. “Now, -what has she got in her little head?” thought the Judge with amusement. - -Suddenly the child bent over. She carefully set down the little pink -beribboned basket in which she had carried the flowers to the sick -playmate, drew a tiny handkerchief from her pocket, and spreading it in -the basket she took off her gloves and was carefully lifting the lumps -of coal one by one, when she had two interruptions. The first came from -two ladies, neighbors, who were going to their homes near by. The Judge -saw them stop and speak to Bethany, then he opened the window. - -In unconcealed amusement they were asking her what she was going to do -with the coal. - -She seemed to be shyly evading their questions, and as they passed on -the Judge heard one of them say, in a clear voice, “How curious it is -that a black, dirty thing like coal should have such a fascination for -the average child!” - -Bethany’s second interruption was not so easily put off. Mrs. Blodgett, -whose keen eyes surveyed not only the interior of the Judge’s mansion -but also its exterior and the avenue on which it was situated, had -espied the stray lamb, and the Judge saw her fat figure descending the -steps with considerable agility and pouncing upon Bethany. - -“Here, dear child,” she said, “come into the house this minute.” - -Bethany protested slightly, but Mrs. Blodgett calmly seized the basket, -turned it upside down, took her by the hand, and led her into the house. - -Just before they arrived outside his study the Judge closed the window -and went inside beside his fire. - -“Sir,” said Mrs. Blodgett, knocking on the half-open door, “can you -speak to this little girl?” - -“Come in,” he said, and Mrs. Blodgett walked in, still holding Bethany, -who looked disturbed and a little rebellious. - -“Now, sir,” said Mrs. Blodgett, decidedly, “I wish you would speak to -this little girl, for she don’t mind me. I’m tellin’ her all the time -that, though you don’t like wastefulness, yet meanness is hateful to -you, and she do the strangest things. She picks up coal and little bits -of sticks for the fire, an’ she goes round an’ smells the soap—” - -“Smells the soap?” repeated the Judge, in bewilderment. - -“Yes, sir; I caught her the other day. She were in your room. You know, -sir, you has in your bathroom sandalwood soap. Master Titus, he have -pure Castile; the strange boy he have common toilet; in the kitchen we -have Hittaker’s.” - -“Ah! Hittaker’s,” interposed the Judge, “is that a good soap?” - -“Fine, sir, for a cheap soap. But what I was goin’ to say is this: This -here little girl loves good soap, and, young as she be, she knows the -difference. She rolled your cake in these weeny hands, she put it to -that little nose, she wanted it herself, but what do she do? She slips -into your dish the little bit of sandalwood that I’d given her, she goes -to the upper hall closet an’ takes a cake of Hittaker to her own room.” - -“Well!” observed the Judge, patiently. He did not understand what all -this talk about coal, and sticks, and soap meant, and he did not like to -see the sensitive child stand there looking like a culprit. - -“Sir,” said Mrs. Blodgett, solemnly, “she be a-tryin’ to save.” - -The Judge started. This threw a new light on the subject. - -“Yes,” Mrs. Blodgett continued, “I know that this little girl has been a -poor little girl, but her mother were a lady. I can tell by her ways, -an’ I’m tired of tellin’ her that you don’t want her to be a poor little -girl no longer, a pickin’, tradin’, savin’ little girl. You does the -business. She has only to be good an’ not wasteful, but also not -beggarlike. What’s what in one place isn’t what’s what in another. She -have mentioned River Street. Now, River Street aint Grand Avenue.” - -“Very well, Mrs. Blodgett,” said the Judge, with a reassuring nod, “I -will talk to her,” and in great relief the fat woman surrendered the -culprit to him and went away. - -After the housekeeper’s departure Bethany advanced somewhat timidly to -the fire, and, taking off her cap, coat, and gloves, placed them in a -neat little heap on a chair. Then she looked up apprehensively at the -Judge. - -“You’re not angry with Bethany, are you, Daddy Grandpa?” - -“No,” he said, “I’m not angry.” - -“We used to do it at Mrs. Tingsby’s,” she said, spreading her little -hands to the blaze. “Annie, and Rodd, and Goldie, and I used to take -little pails and go round the streets; on barge days we got lots.” - -“What do you mean by barge days,” asked the Judge. - -“Days when the barges came up the river with coal. Then the trucks took -it round the city. We followed the trucks. We could keep the kitchen -fire going for days. Lots of children did it, Daddy Grandpa.” - -The Judge was ominously silent, and Bethany went on in a depreciatory -way. “Mrs. Tingsby was very good to me. When my mamma died she said, -‘You must do all you can to help her, but do not go round to the hotels -with her.’” - -“To the hotels?” repeated the Judge. - -“Yes, sir; to the back doors. They give poor people leavings from -plates. Mrs. Tingsby used to get quite nice things sometimes, such as -turkey slices, broken cake, perhaps even whole mutton chops, fish heads -and tails, cut apples, decayed bananas, melted ice cream, lumps of -pudding—” - -“Stop!” implored the Judge. - -Bethany looked up at him quietly, for she had been gazing at the fire -and speaking in a dreamy fashion. - -“They were very good, sir. Once I found a little turnover in a pail Mrs. -Tingsby brought home—the sweetest little turnover I ever ate. There were -lots of surprises. You know Jimmy Fox, the dog man, don’t you?” - -“No, I don’t know him.” - -“Well, he has lots of dogs, and he lives out the back road near the iron -works. Jimmy always carried a bag; Mrs. Tingsby, she took a pail. One -night Jimmy got a whole rabbit. He was so pleased; but Mrs. Tingsby said -there must have been something the matter with that rabbit, or they -wouldn’t have given him a whole one. However, Jimmy didn’t die, and he -ate it. She saw him.” - -The Judge tried to smile, but he could not. He did not find Bethany’s -reminiscences at all amusing. - -“Child,” he said, suddenly, “promise me that you won’t pick up any more -coal.” - -Bethany looked at him in surprise. “Why, course not, Daddy Grandpa, if -you don’t want me to.” - -“And take the soap Mrs. Blodgett gives you; don’t use Hittaker’s.” - -“Very well, Daddy Grandpa,” she replied, quietly. “Has Bethany been a -bad girl?” - -“No, child, no; but it is not necessary for you to be so economical.” - -“I don’t know what that means.” - -“It means saving. Do you think that Titus ought to go and pick up sticks -for the fire?” - -“No, sir.” - -“Why not?” - -“Because he isn’t a little poor boy. He is your very own child.” - -“Yes, he is my very own grandson, and you are my very own -granddaughter.” - -She took a quick step toward him, and in her excitement made one of her -rare slips in speaking. “But he was borned that way.” - -“And you are made that way,” said the Judge, firmly. “I make you my -little granddaughter. Unless the Lord takes my money away from me, you -will never have to pick up coal again.” - -“I didn’t think you would send me back to River Street, Daddy Grandpa,” -she said, earnestly. - -The Judge was silent, not knowing what turn her thoughts would take. - -“I thought I was your little girl,” she went on, earnestly, “your little -poor girl. I picked up sticks and coal to help you. It is a good deal -for you to take a little poor girl when you have a rich boy to keep up.” - -“Child,” said the Judge, firmly, “I don’t wish any distinction to be -made. You and Titus are on the same footing.” - -Bethany made a little obstinate movement of her neck. “My mamma told me -all about it, sir. She said, ‘Bethany, when I am dead, remember a -’dopted child isn’t like a real child. She must be sweet, and good, -because people are watching her. She must save everything, even a pin. -She must say every day, “Lord, keep me gentle like a lamb.”’” - -The Judge, somewhat disconcerted, said hastily, “I wish your mother had -not told you that.” - -Bethany shook her head patiently. “You are very kind, sir, but you can’t -change me—I’m only ’dopted. I’m not borned your really grandchild.” - -Her companion was silent for a few minutes, musing on the enormous power -of early impressions and maternal influence. At last he said, somewhat -impatiently, “Then I suppose that as I am not your real grandfather you -do not care much for me.” - -Bethany had begun to carefully stack her little arms with her wraps to -take upstairs, but she suddenly laid them down again. - -“Sir,” she said, facing him once more, “last night I said to Ellen and -Susie, said I, ‘Girls, you must have been dreadful fond of your dear -grandpa, who was your real grandpa, when I am only his play grandchild, -and I just love him—just love him,’” she repeated, earnestly. - -The Judge looked down at the little face glowing in the firelight. - -“You are a good child,” he said, softly, and he bent over and kissed her -forehead; “whatever you say, you are my own dear granddaughter after -this.” - -She smiled happily, then bent in a reproving way over the pigeon, who -had come in and was pecking at one of her gloves that had fallen on the -hearthrug. - -“Little saint, you must not soil Bethany’s glove. You are a rich bird, -and do not understand that poor little girls have to be careful of their -clothes.” - -Sukey seized the glove and did her best to toss it into the ashes. - -Bethany patiently took it from her, then she looked round. “Daddy -Grandpa, where is Sukey’s pincushion? She wants something to play with.” - -The Judge took the cushion from a drawer and put it on the hearthrug, -and the pigeon, trotting over to it, began to pull out the large-headed -pins and throw them about the carpet. - -“I’ll pick them up,” said Bethany, “just as soon as I put my things -away,” and she again filled her arms with her wraps, the Judge agreeably -placing the cap on the top of the pile. - -“Good-bye,” she said, sweetly, “I’ll soon be back.” Then she bent -forward and looked mysteriously out into the hall, which Higby, strange -to say, had not yet lighted. - -“What do you see?” asked the Judge. - -“The yellow, spotted dog,” she replied, in a whisper. “I just caught one -little glimpse of his tail. He’s running upstairs. Maybe I’ll find him -under my bed.” - -The Judge watched her toiling up the staircase. What a strange child! He -had never heard her express any fear of the darkness. Indeed, it was so -peopled with ghosts and fancies that he doubted if it had any terrors -for her. It was rather filled with companionship. He often heard her -talking to Ellen and Susie, to her mother and the yellow, spotted dog. -Then he must also take into consideration that she was the child of -poverty. Children nursed in the lap of luxury can afford to have nerves. -The children of the poor must steel themselves to privations. Bethany -had never been accustomed to lighted halls till she came here. - -Dear little child! What kind of a woman would she make; and as the Judge -went back into his study he put up a fervent prayer, “O! Lord, let me -live till I see what is to become of my own child and the child of my -adoption.” - - - - - CHAPTER XI - DECEIT AND FORGIVENESS - - -Every morning before breakfast Titus went out to see his pigeons. He -really had not time to do much more than look at them, for he was not an -early riser. His real work in taking care of them was accomplished in -the afternoon, at the close of school. - -Bethany had found out about this habit of his of visiting the pigeon -loft, and when he left his room in the morning he always found her -loitering outside, waiting for an invitation to visit the “dear birds.” - -“Come on,” Titus always said, and taking her hand he would run out to -the stable. - -The pigeons knew her as well as they knew him, and he often allowed her -to give them a few handfuls of hemp seed. This seed, being of an oily -nature, was not fed continuously to them, but they dearly loved it, and -when Bethany stretched out her palms the pigeons flocked round her. - -She shivered with delight when she felt their soft necks against her -fingers, and she never laughed lest she should frighten them, although -Titus, standing in the background, was often convulsed with amusement. - -The pigeons, in their anxiety to get the seed, would crowd each other. -Then there would be fights. The combatants, withdrawing from the others, -would seize each other by the heads and drag each other about, finally -coming back to find all the seeds gone. Their rueful faces when they -contemplated Bethany’s empty palms were very amusing, and with a foolish -air they always listened to the little girl’s gentle reproaches on the -subject of quarreling. - -Sometimes they had dances. That was their nearest approach to play. If -they were particularly hungry when they saw Bethany coming with the hemp -seed, they would all flap their wings and dance about her, often lifting -themselves off their feet and turning round and round. - -Since Dallas had come to Riverport he, too, had formed the habit of -going out to see the pigeons, but on the morning of the day on which he -was to leave, Titus and Bethany did not find him waiting for them. - -“I-I-I don’t expect him,” said Titus. “I hope—I mean, I think—he’s -packing. His train leaves in an hour and a half. Come on in, Bethany. -I’ll run up and see if I can’t help him.” - -Bethany trotted into the house and went into the dining room. The Judge -was just entering it, and presently the servants filed in for prayers. - -After prayers came breakfast, and then as the Judge and Bethany sat at -the table Titus entered with a slow step and a rueful face. - -“Dallas is ill, grandfather,” he said, slowly. - -The Judge looked up. “What is the matter with him?” - -“I don’t know, sir,” said Titus, in a peculiar manner. “His face is red, -and he keeps his head under the bedclothes.” - -“He was quite well last evening,” said the Judge, and his mind ran back -to the night before, when, to his great relief, the English boy had been -cheerful and entertaining, instead of moping, as he had feared he would -do when he was informed that he must go back to New York. - -“Yes, sir,” said Titus, “he played those games fast enough.” - -“Perhaps he has taken cold,” said the Judge; “I will go up and see,” -and, throwing his napkin on the table, he went slowly upstairs. - -Dallas was red and feverish, and his eyes were bright. - -“Have you a headache?” asked the Judge. - -“A splitting one,” replied the boy. - -“And a pain in your back?” - -“Fearful pain,” and the boy groaned. - -“I will send for a doctor,” said the Judge. “Will you eat anything?” - -“O, no, no; thank you,” and he shook his head. - -The Judge went downstairs and telephoned to his physician. Then he went -back to the dining room and finished his breakfast. - -As he left the dining room the doctor arrived. Not his own family -physician, to the Judge’s disappointment, but his assistant. - -“I wished to see Dr. Moberly,” he said to the young man, who pleasantly -informed him that Dr. Moberly was in New York. - -The Judge said nothing, but on accompanying him to the English boy’s -room he saw that the young man was considerably puzzled by the case. - -One minute he said he thought the lad was sickening for measles, then he -inclined to scarlet fever, then to a feverish cold. - -The Judge kindly but firmly told him that he would not require him to -prescribe for the case, and, bowing him out, he again went to his -telephone. - -He would request the superintendent of the City Hospital to call. He had -been greatly impressed by his knowledge of boys. - -An hour later Dr. Reynald drove up. - -“Against my rules, you know,” he said, shaking his head at the Judge; -“no private practice, but I couldn’t refuse you. What do you want?” - -The Judge told him. “I have an English boy staying with me. He was to -have gone to New York this morning. He is ill and can’t go; won’t eat, -and I am anxious about him.” - -“Take me to him,” said Dr. Reynald. - -They went upstairs together, and Dr. Reynald, after giving a sharp -glance round his patient’s room, went to the windows and pulled back the -curtains. Then he sat down by the bed and fixed his bright, gray eyes on -the boy. - -Dallas became a more furious red than ever under his glance, and when -the doctor said, “Let me feel your pulse,” he half hesitated. - -Dr. Reynald, however, gave a peremptory tap on the bedclothes, and the -boy put out his hand. - -It was only detained a short time. The doctor bent over him, passed a -hand over his forehead, whispered a question, to which the boy gave a -reluctant reply, then, getting up, he nodded to the Judge and went out -of the room, followed by an ashamed, despairing glance from his patient. - -The Judge took him in his study and shut the door. “Nothing dangerous, I -hope; not smallpox, for example.” - -“Worse than that,” replied Dr. Reynald, shortly. - -“Worse? What can it be?” - -“A touch of moral leprosy—the boy is shamming.” - -“Shamming!” exclaimed the Judge. - -“Yes. I don’t know the reason; perhaps you can tell me.” - -“He looks sick,” said the Judge, uneasily. “I don’t want to distrust -your word, but is it possible that you are mistaken?” - -“Not possible. We sometimes have such cases at the hospital. Then I made -him confess himself that he was. Tell me something about this boy.” - -The Judge immediately told him all that he knew, and he had only uttered -a few sentences when he became convinced that Dr. Reynald was right. - -“It’s the old, old story,” he said, when he had finished what he knew of -Dallas’s antecedents. “I ought to know it better than most people. It is -easier to do wrong than to do right.” - -Dr. Reynald smiled. “Yes, you ought to know; and yet I envy you your -beautiful faith in human nature which you have kept, in spite of your -profession.” - -“God knows I have tried to hold on to it,” said the Judge, earnestly. “I -would be willing to lie down and die if for a moment I gave up my belief -that there is good in every human heart.” - -“This is not a heinous case,” said Dr. Reynald. “In fact, it is rather -flattering. That storm-tossed lad finds this a quiet haven. He dreads to -leave it.” - -“But his duplicity,” said the Judge. “I must be severe with him for -that. Now, evidently last evening when I told him he must leave he was -much shocked. Yet he hid his real feelings.” - -“He was thinking out a plan,” said Dr. Reynald. “He is a skillful -diplomat. What are you going to do with him?” - -“Tell him to get up and take the train for New York,” said the Judge, -firmly. - -“And let him come back again next week.” - -The Judge smiled. - -“Come, now,” said Dr. Reynald, “confess that you are slightly pleased—an -old fellow like you finding a slip of young life clinging to you.” - -The Judge laughed outright. “Ah! doctor, it is my environment that the -boy likes. His poor young soul craves comfort.” - -“Not altogether,” and Dr. Reynald shook his head obstinately. “I’ve seen -luxurious interiors where a boy slip would not want to take root. -There’s something about you, Judge, attractive to young life. You ought -to have a dozen youngsters.” - -His friend stretched out his hands. “Heaven forbid! but I will confess -it caused me a pang to send this boy back to the New York whirlpool. -Perhaps I am not sorry to shelter him for a time. Something else may -turn up for him. Would you like him?” - -“No, thank you,” said Dr. Reynald, politely. “A hospital home and an old -bachelor father would be cold comforts for your boy. No, keep him, but -try to break him of that iniquitous habit of shamming.” - -“Do you suppose he has been deceiving in other things?” asked the Judge, -anxiously. - -“You said he had eaten no breakfast?” - -“Yes, I did. He has eaten nothing this morning.” - -“He has been cramming himself with soda crackers. I smelt them on his -breath.” - -“But I cannot bring up such a boy as this with Titus,” remarked the -Judge, indignantly. - -“Do you think he can deceive your grandson as easily as he deceives -you?” asked the doctor, sharply. “Ah! the _finesse_ of youth—nothing -equals it but the equal understanding of youth.” - -The Judge reflected for a minute. Titus’s manner had been very peculiar -when he announced Dallas’s illness. He had also gone off to school -without showing any particular concern about the English boy. - -“I believe Titus knew,” exclaimed the Judge. - -“I believe he did,” said Dr. Reynald, coolly, “from what I know of -Titus. Don’t distress yourself about a little lying. Children all take -to it as ducks to water. The main thing is to get them out of it, before -they get their feathers wet—and it takes a lot of soaking to wet them.” - -“Titus is no story-teller,” said the Judge, thoughtfully, “though he -does other provoking things.” - -“How old is he?” - -“Fourteen.” - -“Then if he has not acquired the habit of lying he won’t get it now. -Don’t be afraid of the English boy, Judge. Give him a chance. It’s an -awful world for motherless and fatherless lads. I see them on the rocks -every day.” - -“But I ought to send him back to New York,” said the Judge, weakly. - -“No such thing. Go upstairs, give him a tremendous scolding, then -forgive him. You’re not bound to keep him if he proves outrageous. But -he won’t. He’s a delicate slip; he’s looking for some soft corner to -creep into like a sick cat or dog. Put yourself in his place, Judge; put -yourself in his place.” - -The Judge did, and he shivered. “I will let him stay,” he said, -suddenly, “on your recommendation, but he must be talked to.” - -“Good-bye,” said Dr. Reynald, with a mischievous face, “good-bye. Let me -know when you have a serious case again,” and he hurried out into the -hall and downstairs. - -The Judge went thoughtfully up to Dallas’s bedroom. - -The boy was half dressed, and when his friend and protector came into -the room he sank on the bed in an attitude of the deepest dejection. - -From the depths of his good, kind heart the man was glad to see that the -boy was desperately ashamed of himself. - -“Dallas,” he said, kindly, “what have you to say for yourself?” - -“Nothing, sir, nothing,” said the lad, turning his face away. - -“You have deceived me,” said the Judge, softly. - -“Yes, I have deceived you,” said the boy, in a dull voice. - -“You feel badly about it?” - -“I don’t know,” said Dallas, wearily. “I suppose I do. I am so tired, -sir. I have heard my father speak of hunting in England. The fox turns -and twists; he does not know where to go.” - -The boy’s attitude was so listless, his manner so utterly dejected, that -the Judge’s heart was touched with pity. No frantic protestations of -regret, no tears would have appealed to him as did this simple -hopelessness. The boy was done with stratagems. - -“Dallas,” he said, gently, “do you like my grandson?” - -“Pretty well, sir.” - -“You have pretended to like him better than you do?” - -“Yes, I have.” - -“You have been making yourself agreeable, hoping that I would change my -mind about adopting you?” - -“Yes, I have,” he replied, bitterly. - -“And when you found you had to go back to New York, what did you plan to -do?” - -“I didn’t plan to do anything,” said the boy, in a low, fierce tone. -“What could I do? Your friend, the clergyman, is as poor as a church -mouse; he couldn’t keep me. I’d have to work in some low, dirty place. -O, Lord! I wish I had strength enough of mind to poison myself.” - -“Dallas,” said the Judge, “are you a lazy boy?” - -“Is it laziness to hate smelling, poverty-stricken people and their -queer ways, to dread to rub elbows all the time with men and boys that -talk horrid, vulgar talk, and that don’t understand you?” asked the boy, -almost rudely. - -“I asked you whether you disliked work,” said the Judge, firmly. - -The boy stared at him. “I like to study, to handle nice, clean books and -hear nice, clean language; but what does it matter what I like? You have -washed your hands of me,” and, dropping his head, he miserably toyed -with an open penknife that he held in his hand. - -The knife was red and stained, and the Judge eyed it suspiciously. -“Dallas,” he went on, decidedly, “deceit is easier to some natures than -to others. I want you to tell me in just how many ways you have tried to -make things appear other than they are since you have been here.” - -The boy got up in a tired way, sauntered to a closet, and opened the -door. “There!” he said, bringing out a small box and setting it down on -the floor. “I’ve deceived you all about these ever since I came,” and -taking a little key from his pocket he opened the padlock on the box and -threw back the perforated lid. - -The Judge started. There on a perch in the box sat two tiny owls—the -softest, grayest little owls he had ever seen. They sat close to each -other, seemingly not at all afraid, but fixing their large, beautiful -round eyes on Dallas they uttered a simultaneous and soft “Too whoo, -whoo, whoo whoo!” - -“Well!” exclaimed the Judge, “well!” - -“They are California screech owls,” said the boy, in a dull voice; “my -father’s pets. He loved birds, and bought these once in San Francisco -when he was touring. When he died he asked me to take care of them, and -I have done so for his sake, though I hate them.” - -“You hate them!” said the Judge. Was it possible that he had at last -found a young person that did not like birds? - -“Yes, I hate them,” said the boy, energetically. “I hate all birds. I’ve -been pretending to like pigeons to curry favor with your grandson. It -doesn’t matter about speaking the truth now that I am going away.” - -The Judge looked from the bits of raw meat in the box to Dallas’s red -penknife. - -“Where do you get food for them?” - -“I buy meat or beg it; and, in fact, all the family but Titus think that -I’m taking a raw-meat cure. Titus caught on to me, though I don’t know -whether he understands what kind of creatures I’m feeding.” - -“I hope you don’t keep them in that little box at night?” - -“O, no; I let them fly about my room at night. They sleep all day.” - -The Judge put on his eyeglasses and stared at the little feathered -creatures, who were sleepily blinking their eyes. - -“Would they fly away if you let them out?” - -“I don’t think so, sir. My father used to let them out at night, and -they would catch sparrows and bring them to our room and eat them.” - -“How curious!” remarked the Judge. Then he went on, “We have no cats -about the house. Let them have their liberty, but give them plenty of -meat. We have not too many sparrows here.” - -Dallas looked sharply at him, but the Judge, taking no notice of his -glance, calmly put his glasses in their case and returned them to his -pocket. Then he said, irrelevantly, “Dallas, are you wholly English?” - -“No, sir; only on my father’s side. My mother was a Western girl.” - -“Has she any relatives living?” - -“Only distant ones, and all poor as poverty.” - -“How long has your father been dead?” - -“Three months.” - -“You missed him when he died?” - -The boy gave him a look, such a look of utter, hopeless grief, of -unavailing, stifled grief, that the Judge’s kind heart ached with a -sudden ache of pity and comprehension. - -“Boy,” he said, “you want a new father.” - -“Ah! that is something I shall never have,” exclaimed Dallas, his whole -soul rising in a protest of misery and revolt. - -“Here is an unworthy substitute,” said the Judge, quietly tapping his -breast. “Stay with me, Dallas; be my boy.” - -The lad once more looked at him. He was more demonstrative than Titus. -If conditions had been a little different he would have thrown himself -on the neck of the kind man before him, he would have sobbed out some of -his unhappiness to sympathetic ears. But the Judge was a comparative -stranger to him, and he was so miserable, and so ashamed of himself, -that it seemed as if he could not be happy for a time at least. - -“Get back into bed,” said the Judge, softly. “You are tired and worn out -from mental stress and worry. Your meals will be served here to-day. -To-morrow, if you feel like it, come downstairs and take your place -among us. Only one thing I ask of you—be honest with me, Dallas. Will -you, my boy?” - -The lad turned and threw himself full length on the bed. His whole frame -was shaking, and he could not utter a word. - -The Judge did not insist, for he was a wise man. Softly closing the -door, and gently shaking his head, he went slowly downstairs. - - - - - CHAPTER XII - THE YELLOW SPOTTED DOG - - -“I wonder what Titus will say?” muttered the Judge to himself. “I wonder -what Titus will say? Perhaps I should have waited to ask him.” - -“Titus,” he said, when his grandson returned home from school, “what do -you think of the English boy?” - -Titus grinned, then he said, “How is he?” - -“Did you think he was very ill?” inquired the Judge. - -“You’re going to keep him,” said Titus, bluntly. “I knew you would. I -knew he would get round you.” - -“Do you like him?” asked the Judge, anxiously. - -“Not I,” said Titus, contemptuously. “I think he’s a great, big fraud.” - -The Judge sighed. Titus’s manner was cool, but he must be greatly -stirred about the matter, for he was not stuttering at all, and at each -reply he made to his grandfather he stepped slightly forward. - -Finding himself crowded against the parlor door, the Judge opened it and -went in. - -“Grandson,” he said to Titus, who was still advancing, “I want you to do -more good in the world than I have done.” - -“I’ll be satisfied to do half as much,” replied Titus, dryly. - -“You liked the boy when he came,” said the Judge, uneasily. - -“I’ve never liked him for one single minute,” said Titus, striking an -inlaid table with his fist. “I’ve pretended to like him.” - -“So you pretend, too?” said the Judge. - -“If I didn’t pretend a bit,” said Titus, energetically, “I’d be fighting -from morning till night, with no stops for meals. Suppose I told half -the fellows in school what I think of them?” - -“Suppose I told half the men downtown what I think of them?” reflected -the Judge, with inward shrinking. - -“But there’s different kinds of pretense,” said Titus, still with -animation and still pursuing his grandfather, who, occasionally looking -over his shoulder, was stepping cautiously round the room. “I saw the -fellow was going to stay here. I wasn’t going to block him. I can keep -out of his way.” - -“Then you are not prepared to receive him as a brother?” - -“Brother—nonsense,” said Titus, disrespectfully. “I tell you, -grandfather, it’s easier to father a boy than to brother him.” - -“He is going to be honest now,” said the Judge. - -“Moonshine!” exclaimed Titus, angrily stamping his foot. “He’s a born -actor, like his father.” - -“Titus,” said the Judge, mildly, from a corner where he had taken -refuge, “I never saw you do that before. You have been a respectful—” - -“Well, I don’t feel respectful now,” said the boy, furiously. “How can I -respect you when I see every Tom, Dick, and Harry pulling the wool over -your eyes?” - -“Our interview is at an end,” said the Judge, “and if you will step back -a little I will move toward the door. I am sure that upon thinking this -matter over you will see an apology is due to me.” - -Titus sulkily dragged himself from the room. With a sinking of the heart -the Judge noticed that his limp was more perceptible than usual. - -“Grandson,” he called after him. - -Titus turned round. His grandfather’s face was glowing. - -“How can you ever think for an instant,” said the Judge, “that any boy -or any girl can take the place of my only dear child?” - -Titus’s sullen face melted. - -“I want to make a noble man of you, my boy,” continued the older man, -advancing with both hands outstretched. “I want you to have a great, -generous heart, to get out into the huge world and make thousands of -souls happy. You cannot expect all those souls to be responsive. You -have got to make them happy, in spite of themselves; and how can you -hope to influence thousands when you shrink from only one, and only a -slightly uncongenial soul, at your own fireside? O, my dear grandson, -love everybody, love everybody!” - -It would have taken a sterner soul than Titus’s to resist such words, -such ambitious and loving affection. - -“Grandfather,” he said, slowly, “I’m sorry.” - -The Judge caught his outstretched hand. “My dear boy,” he said, “my dear -boy,” and he pressed the black head to his heart. “My _own_ dear boy.” - -Titus uttered a grunt of delight, and ran away. That _own_ was for him. -Fifty thousand English boys could not come between him and his -grandfather. - -“Hello, chickie,” he said, catching up Bethany and her big school bag as -they appeared in the doorway. “Hello, chickie,” and he carried her and -the bag up the first of the long staircases. - -Laughing and catching her breath with delight, Bethany, after she was -set down on her feet, threw a kiss after Titus and then mounted the next -staircase to her room. - -Titus, pursuing a joyous pilgrimage to the stable, encountered Higby, -and gave the old fellow a playful dig in the ribs, which sent him into -his pantry with a crease of delight forming itself about his lips. Mrs. -Blodgett, pursing her lips over a spoiled pudding, was restored to good -humor by a playful pinch and a teasing “Hello, Blodgieblossom!” She -forgot to scold further, and Martha the cook bent over the dish in -question with a relieved smile. - -Dashing through the kitchen, Titus tossed Jennie’s apron under the -table, then scampered out to tease and comfort Roblee. - -Bethany, as usual, hurried to put away her things, then, kneeling on a -chair before her big basin, she washed her little face and hands and -trotted downstairs to have her before-luncheon chat with the Judge and -the pigeon. - -It was astonishing how little waiting on the child required. The Judge -had been ready and willing to engage a youthful maid to attend her, but -Mrs. Blodgett had begged him not to do so, saying that an extra servant -would only be in the way, and that Bethany really required such a small -amount of attention that any of the present maidservants felt it a -pleasure to give it to her. Therefore Bethany had a small room all to -herself between Mrs. Blodgett’s and Dallas’s. - -Not finding the Judge in his study, Bethany devoted herself to the -princess. - -“I have been learning a new song about you,” she said, prettily. “Now, -listen,” and taking her red dress in her hands she made a little curtsey -and began: - - “This is the birdie I love the best, - This is the Sukey I love to caress. - This is the birdie I love the best, - This is my darling Sukey.” - -In the midst of her bowing and singing the Judge came into the room. -Sukey was standing with one claw uplifted, a pair of attentive eyes -fixed on Bethany, and an expression that seemed to say, “Very pretty, -indeed; please sing some more.” - -“Where did you learn that, little girl?” inquired the Judge. - -“I just changed it, Daddy Grandpa,” said Bethany, wheeling round. “It is -really and truly a dolly song, but I put in ‘birdie.’” - -The Judge was looking intently at her. Was she not going to inquire -about the English boy? She had known that he was ill when she went to -school. - -“Don’t you want to know how Dallas is?” he said, suggestively. - -“O, yes, poor Dallas. Is he a sick boy yet?” - -“No, he is better. He is going to stay here, Bethany.” - -She looked up quickly. “To be your other boy—the boy you were looking -for when you found me?” - -“Yes—exactly so.” - -She made no reply, but, sitting down in the little rocking-chair that -the Judge kept in his study for her, she thoughtfully took Sukey on her -lap and began to stroke her pretty hood. - -“Are you glad?” inquired the Judge. - -“I would rather have had Charlie Brown,” she said, frankly. “Couldn’t -the Browns take Dallas, and let us have Charlie?” - -The Judge did not reply. What a mysterious thing was child nature. -Bethany was sweet and kind with Dallas, but she did not like him as she -did Titus and Charlie Brown. - -What was it about the English boy that did not harmonize with the -natures of either Bethany or Titus? It could not be a racial difference, -for the boy was half American. Probably Bethany and Titus, being -essentially honest, felt that there was something about the stranger -that was hidden from them. They did not quite trust him. Now, if Dallas -were to turn over a new leaf and try to be strictly honorable, to try to -mean just what he said, their slight aversion might change to real -liking. - -“Daddy Grandpa,” asked Bethany, suddenly, “must I call Dallas -‘Brother’?” - -“Yes, you must,” said the Judge, firmly. He would do his best to -reconcile these strong young natures. - -Bethany’s face became dreamy. Her fingers stopped stroking the pigeon; -she was wandering off into her spirit land as she often did when things -in her material world went contrary with her. - -The Judge, who had been standing watching her, walked back and forth, -and finally extended his promenade to the hall. - -When he approached the doorway or entered the study he could catch -sentences from Bethany. - -“Yellow, spotted dog, you must not bite clothes. Be a good, gentle dog, -or boys will throw stones at you. Brick, will you let poor doggie sleep -in your hogshead to-night? He is lonely all by himself.” - -“So the colored boy slept in a hogshead,” murmured the Judge. - -“Hark,” said Bethany, suddenly, “I hear his bark, his sweet, sweet bark. -O, my dear Bylow, my lovely spotted dog, I could hug you.” - -The Judge, happening to be near the hall window, and happening to hear a -dog bark, instinctively looked out. - -To his amazement a colored boy with a dog was passing on the opposite -side of the street—and the dog was spotted. - -“Bethany,” he said, suddenly, “is your colored boy very black?” - -She threw up her little head, and, losing her thoughtful expression, -came back to earth. “No, sir; Brick is a kind of a red-brown boy—like -bricks. That is why the boys called him Brick.” - -The Judge involuntarily stretched out a hand. He felt like hailing the -dirty-looking mulatto boy now getting out of sight. - -“There goes Bylow again,” exclaimed Bethany, “hear his sweet little -voice, Sukey.” - -The Judge started. The dog in the street had just uttered a succession -of barks as he turned the corner—most unmelodious and ugly barks, to -tell the truth, but then Bethany’s geese were all swans. - -“Child,” he said, “I thought that dog was a ghost dog.” - -“So he is a ghost dog,” she remonstrated, gently, “but don’t you know I -told you he was a real dog, too. He isn’t dead. He is only losted.” - -“And when he barked just now was he barking as a ghost or a real dog?” - -“He is a ghost,” she said, thoughtfully, “because I never see him in the -streets now, but I guess his bark must have been real—it sounded so -_naturelle_. Perhaps he is in the air,” and she looked up at the -ceiling. - -The Judge laughed and resumed his walk, but the dog question interested -him considerably, especially later on when he took to meeting the same -colored boy about town with a spotted dog at his heels. The dog had -yellow eyes, and the Judge, knowing that if the boy remained in -Riverport it would only be a question of time as to his meeting with -Bethany, shuddered and shrank within himself, for he knew what the -little girl would do. - - - - - CHAPTER XIII - HIGBY AND THE OWLS - - -Until the coming of Bethany and Dallas the Judge had never seen Titus in -contact with other boys and girls. - -The boy had been brought up alone; when he wanted playmates he went -abroad to seek them. He very seldom brought a boy home to play with him. -The Judge had often remarked this, and had attributed the absence of -children from his own house as an outward sign of Mrs. Blodgett’s inward -dislike of “clutter.” However, since his adoption of Bethany and Dallas -he had noticed that boys and girls came about the house quite freely. - -There was therefore some other reason for their previous absence; and in -his new interest in boy and girl study he decided that one child alone -in a home is not a sufficient nucleus for a play place. He cannot gather -round himself as great a variety of interests as several children can. - -Another thing the Judge marveled at was the amazing strength of youthful -character. Titus when alone had been submissive, patient, self-effacing. -As soon as these other children had been introduced into the house he -became self-assertive, particular as to his rights, and yet not -disagreeable. - -Even little Bethany had a strong character. Little men and women—grown -people in miniature, the Judge often thought to himself as he gazed at -the three young heads about his table. - -Dallas’ success as a member of his family had so far exceeded his most -sanguine expectations. The Judge had written a rather amusing letter to -Mr. Folsom on the subject of his adoption of the boy, and had told him -firmly that although he was keeping Dallas he was to be the last child -of adoption. He wished no others. Alas! the Judge was no prophet. - -Mr. Folsom, in his delight, had come to Riverport, and had had a -three-days’ visit at the Judge’s and many long conversations with -Dallas. The Judge could not but acknowledge that Dallas was in part a -changed boy. He could not expect him to make himself over all at once, -but the lad was certainly more sincere. He was still polite, exceedingly -polite, but he did not bore himself and other people by doing things -that were against his nature. - -For instance, he had given up his ceaseless companionship of Titus. The -two went their respective ways. They did not quarrel, neither did they -harmonize and to the Judge’s amusement they even went to school at -separate times. - -If there was a question of championship Titus was at Dallas’ side, and -one day the Judge did hear a species of altercation between the two -boys—an altercation that had ended in a reconciliation. Titus had Dallas -penned in a corner out in the garden under the Judge’s study balcony. - -“Look here, if you don’t try to drop your blamed old English accent I’ll -stop fighting for you,” he said. “I ’most got my nose broken to-day. -Can’t you say ‘fast’? It isn’t ‘fost.’” - -“Fast, fast,” said Dallas, submissively. - -“Now say ‘last.’” - -Dallas said “last” and “mast” and many other words, until at last he got -out of patience and rebelled. “I don’t want to lose my English accent. I -am proud of being English.” - -“Then you do your own fighting,” said Titus, furiously. - -“What makes you think I can’t fight,” said Dallas, and his pale cheeks -grew pink. “I’m taller than you.” - -“Taller,” sneered Titus; “you’re soft like a stick of candy.” - -He began his sentence on his feet, but finished it on his back in a bank -of snow. - -He was up like a flash and standing before Dallas, who was ejaculating, -“You little black lead pencil.” - -Titus’s wrath was all gone, to the Judge’s amazement, and he was -gurgling in his throat: “How did you do it? Teach me that trick—come on, -Dallas, teach me.” - -The English boy’s contempt faded, and he smiled complacently at the -changed face before him. - -“I will tell you something,” he said, grandly. “Once my father was to -figure in a wrestling match on the stage. Now, he was a good all-round -athlete, but he was not satisfied with himself. We were in New York at -the time. You have heard of Billy McGee, the trainer?” - -Titus caught his breath. “O, yes—yes.” - -“Well, he got Billy McGee to come and train him. It cost a fearful sum, -but father gave it. Billy taught my father, and my father taught me. So -you needn’t fight my battles any more.” - -Titus’s face was glowing. “I say,” and he linked his arm in Dallas’s, -“tell me some of those tricks of throwing. I don’t know a thing.” - -The Judge groaned. The boys were walking away together arm in arm. “O, -this glorification of brute strength,” he muttered, “the bane of the -rising generation,” and holding out a finger to the pigeon, who was -bowing and cooing to him, he stepped into the house. He must talk to -these boys on the subject of fighting, and seating himself in his -favorite chair he began to prepare a fatherly or grandfatherly speech. - -Bethany came in and, seeing that he did not wish to be disturbed, sat -down on the rug with Sukey. - -Higby brought in the afternoon mail, and with a stifled yawn laid it on -the table and departed. - -Poor old Higby! He was a very early riser, and at the close of every day -he began to get sleepy, and immediately after the seven o’clock dinner -of the household he retired to his room. Jennie, the parlor maid, took -upon herself his duty of going to the hall door when there was a ring. - -On this particular day the Judge composed his speech, then went down to -dinner with Bethany. Somewhat to his dismay, somewhat to his relief, and -just a little to his amusement, Titus and Dallas came to the table like -two brothers. Their eyes were on each other, their attentions were for -each other; they scarcely saw the Judge and Bethany. - -Ah! the enthusiasm of youth, and shaking his head the Judge requested -them both to accompany him to his study after dinner. Upon arriving -there he talked to them very seriously on the evil of picking quarrels -with other boys and the demoralizing effects of an appeal to brute -force. - -The boys were listening attentively and respectfully, when their minds -were most forcibly withdrawn by a succession of blood-curdling shrieks -from the floor above. - -With one accord they all sprang to their feet and ran out to the hall. - -“B-b-burglars! Th-th-thieves! F-f-fire! M-m-murderers!” rang out in -stammering tones. - -Poor old Higby, in the fine dressing-gown that the Judge had given him -at Christmas, and in a pair of bedroom slippers to match that Mrs. -Blodgett had made for him, was running downstairs, screaming at the top -of his voice, and with eyes starting from his head. - -“R-r-ring up the police,” he went on, “c-c-catch them alive!” - -“Higby,” commanded the Judge, firmly, “calm yourself and tell us what is -the matter.” - -The old man gained some degree of composure upon arriving in the hall -and seeing himself surrounded by friends. - -“They ’m-m-most killed me,” he said, wildly, stepping up and down and -clasping his head with his hands. “They t-t-tried to dig their knives in -me, but I r-r-ran like a fox.” - -Though considerably older than the Judge, his head was not white, but -was covered with a thin crop of grizzled hair. - -“O, blood!” he moaned, miserably, bringing down one hand and extending -it toward the Judge, “blood! blood!” - -There were red streaks on his hands, and the Judge looked at them -seriously. - -“Higby, begin from the first. What has happened to you?” - -The man began to step backward and to stammer violently. - -“S-s-sir, I was in m-m-my room, b-b-back through the upper hall in the -L.” - -“Turn him round, some one,” called Mrs. Blodgett, who was hurrying up -from below. “He’s backing downstairs.” - -Titus sprang forward, took him by the sleeve, and led him past the group -of frightened maids to a safe corner by the hall window. - -From there he went on with his story. - -“W-w-was in m-m-my room in my bed, s-s-sound asleep, d-dreaming of home -and m-m-mother. S-s-sir,” and he turned to the Judge, “w-w-we lived in a -little house b-b-by a running brook, n-n-near a w-w-wood. I woke up, -s-s-sir, c-c-crying. Then I heard a s-s-sound, sir, l-l-like the sounds -of o-o-old times.” - -“Well?” said the Judge, encouragingly. - -“I-I-I got up, sir; I put on m-m-my gown a-a-and s-s-slippers; I-I-I -went out in the h-h-hall, sir.” - -“And what happened?” - -“Th-th-the burglars must h-h-have been waiting, s-s-sir. They j-j-jumped -on me from behind. Th-th-they struck me on the h-h-head with their sharp -knives, s-s-sir.” - -“Did you see them?” asked the Judge, sharply. - -“I-I-I thought I saw one, sir. He was all in b-b-black, sir, and he -d-d-dug his knife in me.” - -The Judge looked mystified. If it had been the middle of the night he -would have believed Higby’s story, but early in the evening he could not -for a moment suppose that any thieves would rush out and attack a person -who was simply walking along a hall. However, he turned to the boys. - -“Come upstairs with me and we will make a thorough search.” - -“Wait a minute, please, sir,” said Dallas. “May I ask Higby what the -sound was that drew him from his bed?” - -“T-t-the sound of owls, sir,” stammered Higby, “of little ow-ow-owls -sittin’ on the trees an’ hootin.’” - -Dallas gave Titus a queer look, and the latter immediately burst out -laughing. - -“’Pon my word; poor old Higby,” gasped Titus. “You’ve been fooled.” - -The manservant looked at him indignantly, while Dallas turned to the -Judge, who was waiting for an explanation. - -“You told me not to keep my birds so closely, sir, so I let them do -pretty much as they please. I open my window every night at dusk. They -must have got in through some other window into the hall. It is a habit -of owls to pounce on anything furry or hairy.” - -“I know that,” said the Judge, with a hearty laugh. “I’ve heard of their -descending on the fur caps of hunters. Well! well! poor old Higby,” and -he turned to him. “Come, now, get over your fright. Those were only -little birds that attacked you—Master Dallas’s little owls.” - -Higby was in a speechless rage. He did not dare to get angry with the -Judge, but he did not for a moment believe that his assailant had been a -bird. - -“Come, come,” said the Judge, humoring him; “to satisfy you we will make -a search.” - -Quite a procession moved up the stairway—the Judge, holding Bethany’s -hand, in advance, the two boys and the servants following. - -Upon arriving in the upper hall and traversing it to the L beyond, where -the servants’ bedrooms were over the kitchen and pantries, Dallas kept -looking sharply about. - -One peculiarity of the Judge was that he liked plenty of light. At night -the electric lights were turned on in every hall and every room, whether -occupied or not. - -“I do not see the culprits,” said Dallas, “but I will call,” and he gave -a tentative “Too whoo, whoo, whoo whoo!” - -“Too whoo, whoo, whoo whoo,” said two little soft voices near them. - -Dallas stuck his head out a window. “Ah, there are the miscreants, -sitting on the limb of that tree.” - -The branches of the big, leafless old elm brushed the hall window, and -the little owls sitting there were calmly contemplating a rising moon. - -The Judge let Bethany look at them, then he said: “See, Higby, there are -your burglars. There are no traces of any others here. No man would be -bold enough to pass through this lighted house, and if he did why should -he attack you?” - -“I-I-I saw him,” burst from Higby, “a b-b-big black man.” - -The Judge looked down at Bethany. She was tightly clasping his hand, and -the expression of her face was doubtful. - -“They were owls that attacked you, Higby,” he said, decidedly; “don’t -let me hear any more nonsense about a burglar. Come downstairs, -children,” and he turned about. - -Bethany would not let go his hand, even when they entered the study. - -“I will read aloud a little to compose her thoughts before she goes to -bed,” the Judge reflected. “No fairy tales to stimulate her imagination, -but something that she will not understand,” and he took from his -bookshelves a volume of Milton’s works. - -He seated himself by the table, drew his reading light toward him, and -began. After a time he looked down at the little figure sitting on the -stool at his feet. - -“I suppose you don’t understand this, Bethany,” he said, patronizingly. - -“O, don’t speak, don’t speak, Daddy Grandpa,” she said, impatiently; -“please go on.” - -She had lifted her head. Her face had lost its dreamy expression. It was -glowing, radiant, and intensely interested. The Judge went on -mechanically: - - “‘There the companions of his fall, o’erwhelmed - With floods and whirlwinds of tempestuous fire—’” - -Why, the child was understanding what he read, he reflected with -surprise, or, rather, she was putting her own interpretation upon it. - -“Bethany,” he asked after a time and slowly closing the book, “what do -you make of all this?” - -“O, I think,” she said, eloquently, “that Satan must be the father of -that bad black man that struck Higby, and his home must be in the fiery -gulf.” - -The Judge smiled. “Bethany, those were Dallas’s owls that attacked -Higby. There was no black man there.” - -“But, Daddy Grandpa,” she said, incredulously, “little birds could not -be so bad.” - -“I fear they were bad, Bethany. Birds are not all good. They are like -children. Some are good, some bad; but come, it is your bedtime.” - -“It doesn’t feel my bedtime,” she said, quickly. - -“But it is. Little girls ought to get to bed early.” - -“Sometimes I sat up late when my mamma was alive,” she said, coaxingly. - -“I think you would better go,” said the Judge. - -“There is no one up there that I know,” she replied, drearily. - -“How about Ellen and Susie; you tell me they live in the wall beside -your bed.” - -“They have gone to the country to see the place where they are buried,” -she said, quickly. - -The Judge was silent. Sometimes his studies of childhood mystified him. -Just now he was afraid that Higby’s foolish story had caused this -heretofore fearless child suddenly to become afraid to go upstairs to -bed. - -While he was thinking she silently caressed the pigeon, which had hopped -up into her lap, but after a time she put up one of her tiny hands and -convulsively seized his large one. “Daddy Grandpa, read some more. You -have a honey voice.” - -The Judge smiled broadly, then he took up a magazine from the table. -What would best put a little girl to sleep? Ah! the political situation -in the far East, and this time Bethany did go to sleep. Her head was -against his knee so he could not move, but through the doorway he hailed -Dallas, who was coming out of the sitting room opposite, where he and -Titus prepared their lessons. - -“Dallas, send Mrs. Blodgett here.” - -“Mrs. Blodgett,” he said, when she came puffing up the stairway and -stood before him, “have a bed moved in this little girl’s room and let -one of the maids sleep there in future. I don’t think that it is good -for her to be alone so much.” - -Mrs. Blodgett nodded her head. “Just what I’ve been a-thinkin’, sir. I’m -willin’, I’m sure, to take her in my own room next door.” - -“No, no; you need your sleep,” said the Judge. “You are getting older, -and you have brought up one family. Let one of the girls attend to this -child.” - -“She do talk a lot to herself in her room, sir. I hears her laughin’ and -chattin’ with them two blessed little girls of yours.” - -“Doesn’t she talk of other children?” asked the Judge. - -“O, bless you, yes, sir, an’ she also talks to tables, an’ chairs, an’ -carpets, an’ that ghost mouse. She do have a name for everything in her -room, an’ you’d think she had a whole menagerie to hear her growl an’ -bark.” - -“Must be the spotted dog,” said the Judge to himself with a smile, and -he again took up his magazine. - -Mrs. Blodgett waddled away. “Sure an’ it’s a wonderful thing how at his -age he do take on the ways of a family man. He ought to ’a’ had a dozen -children.” - -The Judge was instinctively a model person at managing children. To -begin with, he loved them; and to end with, he did not fuss over them. -Just now he was becoming intensely uncomfortable on account of this -solid little lump against his slightly rheumatic knee. If he took her up -and laid her on the sofa he might wake her, so he gave her a cautious -little push. She gently rolled over. He guided her head and assisted the -indignant pigeon to fly away. Now Bethany was comfortably stretched on -the floor sleeping soundly, her pretty mouth wide open, after the -fashion of civilized children. - -The Judge had heard of Indian mothers closing the mouths of their babes, -so he bent over and gently brought the child’s lips together. To his -delight they stayed closed, and with a sigh of relief he stretched out -his long legs, took up his magazine, and looked enjoyably about him -before he went on with his reading. - -He was intensely fond of his books; indeed, reading was almost a passion -with him, and the evening hours were the pleasantest part of the day. - -Work was over, the children were safely in the house—for since Titus’s -accident he always had a little anxiety about boys and girls absent from -their own rooftrees—and he was free to amuse himself in this most -delightful of ways. - -Alas for the Judge! He had not read five sentences when he heard a -shrill, insistent voice, not in this upper hall, but in the one below, -away down by the front door. - -“I tell you I must see the Jedge. I hevn’t got no message.” - -Strange to say, the voice, which was shrill and uncultured rather than -noisy, woke Bethany like the sound of a trumpet. - -Instantly rousing herself she sat up and looked composedly at the Judge. -There was not the slightest sign of confusion about her, or any -bewildered look as of a child hastily aroused from sleep. - -“Daddy Grandpa,” she said, quickly, “I’m the yellow spotted dog,” and -beginning to growl and snap horribly she went down on hands and feet and -crawled under a big table in a corner—a favorite play place because it -had a long, heavy cover whose sheltering folds concealed a castle, a -ship, a railway train, an ogre’s cavern, or any other fancy that Bethany -chose to indulge in. - -The Judge looked after her submissively. His part was not to rebel, but -to await developments. - -Then he turned his head to the doorway. - -“Sir,” said Jennie, in a puzzled voice, “there’s a little poor girl -craving to see you.” - -“Bring her up,” said the Judge, promptly, and he tried to think where he -had heard that shrill voice before. - -Two minutes later he knew, for Airy Tingsby, the smart, pert girl, the -head of the Tingsby clan, and the one who had been so saucy and -impertinent to him, now stood within a few feet of his chair. - - - - - CHAPTER XIV - A CALL FROM AIRY - - -The Judge was a gentleman, and he was in his own house, so he got up, -motioned her to a seat, and said, politely, “Good evening.” - -“Good-night,” she said, curtly, then she looked about her. - -O, the bitter envy and discontent of her face! The Judge averted his -eyes. It was not pleasant to see that expression on the face of a child, -for she was scarcely more. - -“Why hev you got all this?” she said, suddenly, “and why hev I nothin’?” - -The Judge made no reply except that of a mournful shake of his head. - -“And why,” she went on, leaning eagerly forward from her chair and -pinching the thin sleeve of her jacket, “do I hev to wear shoddy cloth -an’ you wear broadcloth?” - -“Only Oxford cloth,” said the Judge, protestingly, “only Oxford in this -house suit.” - -“How much did you pay for it?” she asked, grimly. - -He made no reply, and she continued. “How much did you lay out on that -diamond neck pin; how much did your house cost and this fine furniture?” - -The Judge discreetly evaded an answer by a protesting wave of his hand, -and at the same time thought that a few months previous to this he would -have bowed the saucy little girl from the room. Now, although he wanted -to get back to his reading, and he gazed wistfully at the heap of new -literature on his table, he was really anxious to hear what the girl had -to say. Something lay under this—so much he had learned of youthful -ways. How the little wretches understood that he was interested in their -confidences. They were as sharp as grown people. - -“My girl,” he said, kindly, “what have you come here for?” - -Before she answered him she pointed half angrily, half curiously at -Sukey. “What’s that, an’ what’s it starin’ at me for, like as if I had -no right to be here?” - -The pigeon, to the Judge’s amusement, had resented Airy’s entrance as -much as Bethany had done, but instead of retreating she advanced, -stepping high, and curling each pink claw with indignation. The look on -her high-bred face was delicious, coming from a pigeon. Her -greenish-yellow eyes were stony, every feather in her hood quivered and -seemed to close more protectingly about the little white head. - -Once or twice before, the Judge had seen her act so in the presence of -poor people, and he had laid her indignation down to a sense of smell, -like that of the average dog, who hates a poor or dirty person. But Airy -was a very clean child. The Judge knew what kind of a mother Mrs. -Tingsby was, so his theory of smell would scarcely hold good in this -case. - -Possibly Sukey was sympathizing with Bethany, whom she had got to love -devotedly. Anyway, the Judge must answer the child, so he said, kindly, -“The bird is a pigeon; she is called a Jacobin.” - -“She’s an ugly thing, anyway,” replied Airy, sulkily, “an’ she hates me. -Shoo!” and she clapped her hands. - -The indignant Sukey, who was no heroine, turned tail and scuttled under -Bethany’s table, where the Judge heard a low growl of welcome greet her. -Then, his two pets safely disposed of, he looked expectantly at Airy, -hoping that she would remember his question as to her motive for calling -on him. - -She did remember, and, sinking back in her chair with a weary gesture, -she said, “I’ve come to tell you that I wants to be a lady.” - -“Poor child!” murmured the Judge, involuntarily. Then he tried to -realize the enormity of the question thrust upon him. - -“Why warn’t I born a lady?” pursued Airy, uncompromisingly. “Why warn’t -I born your darter?” - -“Well,” said the Judge, hesitatingly, “well, I suppose it pleased -Providence to place you in another sphere.” - -“Sphere!” she repeated, sneeringly, “that’s no word I ever heard. ’Pears -to me you rich folks make up words to suit yourselves. But if I don’t -know ‘sphere,’ I do not know one word, an’ that’s ‘Fiddlesticks!’” - -“Well,” replied the Judge, with a polite movement of his head, “your -word is a good old English one used by Southey, Thackeray, and others, -though I believe it is unknown just how and why it became an expression -of contempt.” - -“I don’t know what you’re drivin’ at,” replied Airy, wearily, “but I’m -goin’ to say my proposition over again: I wants to be a lady!” - -The Judge, having heard the announcement before, bore it this time with -fortitude. - -“An’ what’s more,” she went on, “I wants you to help me.” - -“What can I do?” inquired the Judge, in mild surprise. - -“You can gab a bit with me now an’ then,” she said, earnestly. “Why, I -took to you the first time I see you.” - -“Did you,” replied the Judge. “Well—ahem!—I fancied that you were not -much taken with me.” - -“I was mad with you,” she said, frankly, “mad because I figgered that -you was returnin’ Bethany on us. Then I was mad to think you didn’t get -mad.” - -“Do you get mad easily?” - -“Awful easy. I’m mad ’most all the time. You see, I’m kind of sickly, -an’ I hevn’t much relish for what I eats, an’ nothin’ makes you mad like -pickin’ at yer food.” - -“Poor child!” said the Judge, sympathetically. - -“But I’m goin’ to be a lady,” she said, and her little sharp face -hardened, “if I lives. If I dies it don’t matter.” - -She was silent for a few seconds, being employed in a search among her -patched and darned but clean garments for a rag of a handkerchief, as -white as the morsel of linen peeping from the Judge’s own pocket. - -“And what steps have you taken in the matter?” inquired the Judge, -knowing that he was expected to take an interest in this question of -ladyhood. - -“Fust of all, I’ve quit work,” she replied. “What air you laughin’ at?” -for the Judge was unable to conceal his amusement. - -“Just at the idea of a lazy lady,” he replied; “go on, please.” - -“Did I say I was goin’ to be lazy?” she returned, fiercely. “I’ve just -stopped shopgirlin’ it, but I’m a-studyin’ like sixty.” - -“O, going to school?” - -“Yes, sir. Onct before I went, before I got into Moses & Brown’s big Dry -Goods Emporium—all the latest fashions in ladies’ neckwear, underwear, -street wear, house wear, weddin’ wear, funeral wear, summer wear, winter -wear, an’ so on.” - -The Judge drew a long breath. “Indeed!” - -“Yes, I’m a-schoolin’ it. I tell you, when I saw where Bethany had come, -an’ when that boy of yours come hurryin’ down River Street with books -an’ things for us an’ hurryin’ off again like as we was poisoned, I -begun to think, ‘It’s time I was lookin’ higher.’” - -A doubtful expression passed over the Judge’s face, but instead of -resenting it she went hurriedly on: “So the next time Barry Mafferty -comes in, says I to him, ‘Barry, I wants to be a lady.’ Says he, ‘Then -quit yer shop an’ go to school, an’ I’ll teach you Latin an’ French, -’cause you’ll not get them in the fust grades of the public.’ An’ he -gave me a book. I can say _mensa_ now—_mensa_, _mensæ_, _mensæ_, -_mensam_, _mensa_, _mensa_. _Mensæ_, _mensarum_, _mensis_, _mensas_, -_mensæ_, _mensis_. An’ _musa_, too,” and she glibly rattled off the -declension of _musa_. - -“And do you know what _musa_ means?” inquired the Judge, somewhat -helplessly, when she at last paused for want of breath. - -“_Musa_, amuse,” she replied, quickly. - -“And what is a muse?” pursued the Judge. - -“You don’t know what amuse is at your time of life!” she said, sharply. -“Come on, now, you’re just foolin’ me.” - -“Ask Mafferty to tell you about the Muses the next time you go to him,” -said the Judge. “At present you have a wrong idea of the meaning of the -word.” - -“Hev I?” she said, sharply. “I’ll find out better. Want to hear some -French?” - -“If you like,” replied the Judge, politely. - -“_Javvey_, _tavvey_, _lavvey_, _nouzaviong_, _vouzaviez_, _ilzong_. Do -you know what that means?” - -“I can guess,” replied her friend, calmly. - -“You want ter laugh,” she said, suddenly; “you’re bustin’, I can see, -but wait till I’m gone. I hate to be larfed at.” - -The Judge guiltily hung his head. - -“Now,” she said, in a businesslike way, “I don’t want yer for teachin’ -me French nor langwidges, nor grammar. What I wants is ladyness from -yer. Come on, now, what’s the fust thing in bein’ a lady?” - -She was intensely, terribly in earnest, and the Judge braced up. - -“Well,” he said, seriously, “first of all, before I can give you one -single word of advice, I want to know what you intend to make of young -ladyhood—providing you attain to it.” - -“Don’t understand all yer big words,” she said, “but I catches yer -meanin’. What do I want to be a lady for? I wants to be a lady so as to -make you an’ other men stand round.” - -“Very good,” murmured the Judge; “but go on, pray.” - -“What does you care for me now?” she said, disdainfully. “My name’s mud -to you. I’m a River Street rat. Aint it so?” - -“Well,” said the Judge, in a puzzled voice, “you are so extreme that I -will have to qualify your statement.” - -“It’s true,” she said, grimly, “you ’spises me. That makes me mad, -’cause I know the Lord made us both. That my mother has taught me, an’ I -believe her. The Lord loves me as much as he loves you, but that don’t -satisfy me. I’m goin’ to make you love me, too.” - -The Judge shuddered, despite himself. This little sharp-voiced, -bad-tempered, ambitious, plain-featured specimen of humanity was -extremely repellent to him. It was really an act of Christian charity on -his part to sit and listen to her. - -But he must subdue his dislike. The poor little creature was unhappy. If -he sent her away uncomforted and unaided he would have a sleepless -night. Happily or unhappily for himself, he had so humored his -conscience through life that he was obliged slavishly to obey its -dictates or suffer the consequences. - -Therefore he said, kindly, “What other object have you in becoming a -lady besides that of making men stand round?” - -“I wants to help my mother,” she said, solemnly, “an’ get her out of -River Street. I wants a little home out among the fields for her where -the ’lectrics run past an’ she can come in town fer her shoppin’. She’s -a faithful mother, sir; she’s brought us up good.” - -The Judge’s eyes filled with tears. Poor little, weak, frail creature, -and yet not weak, for a noble spirit animated her sickly body. - -“Now I am with you, my girl,” he exclaimed. “Now I will help you, for -this aspiration is noble.” - -The touch of sympathy caused a smile to break over her face. “An’ the -children, sir,” she said, “could play. There’s grass out there where -they could play. There aint no grass on River Street.” - -“Don’t they play in the park that Mrs. Everest got for the River Street -children?” - -“O, yes, sir, but there be so many feet an’ so little grass. It’s all -tramped down afore it has time to grow. Now, sir, please tell me, for I -must be goin’, what is the fust thing, in your opinion, to be a lady?” - -The Judge considered a minute, then he said: “Let us take your call in -sections. When you came in the house I heard your voice away up here -shrill and insistent. Now, what was there unladylike about that?” - -“I ought to ’a’ spoke low,” she said, eagerly, “soft an’ low.” - -“A real lady always speaks in a sweet voice, my child. Don’t scream when -talking.” - -“The real ladies did that when they come a-shoppin’,” she replied. “They -said, ‘Please show me some white lace,’ jus’ as soft as milk.” - -“Then take that as your first rule,” said the Judge. “Pitch your voice -low. Next I would say that your manner was aggressive when you came in.” - -“An’ what are you tryin’ to give me there?” she said, quickly. “What’s -aggressive?” - -The Judge was intensely amused. Her words were rude, but so well had she -remembered his advice that her voice was pitched in a low, almost a -sweet, key. - -“Rule two,” he observed, “be respectful. Now, I am a much older person -than you. You should not address me in the rude, flippant tone in which -you address a street urchin. But I am perhaps wrong here. In the course -of my life I have observed how popular are the persons who have respect -for everyone—even their own servants. One human being has no right to -treat another human being with disrespect. Just wait a minute and I will -give you an object lesson,” and getting up he rang the bell. - -Presently there was a knock at the door. - -“You hear that?” he said to Airy. “The maid knocks at the door of this -room because it is not a public but a private room. She knocks at our -bedroom doors also. She does not knock at the dining room or the parlor -door. That is one way of being respectful. Now see how politely she will -answer me when she enters,” and he said in a clear voice, “Come in.” - -Jennie stepped inside and stood in her neat gown and white apron looking -expectantly at him. - -“Has a parcel come for me this evening from the druggist’s?” inquired -the Judge. - -“Yes, sir, quite a large parcel. Would you like to have it here?” - -“No, thank you; in my bedroom.” - -“Very well, sir. Is that all?” - -“Yes, Jennie; but no—go to the sitting room and ask Master Dallas to -come here.” - -“Certainly, sir,” and with a pleasant look she closed the door and went -away. - -The Judge looked at Airy. Her lips were parted, her eyes were intense. - -“Now you will see a polite, respectful boy,” he said, and at that -instant there was another knock at the door. - -“Come in,” said the Judge, and Dallas appeared. - -“My boy,” said the Judge, “this young girl is a daughter of a woman who -was very kind to Bethany.” - -Dallas turned to Airy and made her such an exquisite bow that she caught -her breath and gasped, “O, my!” - -The Judge bit his lip. “Miss Airy Tingsby and Mr. Dallas de Warren. Now -you will know each other the next time you meet. How have you been -getting on with your studies this evening, Dallas?” - -“Very well, sir, though perhaps not as well as usual, on account of the -Higby affair. It amused Titus.” - -“Will you give Miss Airy an account of it?” said the Judge. “It is not -polite for two persons to talk before a third of something that he or -she does not understand.” - -In a perfectly calm and courteous way Dallas, without appearing to -notice that his new acquaintance belonged to one of the poorest classes -in society, gave her an account of the unfortunate Higby’s fright. - -Airy hung on his words in entranced silence. Never before in her young -life had anyone addressed her with so much deference. A delightful -sensation ran through her veins. She could have sat till midnight -listening to that mellifluous voice. - -“And now we must not keep you,” said the Judge, when Dallas, having -finished his recital, turned to him. “By the way, though, what are you -reading in Latin just now?” - -“The first book of the Æneid, sir.” - -“You find it interesting?” - -“Intensely so, sir. Æneas had so many adventures.” - -“This young girl is also studying Latin,” said the Judge. “Airy, can you -decline _mensa_ for Dallas?” - -In a low, gentle voice, and with a manner so full of caution that it was -almost terrified, Airy got through her task with credit to herself and -her friend. Dallas listened politely and showed not a sign of a smile. - -After she finished he thanked her, and then turned to the Judge again, -who dismissed him by a smile. - -“I will say good-night, sir,” said Dallas, “then I will not need to -disturb you later on.” - -“Very well, good-night,” and the Judge extended a hand. - -Dallas shook hands with him, bowed to Airy, and left the room. - -The little girl drew a long breath and rose to her feet. “I’ve had -enough for to-night. Sir, if ever I get rich and you get poor, just you -come to me an’ I’ll help you.” - -The Judge smiled mournfully. Poor child—how easy to bridge the gulf -between them by words, and yet she was an apt pupil. - -“You are a little girl to be out alone in the evening,” he said. “By the -way, how old are you?” - -“Thirteen, sir; ’most fourteen.” - -“How are you going to get home?” - -“Some one is waitin’ for me, sir, across the street. He’s a boy does odd -jobs for us. When can I come agin, sir?” she went on, eagerly. - -“When would you like to come?” - -“Say this night week, sir. I’ll hev to shine up my manners till then. -My! but it’ll be hard not to yell in River Street. It’s easy enough to -be soft here, ’cause you’ve no one to yell at you.” - -“This night week, then,” replied the Judge; “good-bye.” - -“Good-bye, sir,” and to his amusement she awkwardly shook hands with -him, then darted from the room like a bird. - -“I’ll have to teach her to go slowly next lesson,” said the Judge, with -a smile, and leisurely stepping into the hall he looked out of the -window. - -Airy was just joining her escort, or escorts, for there were two. To the -Judge’s dismay the electric light across the street shone full on the -faces of Brick, the colored boy, and the spotted dog. - -Both had probably spent the last hour in front of his house, and Bethany -was only a few steps away. Suppose she had gone to the window; and -retracing his steps the Judge went into his study and sitting down began -to think over the visit he had just had. - -The tablecloth waving violently attracted his attention. “Hello, little -girl,” he said, affectionately, “come out. Daddy Grandpa is alone.” - -There was no response beyond a continuance of low growling. - -The Judge had made a mistake. It was not Bethany under the table; it was -Bylow. - -“Good dog,” he said, “come here.” - -She immediately crawled out on all fours, snapping and snarling at every -object she passed, and accompanied by Sukey, who also was in a bad -temper and pecked at everything near her. - -On Bethany’s way to the Judge she suddenly caught sight of a piece of -wrapping paper that had come round a book and had fallen to the floor. -Seizing it in her hands, she tore it to pieces. The Judge thought that -her small teeth also aided in the work of destruction. Not till the -paper was in ribbons, and she herself was damp with perspiration from -the violence of her emotion, did she give up her dog incarnation and -become demure little Bethany again. - -The Judge stared. He had never seen her in a rage before. However, she -was quite self-possessed now, and putting the grumbling pigeon in her -basket and seating herself beside her she began softly to stroke and -smooth her disturbed feathered friend. - -After a time she addressed a gentle remark to the Judge over her -shoulder. “So you have had ‘Airy Mary, so contrary,’ here this evening?” - -“Yes, I have,” he returned. “Why did you not stay out and see her; don’t -you like her?” - -“Airy once slapped Bethany,” she remarked, meditatively. - -The Judge made no reply. Evidently the two girls were not affinities. - -“Annie never slapped Bethany,” the child presently remarked. - -Annie, the Judge knew, was Mrs. Tingsby’s second daughter. However, once -more he did not feel called upon to give an expression of opinion, and -Bethany went on: “To-night week I shall go to the country with Ellen and -Susie.” - -The Judge rang the bell. “Jennie,” he said, when the parlor maid -appeared, “here is a little girl that wants to go to bed.” - -Bethany got up sweetly. She kissed Sukey good-night, then she went to -the Judge and threw her arms round his neck. “Good-night, dear Daddy -Grandpa.” - -“Good-night, my child,” he responded, and as he spoke he felt how dear -indeed the little affectionate, jealous creature had become to him. - -She seemed to part from him with reluctance. However, she took Jennie’s -hand agreeably enough, but in the doorway she turned and fired a parting -shot that immensely amused the unfortunate man attacked. - -“Daddy Grandpa,” she said, sternly, “ladies is born, not made,” then she -disappeared with Jennie. - -The Judge sat down in his big chair, alone at last with what remnant of -calm these children had left him. Which was the more remarkable, Bethany -or Airy? Bethany with her queer, old-fashioned, precocious, yet -strangely childlike ways, or the bitter, repellent Airy? - -How strange that through his life he had heard so little about child -study! He must find out what books there were on the subject. However, -books or no books, these children bade fair to make a psychologist of -him. - - - - - CHAPTER XV - A DRIVE WITH THE JUDGE - - -A few days later the Judge stood at the foot of the staircase leading up -to the children’s rooms and inwardly wondered. - -Bethany was kneeling down on the top step. “O, Lord, forgive me for what -I am about to do,” she prayed, piously; then she unclasped her hands and -took in them a crumpled handkerchief. - -The Judge still stared. She had her dress pinned up, a towel fastened -round her waist, sleeves rolled back, and beside her on the step a -little tin can and a cake of Hittaker’s soap. - -What was she going to do? and the Judge waited. - -She was washing down the steps, and as she washed she softly sang to -herself a homemade ditty: - - “Ellen and Susie they’re with me right here; - Wash little maid, wash the steppies so clear, - Wash for the Judge, and for Titus the boy, - So will you fill their dear hearts with joy.” - -“She is cleaning the steps,” said the Judge to himself, “and is enjoying -it. Mrs. Blodgett has probably gone downtown, and after asking the Lord -to forgive her she has yielded to temptation. It would be a shame to -interrupt, seeing she enjoys it so much,” and with a broad smile on his -face he sat down on the lowest step and waited. - -As Bethany was coming down backward she did not see him until her hand, -going out sideways, deposited the tin pail on his knees. - -“O!” she exclaimed, and giving a great start she straightened herself. - -There were beads of perspiration on her forehead and upper lip, and her -cheeks were flushed. - -“There!” she said at last, and she gazed composedly at the Judge, “I -knew Satan would catch me.” - -“Thank you,” he replied, quietly. - -“O, Daddy Grandpa,” she cried, repentantly, “you don’t think I meant -you—” - -“What are you doing?” he asked, disregarding her question. - -“Well,” she said, wearily, “I saw a little dust on these steps at lunch -time, and I’ve been just crazy to wash them, just crazy.” - -“What have you been doing it with?” he inquired. - -She uncurled her hand, and showed the wet, crumpled handkerchief. “It’s -a very old one,” she said, anxiously, “quite full of holes. I hadn’t any -cloth to dry the steps, so I just blew softly as I sang—I s’pose I’ve -got to be punished,” she said, miserably. - -“Let me see first how you have done them,” said the Judge, trying to -speak sternly, and getting up he walked to the top of the staircase. - -The child had done her work thoroughly. There was not a particle of dust -to be seen. Every square inch not covered by carpet had been carefully -cleaned. - -“Well,” he said, as he slowly came downstairs, “for punishment I order -you to wash them down each day until further orders.” - -She gave him a roguish smile. “Now, Daddy Grandpa, you know that is no -punishment. You are just pretending.” - -“Well,” he went on, “as that would be no punishment, I order you for -work, or play, or whatever you call it, to wash these steps down once a -week, and for penalty you will not be allowed to go for a drive with me -for three days.” - -Her eyes filled with tears. “Three days, Daddy Grandpa—not two, not -one?” - -“No, three,” he said, decidedly, “three whole days.” - -She wiped her eyes with the towel about her waist. “The time will seem -long, but I deserve it. I was very bad. Mrs. Blodgett has gone shopping, -and I thought that you were asleep, and Satan tempted me. I thought he -was laying a trap, but I gave in to him.” - -“Bethany,” said the Judge, kindly, “you were wrong to do what was -forbidden, but since you enjoy a little housework I will get Mrs. -Blodgett to relax that rule, and give you some easy things to do.” - -“Daddy Grandpa,” she said, seizing one of his large white hands and -pressing it to her lips, “if you had wings you’d be an angel.” - -He smiled amiably, and went to get ready for his drive. - -“O, little pail,” said Bethany, seizing the tin, “O, little pail, I am -glad he did not take you from me. I was afraid that would be my -punishment.” - -“What are you talking about up there?” inquired the Judge from the hall -below, where he was putting on his coat. - -Bethany took a few steps forward and put her head over the balusters. - -“I was just telling Bobby that I am glad you did not take him from me.” - -“And who is Bobby?” - -“Bobby is one of the little pails we used to get our butter in. You know -that poor people do not eat the kind of butter that you do, Daddy -Grandpa. Ours was whiter, and it did not taste like Cloverdale butter. -When we went to the grocer’s I always said we were going to buy a Bobby -of butter.” - -The Judge made no remark, but he wrinkled his forehead as he went to the -hall door. - -“A fowl in the pot for every man on Sunday,” a good French king is -reported to have said, and “Cloverdale butter for every citizen in -Riverport,” the good Judge wished in his heart. - -He had a lonely drive. How much he enjoyed having the little prattler by -his side! for Bethany talked a good deal when she was out with him. -There were so many objects of interest to inquire about, and having -perfect confidence in him she never failed to extend her fund of -knowledge when with him. Poor little gropers after truth! How much the -children had to learn! How many questions they must ask of the, to them, -omniscient grown-up ones, before they were sufficiently equipped for the -battle of life! - -On the second day of Bethany’s punishment the Judge, as he was going -down to the sleigh, met Dallas on the front steps. - -“It is a beautiful day,” he said; “don’t you want to come for a drive?” - -A flush of pleasure crept over the boy’s face. - -“Yes, sir, very much; will you be good enough to wait till I put these -books in the house?” - -The Judge nodded, and Dallas ran into the house. - -“How is it that you carry books?” inquired the Judge when he came out. -“I never see Titus with any.” - -“He has a set at home and one in school,” said Dallas, quietly, as they -got into the sleigh. - -“And why have not you the same?” - -“I thought, sir, that it was sufficient for you to buy me one set. I -carry mine.” - -The Judge was touched by this mark of the boy’s thoughtfulness, and for -a few minutes he said nothing. Then he turned round. “Buy another -lot—have just what Titus has.” - -Dallas gave him a peculiar glance. It certainly was not an ungrateful -one. - -The Judge gazed at him more steadfastly. How well the boy looked in his -heavy black coat and dark fur cap! He was stouter, too, than when he -came. Already good living and freedom from care were beginning to show a -favorable influence upon him. But what about the soul? And the Judge -peered more earnestly than ever at him. A good outside was a fine thing, -but the inner things of the heart were what counted, and the elderly man -made up his mind to ask a few questions. However, at first he learned -all he could from the exterior. - -The boy sat beside him very quietly, but his face was proud. “Now that I -think of it,” reflected the Judge, “this is his first appearance in -public with me. This doffing of hats and bowing from well dressed people -flatters his boyish vanity.” - -“Dallas,” he said, aloud, “would you like to be popular?” - -“Yes, sir,” he replied, with a smile. - -“And rich?” - -“Yes, sir.” - -“Do you believe that riches bring happiness?” - -“No, sir.” - -“What do you want to be in life? Have you chosen a calling—a -profession?” - -The boy gave him a hesitating glance, and the Judge delicately changed -his question. “Have you ever thought of being an actor, as your father -was?” - -The boy shuddered. “O, no, no!” - -“Why not? Don’t you approve of the profession?” - -Dallas hesitated a minute, then he said, “It’s not bad for those who get -on; it’s awful for those who don’t.” - -“Would you put your father in the latter class?” - -“Yes, sir, but in this way only. He had poor health. If he had been -strong he would have made his mark. He had brains and application enough -to succeed. With his last breath he begged me not to follow his -profession. Even if I wished to do so, that would keep me from it.” - -The Judge made no comment, and presently Dallas went on: “I have been -behind the scenes, sir. I suppose the public must have theaters, but -they’re hard on girls and young men.” - -“In what way?” asked the Judge, quietly. - -“Well, sir,” said the boy, bitterly, “when a person goes on the stage -his or her home goes to smash.” - -The Judge made no reply, and Dallas went on with animation: “If I had my -way, I’d have no army, no navy, no anything that took men out of their -homes. I suppose you’ve always had a home, sir.” - -The Judge smiled. - -“Then you don’t know what it is to live in a boarding house—to share -everything in common with people that you often despise. Why, sir, when -I come home from school and go upstairs to that little sitting room -where Titus and I study, and shut the door, and feel that it is ours, I -am in paradise.” - -“But you have to come downstairs and eat and drink with the family,” -said the Judge, in amusement. - -“Ah!” said the boy, with his handsome face aglow, “but you are my own -people now. I like to be with you.” - -“Dallas,” said the Judge, abruptly, “tell me what you would like to be -when you become a man.” - -The boy grew somewhat less animated. “You won’t be vexed with me for -being too ambitious?” he said, hesitatingly. - -“Not unless you aspire to the Presidency.” - -“Sir, I do not aspire to that, but I do wish to be a doctor.” - -“Ah! to study medicine—you are fond of your books. I see that.” - -“The only thing that troubles me,” continued Dallas, with some -embarrassment, “is that one’s studies are long and expensive. I feel -that I ought to choose something like a clerkship, so I should not be so -long a burden on you.” - -“You shall be a doctor,” said the Judge, promptly. “You have done well -to speak your mind frankly and honestly. How old are you now?” - -“Sixteen, sir.” - -“Just two years older than Titus, though you are much taller. It is well -for a boy to choose his vocation in life as early as possible. Then he -can prepare for it. You know what Titus wishes to be?” - -“Yes, sir—a farmer.” - -“I can’t gainsay him. I believe in getting back to the soil. He wants a -stock farm, and already I am beginning to get things in shape for him. -Roblee,” and the Judge spoke to the coachman, “drive out toward -Cloverdale.” - -“I have bought a hundred and fifty acres of land,” the Judge continued, -“and have a young man in charge. We have not time to go all the way -there to-day, but you will see in what direction it is. Have you been -out this way before?” - -“No, sir.” - -“Have you not been driving at all since you came to Riverport?” - -“No, sir.” - -“How is that?” - -“Well, Titus does not care for driving, as you know, and I did not care -to ask.” - -“But you like it?” - -“Indeed I do,” he said, earnestly. - -“Then you must often come with me and Bethany. Poor little soul, she is -doing penance to-day.” - -“Yes, I saw her going for a walk with Jennie, with a very downcast -face,” said Dallas with a slight smile. Then he fell into a reverie. - -What a happy boy he was! What good fortune had been his when he fell -into the hands of this kind, agreeable, yet strong man! How much he -admired him! and he stole a glance at the Judge’s quiet face. - -They were gliding along over a country road now. How comfortable they -were in their luxurious fur-lined seat, with warm robes over them, and -their feet on the Judge’s long foot-warmer! The sleigh was an open one, -and on each side of them, and before and behind, they had an -uninterrupted view of a beautiful, snow-covered country. - -Occasionally they met a farmer jogging along on his wood-sled, or going -swiftly in a single-seated sleigh behind a substantial, heavy-footed -country horse. There were also a few sleighs from the city. - -Everybody knew the Judge, and if a lady bowed to him Dallas, in -suppressed delight, also saluted her by touching his fur cap. How he -enjoyed recognition! When he was a man he would wish for no better -enjoyment than this—to drive along the street and have everyone greet -him with respect. But he must work hard for it at first, and he cast a -side glance at the Judge’s white head. Charlie Brown had told him that -the Judge as a young man had worked like a slave to master the -intricacies of commercial law, bankruptcy law, international law, -criminal law, and many other kinds of law that Dallas could not -remember. He would work, too, and he set his young mouth firmly and -looked straight ahead. - -The Judge was murmuring, “God made the country and man made the town”; -then he said aloud, “Just look at the sun behind that grove of spruces, -Dallas.” - -“Beautiful!” said the boy, and then the Judge, taking out his watch, -said regretfully, “We must turn. Home, Roblee.” - -They scarcely spoke until they reached Grand Avenue. When they were -slipping past the fine houses that bordered it Dallas turned to the -Judge. “I thank you, sir, for this drive. I have enjoyed it immensely.” - -The Judge’s keen eyes sought his face. “My boy,” he said, kindly, and he -stretched out one of his fur-clad hands and laid it on Dallas’s knee, -“you must often accompany me and the little girl on our daily drives.” - -The Judge’s benevolent face was luminous in the setting sun. He was -proving himself to be a real father to the boy. Something choked in -Dallas’s throat. He bent his head lower, lower, till a sudden ecstasy -made him seize the Judge’s hand and press it warmly in his own. - -“Just look at that new boy of the Judge’s,” exclaimed Charlie Brown’s -mother as she stood at one of the upper windows of the house, staring at -the Judge in adoration. “What is it about that man that makes everyone -like him?” - -“Good temper,” growled her rather short-tempered spouse, who was sitting -near her, his head buried in a newspaper. - -Dallas’s first drive with the Judge was on the first day of Bethany’s -punishment; his second one was on the second day of retribution, and his -third was on the day rendered ever memorable to the Judge by the -fulfillment of one of his worst fears. He wished, but too late, that -Bethany had had no punishment, that he had forgiven the sin of -step-washing, and had taken her with himself and Dallas. - - - - - CHAPTER XVI - THE SPOTTED DOG AGAIN - - -The Judge and the boy were just arriving gayly home from a most -enjoyable drive. They had been driving, not in the direction of -Cloverdale, but away down the frozen river as it silently wound toward -the sea. - -Dallas had sprung out of the sleigh, and was standing respectfully aside -waiting for the Judge to alight, when the big hall door flew open and -little Bethany appeared, being held back, however, by the protesting -Jennie. - -Her face was absolutely beatific, and she called out clearly, “O, Daddy -Grandpa, I’ve got the joyfullest surprise for you!” - -The Judge, with an affectionate glance at her, began to ascend the steps -in his usual dignified way. - -“Now I have something to thank Satan for,” continued Bethany, dancing in -Jennie’s resolute grasp. “Now I could almost love the naughty creature.” - -The Judge had reached her now, and she broke away from Jennie and clung -to him. “I missed my drives most dreadfully. Jennie took me for a walk -the day before yesterday, Jennie took me for a walk yesterday, Jennie -took me for a walk to-day, and what do you think I found?” - -“Come inside, child, come inside; you will take cold,” said the Judge, -and he motioned to Jennie to close the big front door. - -“There they are—what I found,” screamed Bethany. “O, I am a thankful -little girl to Satan for tempting me that day, ’cause if he hadn’t -tempted me I’d not have walked with Jennie, and if I hadn’t walked with -Jennie I’d never have found my sweet colored boy and my precious, -precious Bylow.” - -The Judge groaned inwardly. Sure enough, in the middle of the hall stood -the grinning colored boy and the ugly yellow spotted dog. - -The Judge preserved a calm exterior, though the colored boy called -warningly, “Keep back, sah—you’s got on a good coat, and he do hate fine -cloes. I’ll hang on to him,” and with might and main he pulled back on -the dirty brown strap about the dog’s neck. - -Dallas, not as wary as the Judge, went nearer, and was saluted by a snap -from the dog’s powerful jaws that made him jump in the air. - -“O, Bylow, Bylow!” cried Bethany, in dismay, and to the Judge’s great -disapprobation she threw her arms round the snapping dog. “My precious -dog, you must not be so bad.” - -The dog put out a long red tongue and lapped her forehead. - -“Bethany,” said the Judge, “come here.” - -“O, Daddy Grandpa!” she exclaimed, fairly throwing herself at him. -“Bethany is ’most dead with joy, and I knew you’d be dead, too.” - -In face of so much enthusiasm and such perfect trust in his hearty -coöperation, the Judge felt that it would be very hard to disappoint the -child, but he was firm on the subject of vicious animals. - -[Illustration: “In the middle of the hall stood the grinning colored boy -and the ugly yellow spotted dog.”] - -“Boy,” he said to the grinning Brick, “what is the matter with that -dog?” - -“Your cloes, sah—turn your coat, sah, jes’ for fun—you’ll not see no -teeth, sah. He’ll jus’ love you. Look-y-here—” and he pointed to a most -disreputable-looking figure descending the staircase from the floor -above. - -The Judge somewhat helplessly took off his heavy coat and threw it over -a chair. These children were turning his house upside down. That was a -tramp coming downstairs—a tramp, pure and simple. But what was it—a -snicker from young Jennie notified him that there was mystery afoot. - -The supposed tramp was apparently youthful, but his rags were so clean -and evidently so freshly made that the Judge became suspicious, and then -that smooth, dark young chin and the red lips under the battered -hat—surely they belonged to his grandson Titus. The old bathrobe, too, -he thought he recognized as one of his own. What nonsense was this? - -Bethany was laughing and clapping her hands, Dallas was giggling, and -Brick was grinning more alarmingly than ever. “Come on, young sah—he’ll -jus’ eat you up wid kindness—no feah in dat dress. Come on, come on—I’se -loosin’ him,” and he let the dog go. - -The creature with the hideous yellow spots actually ran toward Titus -with his mouth open, but instead of devouring him he fawned on him, -licked him, and soon was romping all over the hall with him. - -“Titus,” said his grandfather, “stop this noise and explain your actions -to me.” - -Titus drew up in front of him, and, still holding the dog, who was -playfully biting at his fingers, gave his old hat a blow that sent it -spinning into a corner of the hall. Then he said breathlessly, “This is -the queerest dog you ever saw, grandfather. He hates well dressed -people. When he came he ripped down the seam of my trousers. Brick told -me to go and dress up like a tramp, and see the difference. You know -Brick has been a tramp’s boy.” - -“A what?” inquired the Judge. - -“A boy that goes about with a tramp—you’ve heard of them, grandfather. -He waits on the tramp. Bylow went with him, and he hates well dressed -people and nice houses.” - -“Then his place is plainly not here,” observed the Judge, but under his -breath, for fear of Bethany, who was now ecstatically smoothing the -colored boy’s coat and sleeve. - -“So your name is Brick,” he said, addressing the stranger. - -“Yes, sah,” and Brick showed every tooth in his head. - -His color was indeed somewhat brickish. The Judge had never seen a -colored boy of just this shade before, and he suspected keenly that he -had not been washed for some time. - -“You like this little girl?” he said, indicating Bethany. - -“She nice little girl, sah,” responded the boy, opening his mouth so -alarmingly wide that the Judge saw not only his whole stock of teeth, -but such an expanse of pink gums, tongue, and throat that he gazed at -them in mild fascination. His words were fairly swallowed up in this -pink gulf. - -“She nice little girl,” Brick continued. “She good to dogs an’ cats. I -like dogs meself. Me an’ Bylow’s great friends,” and he nodded toward -the dog, which had calmed down and was lying at his feet panting and -with half-shut eyes. - -“Daddy Grandpa,” said Bethany, in sudden anxiety, “where are they going -to sleep? O, where are they going to sleep?” - -The Judge put up a hand and vigorously stroked his mustache. He knew -Bethany’s generous heart prompted her to wish for them the best in the -house. - -“Well,” he replied, kindly, “we’re pretty well filled up inside, but -there’s a good room out in the stable opposite Roblee’s.” - -“Daddy Grandpa,” she said, timidly, “there’s the big spare room—the blue -velvet room with the gilt furniture.” - -“My friend Colonel Hansom is to occupy that next week,” said the Judge. -“It would be awkward to turn out the boy for him.” - -Brick was exploding with laughter. He was a good deal older than Bethany -and appreciated the situation perfectly. - -“I guess we’s all right in the stable, missie,” he said, with a snicker. -“Bylow an’ me’s used to sleepin’ with hosses. Then we can guard you when -the bogies come about. There’s lots of bogies these days,” and his eyes -grew round, and he rolled them wildly to and fro. - -“Did you see many out West?” asked the little girl, in an awestruck -voice. - -“The air was thick with ’em, missie. They jus’ called me an’ Bylow till -we didn’t know which way fer to go.” - -“Help! Help! Mum-mum-murder!” yelled a sudden voice. - -“Blow that ’ere, Bylow!” muttered Brick, and he made a dart for the back -stairway. “If he aint sneaked away!” - -Titus and Dallas dashed after him, while little Bethany, twisting her -tiny hands in dismay, brought up the rear with the Judge. - -“It’s Higby,” she said, tearfully. “I told Titus to tell him to put on -old clothes. I suppose Titus forgot. O, dear, dear!” - -“Mum-mum-murder,” went on the voice, “help; there’s something caught -m-m-me behind. M-m-missis Blodgett! Girls!” - -“We’re coming,” called Titus, at the top of the stairway; “hold on.” - -“Ca-ca-catch the dishes, some one,” wailed Higby. “O! law-law-law me! -There they go!” - -There was a terrible clatter of falling china, and then Higby’s voice -rose higher and shriller than ever. - -“H-h-he’s got m-m-me by the leg. O! O! O! he’s a-rippin’ me! Help, I -say, help!” - -The boys dashed valiantly down the stairway. Brick caught the dog by the -neck. Higby, true to his habit of backing when agonizing for words, -promptly stepped out behind, and fell in a heap on Brick, Bylow, and the -broken china. Titus and Dallas, nearly choking with laughter, wrestled -with the man, dog, and colored boy to get them on their feet, while Mrs. -Blodgett and the maids rushed from the kitchen and stood with -horror-stricken faces. - -“Boys,” said the Judge’s voice from the top of the stairway, “boys!” and -his voice brought calm to the situation. - -“Yes, sir,” gasped Titus, who was manfully placing Higby against the -wall and holding him there. - -“Take the colored boy to the stable,” pursued the Judge, “and get him to -lock up that dog.” - -“Yes, sir—yes, sir,” replied Titus; then he added, in an undertone, -“Hush up, Higby.” - -“I ca-ca-can’t hush up,” whined Higby. “Look at my pa-pa-pants. Torn an’ -hang-hang-hangin’ like a woman’s skirt. An’ them gir-gir-girls -a-laughin’!” - -It was, alas! too true! Finding that Higby was not hurt, and that his -assailant was only a mischievous, medium-sized dog with his tongue -lolling good-naturedly from his mouth, and that the china broken was not -the best in the house, the maids were laughing heartily. - -“Get up to your room, then, and change your clothes,” said Titus, giving -Higby a friendly push, “and you, boy,” and he beckoned to Brick, “come -on out to the stable with me.” - -Bethany seized upon Higby as he came toward her and the Judge, and so -bewailed his misfortune, and so sweetly comforted him, that the old man -went on his way upstairs with a calmer face. - -“Hurry up,” said Titus to Brick. “I want to get you in your den before -Roblee comes. He’s something of a prig. Dallas, come on, too.” - - - - - CHAPTER XVII - TITUS AS A PHILANTHROPIST - - -The two boys rushed Brick and the dog out to the stable. - -“This way,” said Titus, and he ran upstairs and opened the door of a -small room opposite Roblee’s. - -“It used to be a harness room,” Titus explained, “but was fitted up once -for a bedroom when that old goose Higby took measles and we had to -isolate him. See, here is a bed, and table, and washstand. I’ll get Mrs. -Blodgett to bring out some bedding by and by.” - -Brick looked about him with his tongue and eyes both going. “’Tis a boss -place, sah. Me an’ Bylow’s not slep’ in such a place, nevvah, no, -nevvah.” - -“You see,” went on Titus, hurriedly, “as Miss Bethany is so bent on -keeping you round for a time, I’d like to get my grandfather to have -Roblee take you for a stable boy. He’s looking for one just now. He -won’t like your color, but we’ll try to get some of that off you.” - -“You aint layin’ out fer to wash me, be you, young sah?” said Brick, -anxiously. - -“Yes, you and the dog. You’re both too dirty to live.” - -Brick made a bolt for the door, but Titus got there before him and -locked it. - -“No use to kick,” he said, grimly. “You’re a likely-looking boy, and -you’re a fool to tramp it. I’m going to keep you here for a while and -try to make you halfway decent.” - -Brick went down on his knees. “O, lordy massy, don’t wash me, young -sah.” - -Titus calmly took him by his collar. “Dallas, you’ll help me.” - -The English boy looked down at his handsome suit of clothes; however, he -assented quietly. - -“All right,” said Titus, with a nod of understanding and -good-fellowship, “I thought you would. Go in the house and get some old -clothes of mine from my closet—not too old, mind—and a comb and brush -and some decent soap and towels—lots of ’em; and on your way here dash -across the back way to Charlie Brown’s and get him to bring over that -bathtub he uses for his Newfoundland dog. O, before you go,” he called, -as Dallas was leaving the room, “turn on the heat.” - -Dallas went over to a radiator in the corner, then hurried away. - -Titus continued to hold Brick, who did not cease for one single minute -to beg and pray for release. - -“You shan’t go,” said Titus, inexorably, “you dirty little beast. I’ve -taken a fancy to you. You’ve got to stay here and be our stable boy, and -you sha’nt be our stable boy till you’re clean. I tell you, Roblee would -chuck you out in the snow. He’s cleaner than I am.” - -“I don’t want to stay, sah,” pleaded Brick, earnestly. “Water just -pisons me. O, let me go back to River Street, me an’ Bylow,” and he -gazed helplessly at the dog, who had gone to the radiator and was lying -calmly beside it. - -“It’s for your good,” said Titus, earnestly. “Don’t you want to earn -money and have a bank book?” - -“Money, sah?” said Brick, eagerly. - -“Yes, lots of it—nice clean, rustling greenbacks. But you’ve got to work -for it, my son. Hello! there they are!” - -Dallas and Charlie, with a great laughing and thumping, were dragging -the bathtub upstairs. - -When the door was opened Charlie stuck in his head. “Thought I’d come, -too—sounded as if there was going to be some fun.” - -“No, you don’t,” said Titus to Brick, who on seeing the door open had -tried to make a dash for liberty. Then he addressed the other boys. -“Shut that door, quick. I don’t want this frog to jump. Now, look -sharp—Roblee will soon be home, and I want this over before he comes.” - -“Where is he?” inquired Dallas. - -“Had to take the horses to the blacksmith. I say, fellows, put that tub -here in the middle of the room. Now rush downstairs to the harness room -and get a couple of pails. Then fill them at the hot water faucet and -bring them up here.” - -Brick, with rolling eyes, watched the boys scuttling to and fro. - -“Don’t be such a fool,” said Titus, gently shaking him. “Anyone would -think we were going to hang you.” - -“Bylow,” said Brick, faintly, “sic ’em, sic ’em, good dog.” - -Bylow turned his head. Titus was still in his tramp suit, Charlie Brown -was considerably disheveled from working about his pigeon loft, and -Dallas had taken the precaution, when he went into the house hastily to -change his good suit of clothes for the one in which he had arrived at -the Judge’s. Therefore they were a trio of pretty disreputable-looking -boys, and Bylow, after a lazy look at them, glanced at his young master -as if to say, “What are you worrying about? You are among friends.” Then -he again lay down by the radiator and went to sleep. He knew that those -laughing, chattering boys meant no harm to the shuddering Brick, and he -took no thought for himself. - -“Now,” called Titus, “are you ready?” - -“Ay, ay, sir,” responded Charlie Brown. - -“Then help me undress the criminal,” said Titus. - -In five minutes Brick was seated in a tub of deliciously warm water, and -three pairs of kind young hands were lathering him with soap. - -He gave one yell at first, then he sat still—and enjoyed it, if the -truth must be told. - -“Is this a baf, young sah?” he squeaked, fearfully. - -“Yes, it’s a ‘baf,’” said Titus; “what did you think it was?” - -“I thought a baf was cold, sah. This be warm. O, law!” and he joyfully -paddled with his hands. - -“Stop that,” said Titus, peremptorily; “you’re splashing us.” - -The boys worked like heroes, and in a terrible haste lest Roblee should -return. Brick was rubbed and scrubbed, and at last Titus shouted, “Out -with him and in with the dog.” - -“Young sah,” exclaimed Brick, “where’s my cloes?” - -Shivering with excitement, he stood by the radiator, trying to rub -himself with the towels that Titus had thrown to him. - -“Burnt up,” said Titus. “Master Dallas there took every rag down and -chucked them in the furnace.” - -Brick gave a howl. “An’ me five dollah gold piece sewed in the tail of -me coat!” - -“Five dollar fiddlestick!” said Titus, energetically. “Did you ever see -such a darky? He doesn’t even know how to dry himself. Give him a rub -down, Charlie, will you, while Dallas and I introduce the dog to the -tub?” - -Bylow was a considerably astonished dog. He was no water dog, and the -touch of water to his body was as distasteful to him as it had been at -first to Brick. Titus flung a question over his shoulder at Brick. “Is -he a biter?” - -“Sah,” said Brick, earnestly, “he aint no bitah. I nevvah knowed him to -set his teeth in no one. He’s just a rippah, sah.” - -“That’s good,” said Titus; “come on, boys. I’ll hold and you scrub. -Brick, get on that bed and cover yourself with those horse blankets. -We’ll attend to you presently.” - -It took all three boys to manage the dog. His howls, his bounds, his -cries were prodigious, but he did not once attempt to bite. He was as -shrewd as most dogs, and he knew that the hand on his collar was that of -a master. - -He, unlike Brick, did not enjoy one minute of the bath. He did not care -if the water was warm, and he struggled and kicked until the three boys -were breathless. - -“My! he’s a bounder,” exclaimed Charlie. “What a back! How many breeds -are there in him, colored boy?” - -“Don’t know, sah, but I’ve heard them say as knows that his fathah ought -to ’a’ bin a bulldog, an’ his grandmothah were a pointah.” - -“Let him out,” ordered Titus, “let him out; my back’s ’most broken.” - -“So is mine,” laughed Dallas, but he ran after the dog, which was -shaking violently, and began to rub him dry. - -“Now for the fancy dress ball,” said Titus, and he began to pull at the -heap of clothes that Dallas had brought out. “Stand up, Brick—here, put -on that shirt.” - -Brick, grinning like a Chessy cat, took up the pink and white cotton -shirt and ran his arms into it. - -“Here,” said Titus, and he threw him various other garments. “Not that -way, owl—this way,” and he began to dress the boy himself. Then he -turned to Dallas. “I say, old fellow, run in the house to my room and -get that long mirror standing behind the door. I was trying a high kick -the other day and broke it. Grandfather says he’ll get me another.” - -Dallas obligingly nodded, and his long legs speedily took him away from -the stable. - -“H’m, no tie and no collar,” said Titus at last when Brick was fully -dressed. - -“Here,” said Charlie, pulling off his, “don’t spare the finishing -touches.” - -Titus was just fastening the red-silk tie when Dallas entered the room -bearing aloft the long glass. - -“Set it down there,” said Titus, pointing to the wall. “Now, colored -boy, look.” - -The transformed boy stepped up to the glass. He gave one glance, then he -turned to the three boys behind him, who were also reflected in the -mirror. - -“Where’s Brick, gen’l’men?” - -Titus shook his head solemnly. “Dead!” - -The colored boy looked again. “I see foah young sahs in dere, -gen’l’men.” - -His face was irresistible, and the three boys burst out laughing. - -“That dead boy used to have cheeks like mud, gen’l’men,” Brick went on, -in his funny, flat voice. “This boy have pale cheeks. He mos’ white.” - -“Brick,” said Titus, solemnly, “we’ve taken off ten layers of dirt.” - -“Young sah,” continued Brick, with dancing eyeballs, “the young cullid -fellahs down at the hotel, they wears buttins.” - -His cunning glance searched Titus’s face. - -“Well, you shall have plenty of buttons to wear,” replied Titus, -agreeably. “We’ll stud you with them till you don’t know which is button -and which is boy.” - -Brick gave a shrill whistle and leaped in the air. Then he began to -dance—to dance with such glee and so much comicality that the three boys -were presently exploding with laughter. - -“Come on; this isn’t work,” exclaimed Titus, suddenly. “I see Betty -coming out with the first call to dinner. Let’s clear up this mess, -‘gen’l’men.’ Here, Brick, you help.” - -The colored boy took hold with a will, and soon the room was as tidy as -when they had entered it. - -“Put some life into that dog,” commanded Titus, pointing to Bylow. - -Brick ran at him, caught him round the middle of his body, and danced -round the room with him till he had no breath left. - -“Now cover him up with those blankets,” said Titus, “and come in and -have some dinner.” - -“Me, sah,” exclaimed Brick; “me, sah?” - -“Yes, you—Charlie, will you stay?” - -“O, yes,” replied his friend, sarcastically, “I look so pretty.” - -“Get off with you, then,” said Titus, playfully giving him a push, “and -come some other day. Much obliged for your help.” - -Charlie ran whistling out the back door of the stable, and Dallas, -Titus, and Brick walked toward the house. - -“Mind you,” said Titus to Brick, “not one word to the girls or Mrs. -Blodgett. Eat what is set before you and ask no questions.” - -Titus began to yawn and stutter when they got to the house. His -excitement was over. - -“B-b-blodgieblossom,” he said, seeking her in the little sitting room -off the storeroom, where she usually sat to be within easy reach of the -kitchen, “I’ve got a new black pigeon—I want some dinner for it.” - -“All right, my boy,” said the woman, affectionately, and she waddled out -into the hall. - -“H-h-here it is,” said Titus, emphatically, and he laid his hand on -Brick’s shoulder. - -“Bless my heart, and soul, and body,” exclaimed Mrs. Blodgett, “if you -aint the greatest lad! Another colored boy, and the first one hardly -gone out of the house.” - -“H-h-how would you have liked to keep that first one, Blodgieblossom?” -said Titus, mischievously. - -“I wouldn’t have given him houseroom,” she said, energetically, “the -dirty creature! Now this fellow looks clean,” and she bestowed a kindly -glance on Brick. “I’ll have the girls lay him a little table in the wash -room.” - -Brick was grinning, but not as alarmingly as before. He was embarrassed -now, and somewhat afraid of this fat woman. - -Ten minutes later he was an ecstatic colored boy. White girls were -waiting on him, white girls were placing before him the most sumptuous -dinner he ever ate, and he surreptitiously sneaked pieces off his plate -and into his pockets for Bylow, the dog. - - - - - CHAPTER XVIII - AIRY’S SECOND CALL ON THE JUDGE - - -Airy was arriving at 100 Grand Avenue, via the stable. - -Like a little dark shadow, she flitted up the driveway to the open door -of the harness room. Brick was there, seated on an overturned tub, -polishing a silver-mounted bridle and whistling vigorously. Bylow lay at -his feet, only lazily moving one ear in the direction of Airy. - -He knew who was coming. In fact, with his doggish sense of smell he knew -before he saw her. - -“Good evening,” said Airy, suddenly. - -“Hello!” exclaimed Brick, starting to his feet. “Lord-a-massy, I thought -it was a ghos’. How be you, Airy?” - -“Very well, thank you,” she said, mincing her words. - -“Set down,” said Brick, hospitably, pushing a stool toward her. - -“Thank you,” she said, leaning against the doorway, “I can’t set—I mean, -sit down—with a stable boy. I’m a-goin’, a-going, I should say, to be a -lady.” - -“Aint you give up that nonsense yet?” he said, agreeably, and dropping -his bridle he got up and lounged toward her. - -“I never shall give it up,” she said, solemnly. - -“There always was somethin’ creepy about you, Airy,” said Brick, -uneasily. “I say charms when I’m round wid you.” - -“What kind of charms?” she asked, seriously. - -“O, ‘Debbil, debbil, nevvah die,’ an’ ‘The bogie’s got a lantern hangin’ -out for me dis night.’” - -“Brick,” said the little girl, severely, “if you say charms you’ll never -be a gentleman.” - -“Don’t want to be a gen’l’man,” he replied, stoutly. “Kin’ Providence -had a little coffee in de wattah when he made dis chile. I’se a-goin’ to -stay cullid.” - -“Well, I’m going to be a lady,” said the little girl, severely, “and I’m -not going to waste time talking to trash like you. I just promised -mother to run and see how you be.” - -Brick grinned. He did not care for her thrusts. “Tell your mummy,” he -said, “that I’m a-comin’ down to call. Kin you see my buttins? Do the -light strike ’em dere?” and he moved anxiously nearer the hanging -electric globe. - -“Yes,” said Airy, scornfully surveying the breast of his coat, which was -one mass of brass buttons; “you look like the button drawer at Moses & -Brown’s turned upside down.” - -“I sewed ’em on myself,” he went on, unheedingly. “Young Mass’ Tite he -guv me de buttins. I guess they ben’t quite plumb, but I’ve got ’em.” - -“I guess you have to work here,” she remarked. - -Brick groaned. - -“You won’t like that,” she went on, scornfully. - -“Like it, honey—Brick hates it like pison—but, golly! de grub—dat’s what -keeps dis niggah heah.” - -“You’ll get tired of it an’ run away,” she continued. - -“Mebbe,” he said, with a yawn, “but look-y-there, missie,” and he drew a -crackling greenback from his pocket and shook it in her face. “Mass’ -Tite, he call dat earnest money. Chile alive, Brick had one pound -chocolate drops yesterday, two pounds caramel creams to-day, an’ he’s -a-goin’ to have a bag of jaw-breakers to-morrow, if he’s a spared nig. -Ice cream we gets at table.” - -“Ketch me givin’ my servants ice cream when I have a house,” she said, -disdainfully. - -“You’re goin’ to make a rattlin’ fine lady,” said Brick, with a comical -glance. “Don’t you come fo’ me to work under yeh.” - -“I wouldn’t have you,” she said; then, catching sight of a new collar on -Bylow, she asked, suddenly, “Who give him that?” - -“Mass’ Tite, missie. When he begged fo’ to keep me, Roblee, de ole man -coachman, he was mad, an’ I guess de Jedge was half mad. But Mass’ Tite, -he begged. ‘Well,’ says de Jedge, ‘de dog mus’ go.’ ‘Grandfathah,’ says -Mass’ Tite, ‘I’m a-goin’ fo’ to make a gen’l’man of dat dere dog.’ Says -de Jedge, ‘Ye can’t do it.’ Says Mass’ Tite, ‘Gimme a chance.’ So he go -downtown, he buy dat fine plated collah, he talk to de dog, he brush -him, he show him folks wid good cloes on; he says, ‘Don’ go fo’ to be no -tramp dog no longer;’ an’, ’pon my honnah, dat dog, between de collah, -an’ de talkin’, an’ de showin’, an’ de brushin’, and de good grub, an’ -de warm room—why, he’s goin’ fo’ to be a ruspectable dog.” - -Airy said nothing, but she looked interested, and Brick went on with his -vivacious play of hands, mouth, eyes, teeth, and tongue. - -“An’ dat ole coachman, he’s a-comin’ roun’ to like him. Jes’ wait till I -tells yeh. Befo’ he come, ole Roblee he miss his oats. Some one steal -’em. He don’t know how. Says he, ‘De oat bin aint nevvah open, only when -I takes out oats fo’ de hosses an’ de cow, an’ when I leaves it fo’ de -man who bring de oats to put ’em in. He’s as honest as I be.’ Yisterday, -says he to Bylow, ‘Dog, look at dat oat bin. I’m a-goin’ to leave it -open. Go in dat dark corner an’ watch. Ef you’s any good as watchdog -you’ll ketch de thief.’” - -Airy held out a finger to Bylow, who licked it slightly, and Brick -continued: - -“I give Bylow a sign, an’ he went an’ lay down—didn’t run after me no -moah. Late in de afternoon, when Roblee was a-drivin’ de Jedge, an’ I -was in de house smellin’ roun’ to see if I could get some cookies what -de girls was a-bakin’, I heard a hullabaloo in de stable. I runned, an’ -Bylow he was a-rippin’ at de pants of de good man what brung de oats.” - -“That man that brung them?” replied Airy, in a puzzled voice. - -“Yes, missie, de good man knew when Roblee was away, he brung ’em an’ he -took ’em. He roared an’ he prayed, but Bylow went on a-rippin’, an’ I -led him in dis harness room an’ locked de door, an’ me an’ Bylow set -outside, an’ when de Jedge come he interviewed the crimminel. Says he, -‘What you bin stealin’ my oats fo’?’ Says de man, ‘I works hard an’ I’m -only half paid, an’ I’ve got a sick chile at home a-dyin’ fer want of -oranges an’ grapes, an’ I hevn’t got no money fo’ to buy ’em. Jedge, if -you hev me ‘rested, it’ll kill her.’ Says de Jedge, ‘You ought to ’a’ -thought of yer daughtah befoh. Come in de house wid me,’ an’ he took him -in. In ten minutes I see de man a-comin’ out of de house wid a bag of -some knubby things undah one arm—they mought ’a’ bin petetters, they -mought ’a’ bin oranges—an’ undah de oddah he had one of Mis’ Blodgett’s -lemon pies, ’cause I see de marangue from it stickin’ to de paper, an’ -he had oddah groceries, an’ he was cryin’, and he hadn’t no hand to get -his hankersniff, so I followed on behin’ wid Bylow, an’ when we got out -o’ sight of de house, an’ in sight of his cyart wid de waitin’ hoss, I -says, ‘Boss, shall I give yer a lend of my hankersniff?’ Says he, ‘Quit -yer foolin’, ye sassy black imp,’ an’ he begun to gathah up his lines. -Says he, ‘Ye’ve got a good place heah. I advise you to stick to it,’ an’ -then he druv away, an’ I aint heard no talk of no policeman.” - -“Good-bye,” said Airy, abruptly, “I’m a-goin’ in to see the Jedge,” and -she went slowly down the way she had come, and, going round to the front -of the house, rang the bell. - -The Judge was expecting her this evening, and Jennie, having been -warned, made no protest. - -Bethany had gone to bed. She remembered quite well the evening that Airy -was to return, and she could hardly wait to finish her dinner before -retiring to her room. The Judge smiled broadly at her haste. She did not -like Airy. - -He put down his book when the young Tingsby girl entered the room, then -he took off his glasses and surveyed her in silence. He was shocked by -her appearance. She was always thin and delicate, but to-night there -were dark rings under her eyes, and her manner was subdued and languid. -However, her indomitable spirit shone forth from her black eyes, and the -Judge calmly returned her salutation, and asked her how she was getting -on. - -“All right,” she said, coolly, “but I’ve been studyin’ all night an’ all -day.” - -“That is a foolish proceeding,” he remarked, warmly. - -“There’s such a heap to learn,” she said, wearily. “Seems as if I can’t -ever ketch up to it.” - -“One thing at a time,” said the Judge. “You are young yet, and, I hope, -have many years before you. But you must not sit up at night.” - -“Be I improved?” she asked, unheedingly. - -“Yes,” he replied, promptly. “You have remembered your lesson. You came -in quietly. Your voice is low, but you really look too ill to talk this -evening. I will just tell you something I have been doing and then send -you downstairs to have something to eat and get one of the maids to go -home with you. I don’t want you to come here any more in the evenings. -Little girls should not be running the streets then. Come to see me in -the afternoon, if you wish.” - -“Nothin’ would hurt me,” she said, peevishly. - -The Judge got up and went to the mantelpiece. “Can you read writing?” - -“Yes, sir, if it aint too scrawly.” - -“Well, here is a letter that I have written to your mother. I want you -to read it, then to take it to her. Perhaps I would better read it to -you,” and he sat down again. - -Airy languidly dropped her head against the cushions of her chair and -listened to him attentively enough at first, then eagerly, and at last -with a strained, frantic interest. - - - - - CHAPTER XIX - DALLAS TAKES A HAND AT MANAGEMENT - - -“Mrs. Tingsby, Dear Madam,” began the Judge, in his clear, rounded -voice, “Some time ago I went to see a real estate agent in this city, -and told him I wanted to invest a certain sum of money in house -property. He has bought several houses for me; among them is one cottage -situated on the Cloverdale electric railway line. It is only four miles -from the post office, so one can easily get into the city from it. The -cottage has eight rooms; it is heated by a furnace, there are hot and -cold-water pipes, and it has a small stable where a cow could be kept. -The outlook is sunny, and the situation is not lonely, for there are -other houses about sixty feet away. There is also a good school a -quarter of a mile from the cottage. I have as yet no tenant for this -cottage, and if you can pay the rent, which is one dollar a month, or -twelve dollars a year, I think you should, in justice to your children, -at once take possession of it. I must not forget to say that I greatly -desire to say that whoever takes the cottage should consent to receive -as a boarder an old servant of mine—a washerwoman. She is in poor -health, and requires some waiting on. Her board, therefore, will be -liberal. I am prepared to offer you for her twelve dollars a week. Let -me hear from you at your earliest convenience. - - “Yours very truly, - “TITUS SANCROFT.” - -There was a dead silence after the Judge had finished reading the -letter. He folded it, put it back in the envelope, then looked at Airy. - -Her eyes were fixed, and she was staring strangely at him. At last her -jaws moved feebly. It seemed as if she were trying them to see if she -could utter a sentence. - -“Be that true?” she gasped, in a hoarse voice. - -“Yes, child, quite true.” - -“Every word of it—house rent twelve dollars a year?” - -“O, the pity of it,” and the Judge stifled a groan. At her age, to be so -keenly, so terribly alive to the value of a dollar. - -“House rent, twelve dollars,” he said. - -“House rent, twelve dollars,” she repeated, mechanically, “and boarder’s -pay twelve dollars, too. Only one is by the year, and one by the week,” -and opening her mouth she began to laugh in a shrill, mechanical voice. - -She started low, but she soon got high, and the Judge was beginning to -stir uneasily in his chair, when, to his dismay, the laugh ended -abruptly and a scream began. It was not an ordinary scream, it was an -hysterical screech, and the alarmed man sprang from his seat. - -Airy had thrown herself back in her chair, her mouth was wide open, her -eyes were staring and glassy. “O!” The man put his hands to his ears. It -seemed to him that nothing in his life had ever struck such sudden -dismay to his heart. He had seen women in hysterics, but this childish -yelling was a thousand times worse. Where were the boys and the -servants? He could not bear to touch the unfortunate young creature, and -he turned helplessly to the door. - -Titus and Dallas were rushing in from the room across the hall. When -Titus saw Airy he fell back. He had something of his grandfather’s -repugnance to her. - -Dallas, however, was not dismayed. He took in the situation at a glance, -and saying to Titus, “You had better shut the windows,” he calmly took -off his coat and threw it over Airy’s head. - -At the close of the day the big furnace in the basement was apt to make -the house very warm, and windows were freely left open. Titus ran about -this second floor, hastily closing them, while the servants came running -to the study to see what was the matter. - -“Take her away,” said the Judge, hastily; “let the women have her. I -think she is half starved. Give her something to eat, and let her go -home.” - -Airy’s voice was muffled now, but it was still holding forth, and in -addition she had begun to kick. - -Dallas took up the lean little body in his strong young arms and bore it -across the hall to the sitting room. - -“Come in here,” he said to the wave of maids on the staircase, and -followed by Mrs. Blodgett this wave overflowed into the sitting room. - -“I excited her—I will stay here,” said the Judge, with an approving -gesture, and he backed into his study and closed the door. “Take good -care of her,” he called once more, opening the door, “and send her home -when she is better.” - -Titus returned into a corner of the sitting room, and Dallas became -master of ceremonies. - -“I’ve seen women like this in boarding houses,” he observed, -reassuringly, to Titus. Then he said, “Some cold water, Jennie, to -sprinkle on her face.” - -The water was dashed on her, her hands were rubbed, and presently the -exhausted girl sat up and shut her mouth. - -“Will you be kind enough to have some hot soup, or something of the -sort, prepared for her,” said Dallas to Mrs. Blodgett, “and make the -maids go away. There are too many people in the room.” - -Mrs. Blodgett drove everybody out except Titus. However, he soon slipped -away, and she and Dallas were alone with the little girl. - -They said nothing to her, and Airy, curled up on a sofa, panted and -sobbed in a suppressed way, until Jennie appeared with the soup. - -Then she protested. “Take it away. I aint got no feelin’ for it.” - -“Drink it,” said Dallas, quietly, and he held the bowl to her lips. - -She had to take it, though in the effort a violent perspiration broke -out all over her weak little body. - -Dallas made her drink every drop of it, then he sat quietly staring at -her. Mrs. Blodgett took the bowl and waddled away, promising to return -in a short time. - -Airy nervously plucked at the sofa cushions, until Dallas asked her a -question. - -“Why did you shock the Judge by screaming in that way?” - -“’Cause he’s such a wonder,” she said, weakly, “he’s such an -understandin’ merracle of a man.” - -“What has he done?” - -“He’s give us a farm—a greenery place outside the city.” - -“O!” said Dallas, quietly, “a place for your mother to take the -children?” - -“Yes, sir.” - -“What did you come here to-night for?” asked the boy. - -“I come for to take a lesson in bein’ a lady.” - -“Does the Judge teach you?” - -“Yes, sir.” - -Dallas pondered a few minutes, then he said, half to himself, “I wonder -if he enjoys it.” - -“No, he don’t,” said Airy, frankly. “He don’t, but what kin I do. I’ve -got to learn how to be a lady.” - -“I’ll speak to the Judge,” said Dallas, calmly. “I think I could give -you lessons. It’s a shame to bother a man of his age.” - -Airy’s eyes sparkled faintly. This polite boy could teach her as well as -the Judge could. However, she felt too exhausted to discuss the matter, -and sat quietly on the sofa. - -“I’ll come to you,” said Dallas; “you’re not strong enough to come -here.” - -“I likes it,” she said, faintly; “I likes this house.” - -“Well, perhaps when you are stronger,” he said, decidedly. “Just now, -you look as if you ought not to leave your own rooftree. I’ll come and -teach you several days a week after school is over. I suppose you’ll be -moving soon, if the Judge has given you a house?” - -“You bet we will,” she said, faintly. - -“And now,” he went on, “I am going to have a carriage sent for, and one -of the maids will go home with you.” - -“I’m not worth it,” said Airy, but she was delighted, he could tell by -her wan smile. - -Ten minutes later Dallas stood at the front door watching the -disappearing lights of the cab that bore the poor child away. - -Then he went upstairs to the Judge’s study. - -“Sir,” he said, “if you will allow me, I should like to help that little -girl get an education.” - -His patron looked at him benevolently. “But you have not the time, -Dallas.” - -“Yes, sir, I could teach her any day after school.” - -The Judge reflected a few minutes. Perhaps it would be better for the -little girl to have a younger instructor. Then it would be a chance for -self-sacrifice on the part of Dallas. - -“You sympathize with her aspirations?” he said, inquiringly. - -“I’ve been there, sir,” replied Dallas, warmly. “I have been poor and -despised, and I have longed to get an education.” - -“Very well, I make my charge over to you. If you get tired, hand her -back to me.” - -“I won’t get tired,” said the boy, firmly. - -“She wants nourishing food,” said the Judge, “more than anything else. I -shall give orders to have something sent to her every day from our -table.” - -Dallas said good-night to him and went away, and the Judge thoughtfully -picked up his book. - -“I wonder what he will make of her—poor little soul, she looks as if she -were going to die.” - -Until he went to bed Airy was in his thoughts. Poor little ailing -creature, he hoped that she would gain strength. It was sad to have so -much ambition bound up in such a fragile body. He was glad that he had -done something to enable her mother to move away from narrow, dirty -River Street. - -During the night he dreamed of the Tingsbys, and when he awoke in the -morning they were still before him. Therefore, when he went out into the -hall and looked out the window, as he usually did before he went down to -breakfast, he was hardly surprised to see the whole Tingsby family, -except Airy, seated on the long flight of steps leading up to his front -door. He stared at them, then he went slowly downstairs. - -Higby was sitting on one of the hall chairs. He got up when he saw his -employer, and slightly backing, as he always did when speaking to the -Judge, said, “Th-th-there’s a whole f-f-family campin’ out on the -s-s-steps, sir. They wouldn’t c-c-come in.” - -The Judge patiently put on a hat and opened the door. - -“’Tention,” he heard in Mrs. Tingsby’s voice as he stepped out. - -“Good morning,” he said, politely. - -She went on, without apparently noticing him: “Up, little Tingsbys!” - -“Seems to be a kind of drill,” murmured the Judge to himself. “Well, if -it pleases them and doesn’t last too long I won’t complain. I wonder how -many of my neighbors are up?” and he calmly scanned the windows of the -house next door. - -Two maids were behind the curtains. The Tingsbys evidently amused them. - -Mrs. Tingsby had been holding the baby in her arms when the Judge -arrived. Now he stood on his own young feet, and with admirable -intelligence was taking his part in the maneuvers. - -“Hands out, Tingsbys!” said the little woman. - -Every Tingsby child stretched out its arms—Dobbie, Gibb, Goldie, Rodd, -and Annie. - -“Mitts off!” commanded the mother. - -Every child bared his or her hands. - -Mrs. Tingsby turned to the Judge. “See them finger nails, sir. Every one -of ’em to be worked off for you.” - -The Judge shivered slightly. - -“In case you needs it,” she continued, with emphasis. “Now, children, -your catechism. Question one: Who came down like a sheep to the fold and -swooped little Bethany away to a lovely home?” - -Five young voices gave an answer to the chilly morning wind sweeping by, -“The Jedge.” - -“Who’s been a good shepherd to Sister Airy?” - -Again the shrill voices answered, “The Jedge!” - -“Who’s guv, or almost guv, us a lovely green house out in the country, -which our eyes have all seen this blessed mornin’—guv to the Tingsbys?” - -“The Jedge!” shouted the children, excitedly. - -“An’ now who’s goin’ to love the Jedge, an’ work for the Jedge, an’ -praise the Jedge, an’ copy the Jedge?” - -“We be!” they yelled, excitedly. - -“I am quite satisfied with this exhibition of gratitude,” said the -Judge, trying to speak very distinctly, “quite satisfied.” - -Mrs. Tingsby beamed on him. “Sir, your humble servant. If ever I hears -anyone say a word agin you I’ll tear out his hair, an’ scratch out his -eyes, an’—” - -The Judge waved his hand at her. There was no use in speaking, for she -did not understand a word he said. However, she would know what that -prohibitory gesture meant. Ordinarily, she was a sensible woman. Just -now she seemed to be in a strange state of exaltation, brought on, no -doubt, by the prospect of being able to take her progeny to the country. -In short, she was getting silly, and would better go home. - -“Will you come in and have some breakfast?” asked the Judge, motioning -hospitably toward the open door. - -“Sir,” she said, grandly, “I knows my duty. Never a Tingsby but Airy’ll -enter your front door, nor back door, nuther. But we’ll process up an’ -have a look at the stable an’ Brick, bein’ as we’re all together,” and -with a solemn curtsy of farewell she swept her brood off the front steps -and round the corner of the house toward the stable. - -“Higby,” said the Judge, entering the hall, “go quickly to the stable -with a basket of doughnuts and the supply of coffee for breakfast. Tell -cook to make fresh for me.” - - - - - CHAPTER XX - THE CAT MAN AND THE JUDGE’S FAMILY - - -Late one afternoon Barry Mafferty, the cat man, left the island out in -the river where he kept his handsome cats for sale, and quickly rowed -himself toward the city. - -The winter was passing away, the spring was coming. There was a feeling -in the air. Barry could not describe it, as fluent as he was in the use -of words. - -The feeling was not a warm feeling, for the air was still chilly. -Perhaps it was not a feeling, but a look—a look as of a departing, -reluctant season. Barry did not know. - -“Anyhow,” he murmured to himself, “the cold days are going, the warm -ones are coming. Something tells me, something turns my thoughts to -green grass and running water, to gardens and flowers—it is faith.” - -He looked over his shoulder toward the city. “Just a good size,” he -murmured, “not small enough to be stupid, and not large enough to be -oppressive. Looks well this evening, too—enveloped in that red, smoky -haze.” - -In a short time he was abreast of the fish market. The old caretaker -there always took charge of his boat when he came to the city. - -Barry sprang on the slimy stone steps leading up to the wharf, tied his -boat up, looked irritably over his shoulder at the deaf old caretaker, -who was shouting his name and a greeting to him, then went quickly up to -the little cabin near the big fish market. - -It was not quite dark yet; he would not go up to the city until it was. - -The present caretaker and ex-fisherman followed him into the cabin. - -“What’s your hurry? You spun by me like a flying fish.” - -“I want to sit down; I’m tired,” said Barry, flinging his cap on the -table. - -“Did ye row standin’?” roared the old man. - -“No, I didn’t,” observed Barry, mildly. - -“What’s the news on the island?” inquired the old fisherman, sitting -down before his guest. - -“What kind of news would I be likely to have but cat news?” inquired -Barry, sarcastically. - -“Well, give us your cat news. I see the Mayor’s steam launch goin’ out -to yer island yesterday. Was he wantin’ cats fer his lady?” - -“Yes, he did buy one,” said Mafferty. - -“Hey?” - -“He bought one—or, rather, he sent his man for one—a white Angora with -blue eyes.” - -“An’ how much would ye get fer such a beast?” - -“Twenty dollars.” - -“Twenty dollars!” echoed the caretaker, in disgust, “an’ I drowns ’em by -the bagful.” - -“You don’t drown Angoras.” - -“Who said I did? I drowns common cats, gray cats, tabby cats, yellow -cats, an’ all kinds of cats.” - -“How much do you get for it?” - -“Ten cents apiece.” - -“Do you drown them here?” asked Barry. - -“Yes; do you s’pose I’d navigate ’em out to the Atlantic?” - -“And the lobster pens are close by,” observed Barry; “disgusting!” - -The old man shrugged his shoulders. - -“You’ll soon have that source of income cut off,” continued Barry. - -“What’ll be cut off?” - -“Your cat money. Law! how deaf the old creature is! The city is goin to -have a gas box.” - -“An’ what kind of a union is there between the city, an’ gas, an’ cats?” -inquired the old man, in quiet exasperation. - -“Union and disunion. In future anyone having a cat to destroy can take -it to the City Hall. They’ve given a big room to the S. P. C. You -deliver your sick cat, or your old cat, or your superfluous cat, and a -man puts her in a big box with a juicy piece of meat. The gas is turned -on, pussy eats her meat, gets sleepy, lies down, and dies.” - -The old fisherman pounded the table with his fist. “An’ who’s at the -bottom of that hugger-mugger business?” - -“Mrs. Tom Everest.” - -“I might ’a’ known it—I might ’a’ guessed. Takin’ the bread out of the -mouth of an honest man.” - -“How about the demoralizing effect on children, of screaming cats -dragged through the city in bags?” - -“Screaming fish tails! It don’t hurt ’em.” - -“How would you like to be the cat?” asked Barry, slyly. - -“She’s always interferin’,” said the old man, passionately; “she’s -always stickin’ her little nose into every man’s business.” - -“Who runs to help me when I’m ill?” inquired Barry, mischievously. - -The old man showed his teeth at him. - -“Who always pays my doctor’s bill?” pursued Barry, in his clear voice. - -“I’ve jined a benevolent society,” shouted the old man; “she aint -a-goin’ to coddle me any more.” - -“What about your grandchild?” said Barry. “What about that imp Cracker -that no one else can manage?” - -The old man’s head sank, and he looked thoughtful. - -“How many times has she saved him from the police court? Old Cracker, -you are an ungrateful wretch. Come now, aint you?” - -The poor old fellow’s head sank lower. His young grandchild was all he -had in the world. “I believe I be,” he said, slowly. “I believe I be.” - -Barry looked out the window. “’Most dark; I can be going. Seen any -strangers about, Cracker, senior?” he asked, as he turned his coat -collar well up about his ears and pulled his cap down over his eyes. - -“No, no—no strangers, only fish,” replied the caretaker; “only fish, -fish, fish,” and Barry left him mumbling to himself. - -With a quick, alert step the dark-featured, middle-aged man left River -Street, went up one of the slightly ascending side streets that led to -Broadway, quickly crossed the brilliantly lighted and crowded -thoroughfare, and struck into a succession of quiet streets that finally -led him to Grand Avenue. - -Little by little the appearance of the houses had improved, until here -on Grand Avenue he found himself among mansions. - -Arrived near Judge Sancroft’s house, he walked more slowly, then -suddenly he turned, and retracing his steps walked up the driveway -leading to the stable. - -His keen eyes scrutinized every window of the house. Here and there one -was open. “They all like fresh air,” he murmured. Under one open window -he paused. He could hear the sound of voices. Dallas was speaking—Dallas -the clever English boy that the Judge had adopted—and he was scolding -Bethany, dear little Bethany. - -Barry’s face softened. He was very much attached to that child. Ever -since he had known her she had been sweet and gentle with him—first at -Mrs. Tingsby’s, and now when he occasionally saw her with the Judge. -Dear little Bethany—the only little girl he knew in Riverport that he -cared much about, except poor Airy, and his face softened still further. -What was Dallas worrying her about? - -They seemed to be standing by one of the open parlor windows. “Bethany,” -Dallas was saying, severely, “I have brought you in here to scold you. I -think you are a selfish little girl.” - -“I don’t feel selfish,” remarked Bethany, whimperingly. - -“Well, you act so. I consider you the most selfish person in this -household. Everyone in the family has got into the way of pleasing you -from morning till night, and it is having a bad effect on you. I -consider that you treated Airy very shabbily this afternoon.” - -“I didn’t do anything,” said Bethany, resentfully. - -“That is just it—you didn’t do anything. Now, you know as well as I do -that for weeks I have been teaching Airy, and that she has improved -immensely—just immensely. She called this afternoon, and naturally I was -anxious to show her off to the Judge. I took pains to have her meet you -when you came from school, and what did you do?” - -“You didn’t tell me what to do?” said Bethany, irritably. - -“Didn’t tell you? Of course not. I hoped that your own kind heart would -tell you. You saw that Airy was dying to play with you. Why didn’t you -invite her to stay?” - -Bethany burst out with an intense remark, “I don’t like Airy.” - -“Neither do I, but is that an excuse? Suppose I stopped teaching her -because I did not like her?” - -“I’m going to tell Daddy Grandpa how you are scolding me,” remarked -Bethany, plaintively. - -“I am delighted to hear it. His calm, judicial mind will decide between -us. I just wanted him to know, but I wouldn’t go to him, because I hate -to carry tales. And now you may go, Miss Selfishness. My interview with -you is over.” - -Barry, under the window, laughed to himself, then listened as he heard -the Judge’s kind voice: “Children, what are you sparring about here in -this lonely room?” - -“O, Daddy Grandpa,” exclaimed Bethany—and Barry could imagine her -running to throw herself into the arms of her adopted grandfather, “am I -a selfish creature?” - -The Judge’s clear tones floated out the window, “Certainly—we all are.” - -“But Dallas says I am just un—un—it begins with ‘un’ and ends with -‘able.’” - -“So we all are,” said the Judge; “so we all are.” - -“But he says I’ve been very hateful to Airy, Daddy Grandpa.” - -“So have we all been,” said the Judge, cheerily, “so have we all been. -She is longing to come here. She meets me in the street, and she throws -out hints. Dallas, invite your pupil to visit us any hour of any day, or -to any meal. She does you credit.” - -Barry could hear the boy’s deeply gratified “Thank you, sir,” then the -voices were hushed for him, for the Judge said, “Please close that -window, my boy. Bethany’s frock is thin.” - -With a smile Barry went on his way to the stable. The lights were out -here, everything was quiet, but he saw a glimmer from Brick’s room. - -“Hello!” he called, and he threw a handful of gravel against the window. -“Brick, ahoy!” - -Brick ran up the blind, opened the window, and thrust out a cautious -head. - -“Dat you, Mistah Mafferty?” - -“Yes, Brick; come down and let me in.” - -The colored boy ran nimbly down the stairs, pressed a button, and -lighting up the lower part of the stable ushered his friend in. - -“Come up to your room,” said Barry, commandingly, and he strode ahead of -the lad. Brick, grinning from ear to ear at the honor conferred upon -him—for this was the second time that Barry had visited him within a -week—followed close at his heels. - -When they got into his snug little bedroom Barry sat down and looked -about him. Brick was in the act of changing his clothes. - -“What are you dressing up for, this time of night?” inquired Barry, -suspiciously. “You ought to be going to bed.” - -“I aint dressin’ up; I’se dressing down,” giggled Brick. “I’se goin’ fo’ -a walk, mistah, an’ I didn’ want fo’ to soil my buttins,” and he glanced -lovingly at the bespangled garment of the bed. - -“Where are you going?” - -“Down to River Street. I’se pinin’ to see my ole friens. Me an’ Bylow’s -not been down fo’ about a thousan’ meal times,” and he gave a push with -his foot toward the plump sleeping dog. - -“He don’t want to go,” observed Barry, dryly. - -“I guess you’re right, mistah. I guess Bylow be jus’ as much glorified -to stay to hum, but, bless you, Brick don’ care,” and he thrust his arms -into a shabby coat that he took from a hook on the wall. - -“How many coats have you without buttons?” asked Barry, curiously. - -“Dere’s dis fellow,” said Brick, laying his hand on his chest, “an’ dat -fellow,” and he brought one from the closet, “an’ de odder fellow,” and -he pointed to one that Bylow lay on. - -“Let’s see them all lying on the bed together,” said Barry, in an -infantile way. - -Brick laughed in silly glee. It was delightful to see this fine -gentleman—for such the cat man was to him—taking such an interest in his -wardrobe. He stripped off the coat he had on, brought another from the -closet, pulled the one out from under the protesting Bylow, and laid -them on the bed. - -“And how many coats have you with buttons?” asked Barry. - -“Only two, mistah; de fust best an’ de second best.” - -Barry calmly rolled the three buttonless coats together and put them -under his arm. - -“Were you going to River Street to see anyone in particular?” - -“No, mistah—jes’ thought I’d sauntah roun’. Mebbe call on Mis’ Tingsby; -but, law me, dis niggah furgits. She aint dah. She’s moved to de lubley -green country.” - -“Brick,” said Barry, seriously, “you are happy here?” - -Brick made a face. - -“O, excuse me,” continued Barry, “I forgot. Of course you are not happy. -You long for the old free life—for dirt and rags, and an empty stomach, -for kicks instead of thanks.” - -Brick hung his head. He had sense enough to know when he was being -laughed at. - -“Sure enough, mistah,” he said, “de meals dey didn’t come reglah in dose -days. Dey played chase.” - -“And the dirty, low people. How you must have enjoyed living with them. -And the tramp, your master—what a sweet creature!” - -“He used to wallop Brick awful,” and the boy ruefully rubbed his -shoulder. “I’se glad I runned away from him.” - -“Now, look here, Brick,” said Barry, roughly, “I think you are a fool. -You’ve got a snug berth here. Just as sure as you go monkeying round -River Street you’ll lose it. What did I tell you two days ago?” - -“You tole me to stay in de house at night and let de dog loose in de -yahd, and not to take up wid strangers.” - -“And you’re doing all that, aren’t you?” said Barry, sarcastically. - -Brick stared earnestly at him for a few seconds, then he said, “Mistah, -dere aint one thing Brick cries fo’, but one.” - -“And what is that, you goose?” - -“He can’t do what he likes,” said the boy, seriously. “Now, Brick, he -always likes his own way. An’ his own way aint Roblee way, nor Jedge -way, nor Mastah Titus way, nor Mistah Mafferty way.” - -“You idiot! Who does get his own way in the world?” - -“De tramp,” said Brick, solemnly, “he do.” - -“Does he?” said Barry, “does he? Who is the tramp always afraid of?” - -“He aint afraid of no one but hissef.” - -“He is. Think now. Search that crack-brained memory of yours.” - -“Do you mean the p’lice?” asked Brick, and from his slightly open mouth -Barry caught a gleam of pink gums and white ivory. - -“Of course I do. He’s mortally afraid of him.” - -“Dat’s true, dat’s true,” and Brick burst into a guffaw of laughter. “De -p’liceman comes, de tramp runs, if he aint squared him, an’ it takes -lots of cash to square de whole p’lice of dis here country.” - -“Don’t you leave this place,” said Barry, warningly. - -“Mistah,” said the boy, and his grin vanished, “dere’s two Bricks. One -Brick he say, ‘Boy, don’ you get out o’ smell o’ dose fleshpots in de -Jedge’s kitchen.’ De odder Brick he say, ‘Run, boy, run—dere’s fun in de -city—run, boy, run.’” - -“It’s the button boy that says stay, isn’t it?” inquired Barry, with a -glance at Brick’s official garments on the bed. - -“Yes, sah; dose buttons is anchors. Brick can’t run wid dem. Dey is -ruspectability.” - -“Then you’ll have to stay,” said Barry, getting up and moving toward the -door, “for I’m going to carry off your plain clothes.” - -Brick followed him anxiously. “Mistah, you don’ lay out fo’ to take away -po’ Brick’s wardrobe?” - -“Yes, I do lay out for to do that very thing, and if you say a word to -anyone about it I’ll give you such a walloping that you won’t be able to -stand up for a week.” - -“An’ Brick can’t go anywhere widout dem buttins,” said the boy, sadly -looking at his glistening coat on the bed. “Ef he ’pears in River Street -dey’ll say, ‘Heah comes de Jedge’s boy.’” - -“If you appear in River Street in that coat,” said Barry, firmly, “I’ll -tell you what will happen. I’m going to see Git McGlory to-night. You -know Git?” - -“Know his fisties,” said Brick, meekly. “De’re like little potato -barrels.” - -“Well, I’m going to tell Git that I’m interested in a certain colored -boy called Brick that he knows well. I’m going to say, ‘Git, if you see -that boy on River Street just you shake your fists at him, and send him -home. He’s got a good home, and I don’t mean he shall leave it.’” - -Brick shuddered. “Mistah, aint I evah goin’ to git my cloes back?” - -“Yes, if you behave yourself; but mind, I’m watching you. If you cut one -button off your coats, or if you go in one place where you’d be ashamed -to have the Judge see you, I’ll be on your track. Mind that now,” and -with a determined shake of his head he opened the door to go out. - -“By the way,” he said, sticking his head inside the room again, “have -you seen anything more of that stranger who came here the other evening -inquiring for the Brown’s coachman?” - -“No,” said the boy, seriously, “I aint.” - -“Would you know him if you saw him in broad daylight?” - -“No, sah.” - -“Well, don’t you have anything to do with him,” said Barry, somewhat -unreasonably, and he went away. - -Left alone, Brick stood quietly in the middle of the floor for a few -minutes. Then he began to shudder, at first in pretense, then in -reality. Then he said a number of charms. Not all the churchgoing and -Sunday school teaching that he had had could shake his faith in them. -Finally he jumped into bed with all his clothes on, and repeating, -“Snake hiss, and toad turn, water bless me ere I burn!” he called Bylow -the dog to lie closer under the bed, then drawing the blanket over his -head shiveringly tried to go to sleep. - - - - - CHAPTER XXI - MAFFERTY UNFOLDS A PLOT - - -Mrs. Tom Everest was putting her baby to bed. Surely there never was -such a provoking baby. He laughed, and played, and gurgled in his -throat, he caught her hands in his own, he tried to bite his toes, he -lapped at a little black bag she wore on her belt; in short, he was so -naughty that at last she said seriously, “Baby, if you don’t lie down -mother will slap your hannies.” - -At this he shouted with laughter. He clapped his offending hands, he -made a wild dash at her with his mouth, then suddenly there was silence. -He was dead tired; all day he had been just as bad as he could be. He -was braving the old Sleep Man, and now, in the twinkling of an eye, he -had succumbed. One tired yawn, one last exquisite baby look of perfect -trust in the young mother bending over him, and Tom junior was off for -Sleepy Town. - -Mrs. Tom laid the downy head on the pillow, she drew the coverlet over -the pink limbs, she dropped a kiss, light as thistle down, on the moist -cheek. How could she leave him, her one baby, her treasure, and she was -fussing over him in the unique way that mothers have when there was a -knock at the door. - -“What is it, Daisy?” she whispered, turning her head. - -“Mr. Mafferty, ma’am,” said the little maid; “in the parlor. Wants to -see you special.” - -“Tell him I will come at once,” and only waiting to adjust a screen -about baby’s tiny bed, young Mrs. Everest tripped downstairs. - -“How do you do, Barry?” she said, extending a hand with a frank girlish -smile, as she entered the large, comfortable, but plainly furnished -room. - -“Good evening,” he replied, gravely. - -“You have something on your mind, Barry,” she said, shrewdly. “Come, -now, out with it to your mother confessor.” - -He gave her a glance that partook largely of the nature of adoration. - -“Seems like the other day,” he said, dreamily, “that I was sauntering -into this town a lazy, good-for-nothing, despised tramp.” - -Mrs. Everest smiled. “I have almost forgotten that brown-faced man out -by the iron works.” - -“I’ll never forget how you looked that day,” he said, earnestly, “such a -clean, sweet slip of a girl.” - -“Four years ago, Barry,” she said, shaking her head; “four years ago.” - -“And I had the impudence to ask you for money,” he went on, “and worse, -to threaten you, and you forgave me, and brought me in to town and gave -me shelter and food. May the Lord bless you for it!” - -“I have my reward now,” she said, quietly. “You don’t know what a -pleasure it is to me to see you living happily out on the island with -your wife. She is a good woman, Barry.” - -“Too good for me,” he said, bitterly, “for I give her lots of trouble -yet.” - -“But, Barry, you are doing better.” - -“I never was a criminal,” he said, seriously. “Heaven forgive me for -saying it, but I believe that the real, genuine criminal rarely reforms. -I was and am a drunkard. It seems as if I can’t get rid of the thirst.” - -“Pray to God, Barry, and work hard yourself.” - -“O, it’s all very well for you,” he said, with an impatient shake of his -head. “You have a fresh heart and soul. Mine are old, and dull, and -hard. Intellectually I see things as clearly as ever, but when it comes -to feeling—” - -“Barry,” she interrupted, gently, “you are too hard on yourself.” - -He clenched one hand and brought it down softly on the other. “Mrs. -Everest, keep the children innocent and tender. That’s my thought about -them. Now I’ve come to speak to you to-night about what I fear is a plot -against a little child. There’s no one near to hear us, is there?” and -he looked fearfully over his shoulder. - -“No one, Barry. You may speak freely.” - -He threw himself back in his chair with a sigh of relief. “I’ve been -under tension for the last two days. Queer, isn’t it, what different -kinds of people there are in the world. Seems as if the Lord makes some -of us better than others. Now you live here in this vile street like a -lily growing out of mud. You know the mud is here, but it doesn’t -contaminate you.” - -“Some one says that familiarity with vice is not necessarily pollution,” -murmured Mrs. Everest, gently. “The lily regrets her environment, but -her roots running out and fresh soil introduced may purify the mud.” - -“The street is better than it used to be, fifty per cent,” he said, “but -I must get on with my story. I hate to speak to you of the underworld, -but it exists. Even the children know it. Some persons are bad and make -their living off others. Now, as I said before, I never was a criminal. -In fact, I was too low down for one, for I didn’t want to work. But -traveling about the country I used to hear about famous sharpers. I was -as dust under their feet, but when I would get into a tramp’s refuge of -any kind I used to hear them talking of this one and that who had -distinguished himself in the world of crime—you are listening, are you?” -and he peered forward to look at Mrs. Everest’s face. - -“Yes, Barry, listening and interested, but the light from that hall gas -is not enough. I will light the lamp on this table,” and she took off -its glass shade. - -“Once, in Boston,” continued Barry, when she sat down again opposite -him, “I had one of the best-known all-round criminals in the country -pointed out to me. They said he could do anything, and he was only a -young fellow. I saw him again later in the year in a small New Hampshire -town. He was running away from justice, and the chase was getting hot. I -recognized him, accosted him, and helped him. He laid over a few days in -a shanty in the woods I was occupying, and proud enough I was of the -honor, though at the same time, low-down tramp as I was, I had a kind of -contempt for him. But it was an honor to boast of having been the host -of Jim Smalley.” - -“Poor Barry!” murmured Mrs. Everest, sympathetically. - -“Now from that day till two days ago I have never set eyes on him,” -pursued Barry. “But I’ve seen him on Grand Avenue. You know I took a -liking to Judge Sancroft, and when I come to the city my feet always -carry me up to take a turn round his house. Well, the other day I was -getting near. I was plodding along by Saint Mark’s Church, when suddenly -I saw a man in front of me sauntering along, smoking a cigarette.” - -“Surely it wasn’t Smalley?” said Mrs. Everest, excitedly. - -“Wait a bit,” replied Barry, with a gratified smile to think that he had -aroused her interest. “I was gazing at him as one will gaze at a fellow -stroller, when he quietly turned his head in the direction of the -Judge’s house. I felt something cold come over me. It was Smalley.” - -“Just imagine!” exclaimed his companion. - -“Mrs. Everest,” he said, earnestly, “I can’t tell you how frightened I -was and how glad. I felt as if a snake had uprisen in my path, and I was -glad that I felt it was a snake. ‘Brace up, Barry,’ I said to myself, -‘you’re getting good. Once upon a time a meeting with the redoubtable -Smalley would have afforded you amusement. Now your one thought is to -get away from him.’” - -“Good Barry!” said Mrs. Everest, approvingly. - -“My dear young lady,” continued Barry, “have you ever heard that a caged -bird will dash itself against the bars of its prison when it sees an -hereditary enemy of its kind flying overhead?” - -“No,” she replied, curiously; “why does it do it?” - -“Instinct, intuition. Now, I believe—indeed, criminologists tell us—that -an innocent child or a good man or woman will often feel a strange, -involuntary dislike for an evil person, even when there is no proof of -evil apparent. Now, Smalley is rather an artless-looking young man. He -has not a vicious face, and nothing that has happened for a long time -pleased me as much as my shrinking from him.” - -Mrs. Everest smiled sympathetically, and as a sudden thought occurred to -him he went on: “When I spoke of the intuitive dislike of the innocent -for the guilty, just now, I was not thinking of myself, but of you, or -Bethany, for example. Alas! I am only half reformed.” - -“But you are sufficiently reformed to hate Smalley and his evil ways.” - -“That I am,” he said, earnestly. “I hope that he will be brought to -confusion.” - -“And repentance.” - -“From my heart—if it is possible; but I fear, I fear!” and he shook his -head sadly. - -“I suppose your first thought was to run away from him.” - -“It was, but my second was to discover if he had any object in being in -that neighborhood. He had—I knew my man well. He gave careless glances -at the houses of the Judge’s neighbors. His look at one hundred and ten -was long, shrewd, and calculating. ‘There’s mischief afoot,’ I said to -myself; ‘I wonder what it is.’ I didn’t want him to see me, and yet if -he had heard me coming I didn’t want to stop. It was a raw, east-windy -day, and as good luck would have it I had on the fur-lined coat the -Judge sent me and the fur cap I found in the pocket of it. I put up a -hand, turned up my collar, pulled down my cap, then I walked straight -on. I thought of stopping and taking a memorandum book out of my pocket -as if to consult it, but I didn’t. It might have attracted Smalley’s -attention—they say he has an extra sense. Well, he walked on in front of -me, but I saw him give another look at the Judge’s house. Some people -don’t see anything in a look. Smalley’s spoke volumes to me. He had some -particular reason for singling out number one hundred and ten. Then, to -confirm my suspicion, he gave a sidelong glance up the driveway to the -stable. He was dying to go up there, but he didn’t like to.” - -“How little he thought you were watching him!” - -“Yes, he hadn’t a suspicion of me. I had to pass him, he was going so -slowly. I felt him look me all over.” - -“And did he recognize you?” she inquired, breathlessly. - -“Not a bit of it. My flesh stopped crawling. I was a relieved man. You -see, my appearance was so different from that of the dirty tramp he had -met, and then he would never expect to find me wearing good clothes and -walking on a swell avenue, and finally he would never expect to meet me -at all—would never think of me.” - -“But, Barry,” said Mrs. Everest, wonderingly, “suppose he had recognized -you. What harm could he do?” - -“No harm, but he could make it mighty uncomfortable for me. If he had -found out I was trying to reform a word from him would have sent every -New England tramp this way to quarter themselves on me, and if I refused -to harbor them to make up ugly stories about me. Lies are the breath of -life to trampdom.” - -“Well, what happened? This is very interesting!” she exclaimed, with her -eyes shining. “Please hurry on, Barry.” - -“My! but you have a good heart,” the man said, admiringly. “I am old -enough to be your father, but I always feel as if you were my mother.” - -“Go on, go on,” she reiterated, in girlish impatience; “don’t stop to -analyze your feelings. You can do that some other time. What else did -Smalley do?” - -“He didn’t do anything more just then, and you will think that up to -this time he had done very little to justify my suspicion of him. -However, I returned to the Judge’s after dark. Roblee had gone to bed, -but Brick, like all niggers, likes to sit up late. Presently we heard a -knocking below. I told Brick to open the window and put his head out. He -said, ‘Who’s dere?’ and you know whose voice replied.” - -“Smalley’s,” she returned, promptly. - -“Yes, Smalley’s. He asked, as smooth as silk, ‘Is Thomas in?’ - -“‘What Thomas is dat?’ asked Brick. - -“‘Thomas the coachman,’ replied Smalley. - -“I gave Brick a pull. ‘Brick,’ I said, ‘that’s a bad fellow. Set Bylow -on him.’ - -“‘Isn’t this Mr. Brown’s?’ Smalley was inquiring in guileless surprise. - -“‘No, it aint Mistah Brown’s,’ replied Brick, ‘but dis here dog’ll take -you to Mistah Brown,’ and he rattled downstairs with Bylow. - -“Smalley ran, and Bylow ran. I knew the dog wouldn’t hurt him, but he -did some ripping. When he and Brick came back I pulled a piece of cloth -from between the dog’s jaws. I recognized it as a sample of Smalley’s -smart trousers. He wouldn’t do any more reconnoitring round the Judge’s -house after dark.” - -Mrs. Everest looked puzzled. “I don’t quite understand, Barry.” - -“Smalley wanted to see the back of the house and to find out what kind -of a watch was kept in the stable, and if it would be easy to enter the -Judge’s house at night. I think Bylow informed him on these questions. -He came early in the evening, so as not to risk his reputation by -prowling round it later. O, he is a clever scamp is Smalley. As soon as -we got rid of him I hurried down to the public library. Now my fears -were fulfilled. Smalley had designs upon something or some one at one -hundred and ten. In the library I think I found the clew to Smalley’s -presence here.” - -“And what was it?” - -He looked round, then got up, went to the door, and coming back again -sat down and spoke in a lower voice: “You don’t know little Bethany’s -origin?” - -“No, except that her mother was a lady.” - -“Well, I do. Mrs. Tingsby was very much excited at the time the Judge -took her, and little by little I got the whole story from her. Bethany’s -father was a scamp, a semi-criminal, or possibly a whole one. He was of -good stock, though. Her mother was a Hittaker.” - -“Of Hittaker’s soap?” - -“The same. There were two Hittaker brothers. One made money, the other -didn’t. Bethany’s grandfather was the unfortunate one. However, his rich -brother helped him during his lifetime. But he wouldn’t help his -children, who are now all dead. The rich Hittaker is about as mean a man -that ever lived. He was only good to his own. Now, what do you think I -found in the New York papers?” - -“Something about the Hittakers, of course,” replied Mrs. Everest. - -“Just so. A week ago a terrible accident occurred to old Hittaker’s -daughter, her husband, and children. His son-in-law came from Canada, -and he had taken his wife and children home on a visit. They went -sleighing; the ice was rotten on a river or lake—I forget which—that -they crossed, or, rather, I believe it was an airhole they got into. To -tell the truth, I read the thing in such a hurry lest Smalley should -come upon me that I don’t remember the details. Anyhow, they were all -drowned—Hittaker’s daughter, her husband, and children.” - -“Dreadful!” murmured Mrs. Everest, with a contraction of her brows. “Who -can understand sorrow like that?” - -“The papers all agreed in one thing,” continued Barry, grimly, “that the -old man was floored. You see, he had staked all on his only child and -her children. Now they are taken from him, and he has nothing left.” - -He was silent for a few seconds, and Mrs. Everest said, seriously, “What -has this to do with Bethany?” - -“Why, don’t you see, the child is his heir or heiress—sole heiress. The -papers didn’t say anything about her. They merely stated that Hittaker -was without other relatives. Now, as I figure it out, Smalley or some of -his gang read that account with as much interest as I did. Some of them -would know about Smith—Bethany’s father—having married Hittaker’s niece. -I believe that on the strength of the old man’s meanness they are -counting on the assurance that when he recovers from his knockdown blow -he will be likely to seek Bethany out and leave his money to her rather -than to charity. - -“Well!” said Mrs. Everest, in astonishment. “Well, Barry Mafferty, you -are a clever man.” - -“Smalley is going to kidnap the little young one,” he went on, -positively, “as sure as fate, and hold her for a ransom from the Judge -and old Hittaker, so I’ve come to you to talk about it.” - -“Why didn’t you go to the Judge?” - -Barry wrinkled his forehead. “Upon my word, I don’t know, unless it is -that I don’t believe I could bend him to my views as I think I can you -and your husband, for I want you to consult him.” - -“What do you think the Judge would do?” she asked. - -“He’s a very straightforward man,” said Barry, thoughtfully. “He -wouldn’t shilly-shally with fellows like Smalley. He’d run him out of -town. Now, I’d like to catch him. There was a famous child-kidnapping -case some time ago in New York. I believe Smalley was in it from -something I read at the time, and beside that I’ve heard of him as a -kidnapper. If we caught him red-handed now, this capture might throw -light on the former case. Anyhow, I’d like to see Smalley shut up. It -would be for his good.” - -Mrs. Everest’s face had got very red, and Barry, seeing it, smiled in -gratification. “I knew you would be with me,” he went on, “in trying to -catch him. Anything about children appeals to you.” - -Mrs. Everest tried to speak, but could not. Her voice was shaking with -anger and emotion. “The vile wretch!” she ejaculated at last. “I hope -the Lord will put some charity in my heart for him, but now I am so -angry, so angry! To steal a little one—a mere baby!” - -“Well,” said Barry, reassuringly, “we mustn’t be too hard on him. We’ve -got to watch. But, frankly, I must say that I never heard of Smalley -doing any good thing, and he’s mostly after big game. Probably if he’s -planning to take the child he won’t do it himself. He’ll arrange -everything, then slip off and have confederates come. You see, his face -will get known in the city, and he might be suspected. But I fancy the -confederates will go back on him and confess if we capture them.” - -“Well, what do you propose to do?” asked Mrs. Everest. - -“I propose selfishly to keep out of the way. Smalley might possibly -recognize me if he saw me, and if he recognized me the whole thing would -be up. He’d know I would give him away.” - -“We could not warn Bethany.” - -“O, no, that would not be wise.” - -“We should keep the children from knowledge of the evil in the world as -long as possible,” continued Mrs. Everest. “At the same time, I don’t -think it does any harm to tell any child to be careful about talking to -strangers or going with them.” - -“I wouldn’t say a word to her,” said Barry, emphatically. - -“What would you do?” - -“I’d speak to the English boy; he’s had some experience of the world. -Tell him to keep a lookout for strangers prowling about the house, but -not to be too watchful. And I’d warn the little girl’s school-teacher. I -guess about the only time of day she’s alone is when she goes to and -comes from school. That’s the time of all she’s got to be watched.” - -“I know who’ll do that without attracting attention,” said Mrs. Everest, -promptly. - -“Who is it?” - -“Cracker, the ex-newspaper boy. He is so bad, and has nothing to do, so -I got him a bicycle. The avenue is his favorite riding place.” - -“Good,” remarked Barry, in a low voice. “And he’ll delight in watching -some one worse than himself. Can you trust him, though?” - -“Yes, I have means to bind him, and he really seems attached to me. I -have him sleeping in this house now. He was so dreadful that no one -would take him. His grandfather’s life was worried out of him. He is on -very good behavior now, for he likes to be here.” - -“Well, try him, and now, to catch these fellows red-handed, we’ve got to -be mighty careful, for they are as shy as wild ducks and as clever as -foxes.” - -“Hello!” said a hearty voice, “whom have you got here, Berty? O, meow, -meow, as baby says when he sees Barry. How do you do, Mafferty?” and -Mrs. Everest’s happy-looking young husband strode into the room. - -“Bonny is in the hall,” he said to his wife, “looking for the best place -to show off his fine new spring hat—for spring is coming, Mafferty. Do -the pussies tell you that?” - -“You know my brother Boniface,” said Mrs. Everest, under her breath, to -her caller. “Let us tell him, too. He is very discreet.” - -Barry nodded, and presently the three young people and the middle-aged -man were all seated in a corner of the parlor talking in low tones of -the best plan to be adopted to safeguard the rights of the little child -and to punish the guilty unfortunates who wished to invade them. - - - - - CHAPTER XXII - THE JUDGE GETS A SHOCK - - -Princess Sukey stood severely staring at the Judge. - -He was in his favorite place—in his own study, with his own dear books, -in his own capacious armchair, and with his door wide open for little -Bethany’s noon homecoming. - -It was not yet time for her to come, and to-day she would be late, for -she had warned “Daddy Grandpa” that she must stay for a few minutes -after school to talk about a birthday party that one of her schoolmates -was about to give. - -In the meantime the Judge, sitting comfortably back in his chair, was -occupied with his own thoughts, and uncommonly lively thoughts they -were, judging by his face. - -The pigeon stared still more severely. Being of a serious disposition, -she never approved of laughter—and the Judge was laughing now. - -He was thinking of Airy. Her pranks amused him immensely. The day before -she had been invited to dine with him. The Judge could see her coming -into the room, her mouth primly set, her sharp eyes going to and fro. -She did nothing spontaneously. With slavish imitation she studied the -other children. She ate as Bethany did, she made use of Dallas’s and -Titus’s phrases, and if she had not one of theirs at hand she kept -silence. - -“Upon my word, Sukey,” said the Judge, mischievously, to the pigeon, “I -believe Airy is going to make a lady of herself, after all. They say -that a faithful imitation is a good original. I foresee, though, many -lessons ahead for us. The little witch has made up her mind to spend a -good part of her time in studying us. Well, we don’t care—we don’t -care,” and he laughed again. - -“It seems to me,” he said at last, taking off his glasses and wiping -them with his handkerchief, “that I laugh far more over children than I -used to. I believe that as a young man I took my family too seriously. -Certain it is that I get more real amusement and enjoyment out of the -children of my adoption than I did out of my own dear little ones. How I -wish I had them round me now!” and he sighed. - -The pigeon wrathfully shook herself. She wanted no more children about. -There were too many now for her taste, and elevating her head she said, -sharply, a great many times, “Rookety cahoo! rookety cahoo!” - -The Judge looked at her. Her greenish-yellow eyes were fixed on him with -a steady glare. They seemed to mesmerize him, and in two minutes the -Judge’s dear old white head was nodding. - -He was having forty winks before luncheon, but during the forty winks he -had time to dream. He was facing a crowded courtroom, there was trouble -somewhere; he did not seem to know just what it was. A great noise and -confusion uprose. He tried to speak, but could not, and in his distress -he awoke. - -When he went to sleep the room had been quiet, the house was quiet, the -street was quiet. Now the noise in his dream seemed to have followed him -into real life—or did he fancy it? and he put up a hand as if to stop -the singing in his ears. He hoped he was not getting deaf. - -There certainly was a noise, a great noise abroad, and it was not in his -ears. He heard carriages in the street and banging of doors, loud voices -in the hall below, and now there were persons rushing upstairs. - -He was still slightly confused. He had a vision of the pigeon listening, -her hooded head on one side, her body vibrating with anger, then a dozen -or more persons hurried into the room and invaded his armchair. - -The Judge sat helplessly back and looked at them. What was the matter? - -Foremost among the newcomers was young Mrs. Everest, her face like a -poppy, the plumes of her big hat nodding against his white head as she -bent over him. - -She was almost screaming, she was so excited. “You dear old man, I’ve -always wanted to kiss you, and I’m going to do so now.” - -The Judge smiled feebly. Did she, too, want to be adopted? He made no -resistance, but he certainly made no response as her affectionate arms -were thrown round him and a kiss was sweetly placed on his forehead. - -It was a congratulatory embrace, he felt that; but what had he done, -what had happened? - -“Allow me to shake hands and felicitate you,” said a second joyful -voice, and Berty’s husband seized and wrung his hand. - -The Judge struggled out of his chair. There was Berty’s brother -Boniface, there were several young Everests, there were Charlie Brown, -Titus, Dallas, and some other boys that he did not know, and what were -those two young fellows doing with notebooks? Reporters, of course. -Oblivious of the chatter and confusion about them they were rapidly -taking notes, their eyes going all round the room, even to the top of -the bookcase, where stood an indignant, frightened pigeon looking down -at this invasion of her home. - -The Judge soon forgot the reporters. He was just about to ask what he -had done that he should be written up for the press when his dismayed -eyes fell on a little creature somewhat in the background. - -Who was that? If he were in his sane mind he would say that it was -Bethany dressed as a boy. Her hair was cut short, she had on a boy’s -suit of clothes, and, astonishing to tell, she, quite oblivious of the -laughing and talking about her, was amusing herself by playing horse on -a chair that she had overturned. - -She was astride it. “Gee up, horsie,” the Judge heard her say, and she -whipped and beat the chair with her plump little palm. - -The Judge gazed helplessly at Mrs. Everest and ejaculated, “Is she -crazy?” - -“Poor little dear,” said the young woman, indignantly, “those wretches -played on her lively imagination and tried to transform her into a boy.” - -“What wretches?” asked the Judge, feebly, but Mrs. Everest had too -little command of herself to answer him. “There’s the Mayor,” she cried, -“I hear his voice,” and she ran out in the hall. - -“More carriages!” one young Everest squealed, and they, too, dashed out. - -“Tom Everest,” said the Judge, solemnly, to Berty’s husband, “what is -this all about?” - -“Yes, sir,” said Tom, absently, and the Judge knew that he had not heard -his question, for he continued a lively conversation that he was having -with Boniface. - -“I tell you, Bonny, that you shan’t take all the credit from our police -force. It’s all very well for those New York men to crow. They weren’t -in it.” - -“They were, Tom,” replied Bonny, indignantly. - -The Judge stared. Boniface Gravely was a young elegant who prided -himself on his good manners. What dispute had he come here in his study -to settle? He never had seen him out of temper before. Now he was red -and flushed, and looked as if he could strike his brother-in-law. - -The Judge caught other phrases from other excited ones. “The -police—cab—driving fast—running away—railway station—caught them in -time.” Something startling had evidently happened. - -He put out one of his long arms and drew Titus toward him. “Grandson, -what is all this about?” - -“B-b-lest if I know,” said Titus, bluntly. “I never saw such a mix-up in -my life. The people are just pouring into the house, and they’re all too -excited to explain. I tried to get hold of Dallas, but he’s sparring -over there in a corner with the dirtiest little ragamuffin I ever saw. -He’s called Cracker, and I guess Dallas saw him stealing something.” - -“You might keep your eyes open, Titus,” groaned the Judge. “I never had -such an irruption into my house as this before.” - -“W-w-whatever it is, Bethany’s in it,” said Titus. “I hear them talking -about her.” - -“Can’t you get hold of her, Titus, and take those clothes off?” - -Titus looked sharply at him. His grandfather’s voice was almost -childish. These people were driving him distracted. - -“Come out in the hall, grandfather,” he said, taking him by the arm, -“the air is cooler.” - -“Law me,” he groaned, when they reached the hall window, “look at the -carriages dashing down the avenue. The Brown-Gardners’ and the -Darley-Jameses’, and the Rector’s—” - -“Titus,” called a sudden voice, “there’s a deputation from your school -coming. They’ve just telephoned. Can you go down and receive them?” - -“No, I can’t,” growled Titus, “I’m going to stay with grandfather. Go -yourself.” - -Dallas raised himself on tiptoe and stared across some heads at them. - -“Anything I can do for the Judge?” he asked, calling a halt in his -excitement. - -“No,” responded Titus, “go on. I’ll stay with him.” - -“A telephone message for Mr. Tom Everest,” called a piercing voice. “His -father wants him on business at the iron works.” - -The Judge straightened his tall form and looked in through the open door -of his study. A strange young man sat at his telephone desk. He was -receiving and giving messages, as if the house belonged to him. - -“The Mayor to see the Judge, the Mayor, the Mayor,” reiterated a number -of voices, and a passage was made between the people, who by this time -crowded the staircase and the upper hall. - -Titus guided his grandfather to the big hall window and threw it wide -open. - -Mr. Jimson, the Mayor, was a medium-sized, bluff, hearty man, for whom -the Judge had great respect. He was a man who made no pretensions to -elegance, but the Judge admired him for his honesty. This was his second -term as mayor. During the first one he had threatened to resign on -account of corruption in civic affairs. He had been urged to remain in -office by all the best citizens of the town, and owing to their efforts -many reforms had been effected. - -Just now he was beaming on the Judge. - -“Congratulations!” he said, extending a hand and heartily shaking the -Judge’s. “I’m glad you caught those fellows.” - -“Thank you,” said the Judge, simply. He possessed a certain kind of -pride that would not allow him to seek information from the chief -official of the city, even though he seemed the only one capable of -giving it. - -“Just look at the people swarming down the avenue,” continued the Mayor. -“I wish the people of Riverport held me in such estimation. This your -grandson? How do you do, young sir? I’m pleased to meet you,” and he -shook hands with Titus. - -Titus was as proud as his grandfather, so he, too, did not seek -enlightenment. - -Suddenly Mrs. Everest stood at the Judge’s side. He did not know how she -got there. - -“Worked my shoulders through the press,” she said, gayly; “there’s an -art in it. You turn one blade, then the other, and they cut the crowd. -Dear Judge, the house is packed—not another one can get in. They’re -lining up on the sidewalk and the middle of the street. Just see. You -can’t shake hands with all. You’ll have to make a speech.” - -As if her thought had communicated itself to the crowd, or, rather, -perhaps, that the people on the street had caught sight of the Judge’s -white head, there arose a sudden cry, “Speech! Speech!” - -The Judge looked helplessly about him. - -The jam on the staircase, in the hall, and in the study took up the cry, -“Speech! Speech!” - -The Judge, brought to bay, turned rebukingly to Mrs. Everest. “Speech! -Speech! but what shall I speechify about?” - -“Why, about this trouble—about your loss and—” - -“Speak louder, I beg,” exclaimed the Judge, putting his hand behind his -ear and bending down to catch her words. “There is such a roaring that I -can’t hear.” - -She put up her lips, and in a clear, flutelike voice called out to him, -“Exhort them to love their homes and families, to keep them pure, to -protect their children. I think you’ll do best on general lines. Don’t -make personal references.” - -The Judge set his face. “I see,” he said, firmly, “that is some kind of -a complimentary demonstration, but I am not the kind of man to talk -about a thing I do not understand. Tell me in a few words what all this -means.” - -Berty stared at him in amazement. “Has no one told you?” she -vociferated. - -He shook his head. “No one.” - -“Kidnapers tried to steal Bethany,” she cried. “We rescued her. The -people are glad.” - -The Judge understood. “Thank you,” he said, gravely. Then he faced the -crowd in the street. - -It was not a cold day, and the really soft spring wind blew aside his -white hair as he looked from the window at his assembled and assembling -citizens, for others were yet arriving. - -For just one instant he faltered. He was not a public speaker, and he -had never addressed a crowd like this. He might have failed, or he might -have made a lame and halting speech, if it had not been for the presence -of a hand somewhat smaller than his own. - -Titus was standing by him, his own dear grandson was watching him -anxiously. The Judge thought of him and of the other children of his -family. He would speak so that they might be proud of him, and his voice -rang out on the clear noonday air: “My dear fellow citizens, I thank you -for this grand sympathetic gathering. In trouble or in joy, the -inhabitants of a city should stand together. Stand by each other, and -stand by your families. We read in Holy Writ that God setteth the -solitary in families; also that ye shall not afflict any widow or -fatherless child. Now, a fatherless child has been afflicted. Wicked men -attempted to lay hands upon her, but they were defeated.” - -A burst of applause interrupted the Judge, and with his blood tingling -in his veins he went on with the delivery of the best twenty-minute -impromptu speech that had ever been given in Riverport, so the -newspapers said next day. - -The speech was not concluded with as much dignity as it had been begun. -It certainly had a more affecting conclusion than beginning. The Judge -was just about to close. He was about to thank his friends and -acquaintances and well wishers for the honor they had done him, when out -of the profound silence about him there arose a little cry—a child’s -cry. - -Bethany, happy at first in her play at riding a horse, had soon become -alarmed by the continued influx of strangers. Some kind-hearted persons -had taken it upon themselves to comfort her, and for a time had -succeeded. - -The child, however, wanted Daddy Grandpa, and refused to be consoled for -his absence. She did not care if he were making a speech, and her -wailing cry grew louder and louder, until at last some one had the happy -thought of passing her out to the Judge. She was lifted along from one -set of strong arms to another, until at last her little feet were on the -window sill beside the Judge, and her arms were about his neck. - -The close-cropped head was laid across his mouth. He could not utter a -word. The crowd understood the little affectionate, frightened, childish -embrace, and a tremendous cheering and clapping broke out. - -The Judge fell back from the window, and the Mayor stepped forward. - -“Three cheers for the Judge,” he said, waving his hat in the air, “and -then three cheers for the children of Riverport.” - -The cheers were given with a will, and then the crowd began to disperse. - -Titus slipped up to Mrs. Everest. “Look here, Mrs. Berty, send all these -folks out of the house. I can’t, as I’m under my own roof. It’s too much -for grandfather.” - -“Very well,” she said, nodding her black head. “I’ll just let a few -stay.” - -“Don’t you let anyone stay,” the boy said, obstinately, “but yourself. -Grandfather will want you to explain this affair to him.” - -“Not my brother and the Mayor?” she said, wistfully. - -“No brothers and no mayors,” said the boy. “Excuse me for seeming rude, -but grandfather looks pale. He wasn’t well yesterday.” - -Mrs. Everest ran up to the Mayor and whispered to him. - -He was a man of businesslike methods, and in ten minutes there wasn’t a -person in the house outside the family, except Mrs. Tom Everest, though -a few groups still loitered on the sidewalk. - -She went into the study with the Judge and Bethany, and Titus ran -downstairs to tell Higby to let no one come upstairs without permission. - -Titus could not find Higby at first. After a time he discovered him -behind the door in the pantry, crying in a low and dispirited way. - -“What’s the matter with you?” he asked. - -Higby raised a tearful face. - -“Mi-mi-missis Blodgett slapped me.” - -“And what did she slap you for? I’ll bet you deserved it.” - -“I-I-I’m a bachelor,” whimpered Higby, “a-a-an’ she’s a widder.” - -“Well, suppose you are, and suppose she is,” said the boy, impatiently, -“what of it? She wouldn’t slap you for that?” - -“When I-I-I saw the crowd I thought she m-m-might be scared, an’ I put -m-m-my arm round her.” - -“Scared! You goose, you’d scare quicker than she would.” - -“An’ she sl-sl-slapped me,” continued Higby, dolefully, “an’ she said, -You sas-sas-sassy ole dog. An’ I-I-I aint a dog.” - -“More’s the pity,” said Titus, unfeelingly. “You’d have more sense if -you were. Now, listen to me. Grandfather wants to keep quiet. If anyone -comes to see him put him or her in the parlor and come for me. If you -let anyone upstairs without orders from us I’ll give you a slap compared -with which Mrs. Blodgett’s would be a caress. Do you understand?” and he -took the old man by the shoulder and gently shook him. - -Higby smiled through his tears. “B-b-bless you, Master Titus. You want -to m-m-make ole Higby laugh.” - -“Do you understand?” asked the boy. - -The old man nodded. - -“Put your handkerchief in your pocket,” commanded Titus. - -Higby did so. - -“Stand up, walk out into the hall, strut a little, if you can.” - -Higby, with a wan smile, tried to strut, and to such good effect that -Titus, taken with a sudden fit of laughter and choking, was obliged to -retire behind the pantry door. Presently he came out. - -“Higby, repeat after me: ‘A bachelor’s life is a lively life.’” - -“A-a-a ba-ba-bachelor’s life is a l-l-lovely life.” - -“Lively, you goose.” - -“L-l-lively life.” - -“None of your widows for me.” - -“None of your w-w-widders for me.” - -“Now, don’t you feel better?” - -“Yes, sir,” said Higby. “I’ll put me a-a-arm round the stair post afore -I-I-I’ll put it round that widder again,” and he marched valiantly up to -the aforesaid post and struck it with such vehemence and comicality that -Titus put down his head and ran precipitately upstairs. - -Higby’s admiration for Mrs. Blodgett was a standing joke in the family. - - - - - CHAPTER XXIII - MRS. EVEREST BEGINS TO EXPLAIN - - -Titus found his grandfather sitting in his armchair, with Bethany on her -little stool at his feet. Her head was pressed against him. Her eyes -were red and troubled, and occasionally she caught her breath in a faint -sob. - -Mrs. Everest sat opposite them, and on seeing Titus she said, eagerly, -“Come, boy, we are just waiting for you.” Then she turned to the Judge. -“Do I understand you to say that you have not the slightest inkling of -all that occurred to-day?” - -“It would perhaps not be right to say that I have not the slightest -inkling,” returned the Judge. “I see that something important has -happened—some attempt on Bethany’s life or liberty, I imagine. I am in -possession of not one detail.” - -“Do you mean to say that no one told you about it?” said Mrs. Everest, -incredulously. “Why did not some of those people explain to you? I -depended on them. I was busy looking after the people myself, and I -wanted to say a few words to the reporters. Some things we don’t want to -get in the press. Why, where was Dallas? He knew all about it.” - -“Here,” exclaimed a sudden voice, and the English boy pushed open the -door and came in. He was red and flushed, and looked tired. - -“If I haven’t had a dance after that firecracker!” he exclaimed. “What a -beast of a boy! He was stealing right and left here, or trying to. I had -to drag him with me wherever I went. First of all, he brought his wheel -into the house by the back way and broke a stepladder and muddied a lot -of clean clothes down in the lower hall. Thank fortune, he’s gone now. -I’ve just escorted him to the corner of the first street.” - -Mrs. Everest looked anxious. “I must hurry home and talk to him. But -first to enlighten you, dear Judge. I shall begin at the first. Two -weeks ago Barry Mafferty came to me in great anxiety. Now, this mustn’t -be talked about. You boys will be careful not to say anything about him. -Dear little Bethany is going to sleep,” and she threw a compassionate -glance at the tired face against the Judge’s knee. - -“You don’t wish Mafferty’s name mentioned in connection with the -affair,” said the Judge, shrewdly. - -“Not a murmur of it. You see, he used to be a miserable sort of a man, -and now he is really reforming. Well, he said a man he knew to be a -criminal was prowling about your house. He made up his mind—indeed, he -had cause to do so—that the fellow had designs upon some one in your -family. He decided that it was Bethany, for he found out that old Mr. -Hittaker—” - -She paused an instant for breath, as she was speaking very rapidly, and -the Judge, with a faint gleam of amusement passing over his face, -inquired, “Of Hittaker’s soap?” - -“The same. Poor old man, he had lost his daughter, her husband, and her -children. He hadn’t a relative in the world left but Bethany. Mafferty -said that probably some nest of criminals had decided to steal Bethany, -on the supposition that she would be made old Mr. Hittaker’s heiress, -or, even if she weren’t, that you would be willing to pay a considerable -sum to get her back.” - -The Judge shook his head. “I don’t know how it is, but an impression has -got out that I am worth a great deal more money than I really possess. I -suppose it is because I stopped working when I thought I had enough, and -because I spend what I have, instead of hoarding it.” - -“You could not be mean,” said Mrs. Everest. “You are very generous and -very sensible. Well, to continue. Barry was greatly excited, and didn’t -want to trouble you in the affair, so he enlisted my aid and my -husband’s. Then, too, he wanted to catch the would-be kidnapers, and he -was afraid you would not wait for them as we have done. It was sorry -work, in a way, but both my husband and Barry said that anyone bad -enough to carry off a child should be caught and shut up.” - -“So you have been playing detective?” said the Judge, and his eyes -sparkled with interest and a slight inclination to tease. - -“Yes, dear Judge, amateur detectives. We did nothing to entice to crime. -We merely waited. I knew, Barry knew, my husband knew, Roblee, your -coachman, knew, Mrs. Hume knew. Cracker, the naughty Cracker, was merely -told to watch certain people, and he has been scorching up and down this -avenue like a thing possessed. We did not call in the aid of the local -police or the New York police till the last day or two. Two young -newspaper men here have helped us wonderfully. One of them guarded -Jennie.” - -“Jennie!” exclaimed the Judge. - -“O, yes; I forgot to say that she had to be told, too. Those scamps -found out that she slept in the room with Bethany and had charge of her, -so they tried to become friendly with her in order to get information -from her. One of them came here one day in the guise of a workman.” - -“Who came?” - -“One of this gang of miscreants. He rang the bell, walked in, said he -was a workman come to do the window shades in the attic. Jennie went up -with him, and when he got in the attic she found there weren’t any -shades to mend; they were all in order. He laughed and said he had come -to the wrong house; then he rather made friends with her and said he was -a stranger in the city. He wished she would show him about a little. -Would she take a walk with him the next afternoon?” - -“She did not go, of course?” said the Judge. - -“She did,” said Mrs. Everest, reluctantly; “she mistook her -instructions. We would not have had her go with him for the world; but -you may be sure she did not go alone.” - -“Why did you not stop her, if you did not wish her to go?” inquired the -Judge, slightly wrinkling his forehead. - -“I did not know about it, dear Judge. You see, it was this way: One of -those young reporters had engaged a room in that quiet street around the -corner from here, where Bethany goes to school. What is the name of it?” - -Titus supplied the name. “It is Garden Street, Mrs. Everest.” - -“O, yes—Garden Street. Well, Mr. Busby took a room opposite Mrs. Hume’s. -Jennie consulted him, and he told her to go with the man. He would be -near her. So Jennie went, and Cracker, scooting after her, reported her -movements to Harry Busby. The pretended workman, who called himself -Simpson, acted like a gentleman. He talked nicely to Jennie, took her -for a walk down Broadway, and invited her to go into Duffy’s for ice -cream.” - -The Judge did not like this, and Mrs. Everest hastened on: “She did it -for Bethany, dear Judge. She felt terribly embarrassed. You know what a -nice, quiet girl Jennie is—not one to take up with strangers at all. -However, when it came to the ice cream she thought she had gone far -enough, and Harry Busby released her. She put up her hand and took off -her veil. That was a sign that she was tired of the affair. Busby was -watching her through the doorway. He came in, pretended to be an old -friend, and that he was jealous to find her with a stranger, and in a -quiet way made her come with him.” - -“And what came out of that escapade?” asked the Judge, with emphasis. - -“Nothing, except that the stranger found that he could not gain any -control over Jennie.” - -“Did he ask her any questions about Bethany?” - -“Not one; he was evidently planning that for another meeting. But he -never saw Jennie again. Foiled in that, the kidnapers turned their whole -attention on gaining control of the child herself. By the way, we found -out that there were just two at first—two young men. One, whose real -name was Smalley, called himself Givins; the other, his confederate, who -tried to deceive Jennie, called himself Simpson, as I said before. Barry -didn’t know his real name.” - -“Do you suppose Smalley was the right name of the first one?” asked the -Judge, searchingly. - -“O, no, but that is the name he mostly goes by, Barry says. Anyway, we -had these two fellows well watched, and cleverly watched, for they did -not suspect us. You see, there were so many of us, and they were only -two. Well, two days ago they both disappeared, and at this point we took -our city detectives and the New York detectives into our confidence. One -of our own men went to New York with Givins and Simpson, reported to an -agency there, and the two men have been watched. We hope to hear of -their arrest any time now.” - -“Well, this _is_ a plot,” said the Judge, drawing a long breath. - -Mrs. Everest nodded her pretty head at him. “You don’t quite approve, -Judge. I see it in your eye. O, if you knew what a pleasure it has been -to watch over your interests!” - -The Judge looked gratified. “My dear child, I thank you,” he said, -heartily; “but look there,” and he turned abruptly to Dallas and Titus. - -The two boys’ faces were red; their heads and bodies, too, for that -matter, were bending forward. They were absolutely hanging on every word -she uttered. - -“Just see them,” said the Judge, ironically, “their young eyes starting -out of their heads. You know what my career has been. I may say that -mine has been a profession that I have kept separate from my home -interests. I early made up my mind that, as far as possible, it is best -to keep the evil and the good apart. Not one word has my family ever -heard me utter with regard to the process of litigating or carrying on -suits in courts of law or equity or on the darker world of criminal -actions and cases. I know that the human mind, and especially the -youthful mind, is curious, morbidly curious, with respect to the -proceedings by which a person accused of crime is brought to trial and -judgment. I don’t think that that curiosity ought to be gratified.” - -“Nor I,” replied Mrs. Everest, “but surely this is an exceptional case.” - -“Possibly,” returned the Judge, “possibly. Please continue your story.” - -She smiled sweetly at him, and went on: “After Simpson and Smalley, -alias Givins, left here, two strange women arrived. But we didn’t know -it. Of all the travelers arriving here daily, we could not be supposed -to know at first sight which ones were criminals. However, we did not -relax our vigilance with regard to Bethany. No stranger could approach -her, or any member of your family, without our knowledge. Sure enough, -this morning the kidnaping attempt was to be made.” - -“Pardon me,” interrupted the Judge, “but there is a great noise in the -hall below. It goes through my head. Titus, will you see about it?” - -The Judge was the only one that had heard the noise. The others had been -so absorbed in Mrs. Everest’s recital, and she herself was still so much -excited, that she was only aware of what was going on immediately about -her. - -Titus sprang up and, running out into the hall, looked over the stair -railing. - -Poor old Higby, in trouble once more, was executing a kind of war dance -round a young man that Titus speedily recognized as Mrs. Everest’s -husband. - -Titus clapped a hand over his mouth to prevent an explosion of laughter, -and for a few instants wickedly did not interfere. - -“Let me by, you old scamp,” Tom Everest was saying, half in amusement, -half in irritability. “Don’t you know me? Why, I’ve been coming to this -house ever since I was knee-high to a grasshopper.” - -“C-c-can’t help it,” replied Higby, flourishing a broom that he held in -his hand. “You aint a-a-a-goin’ up.” - -“You old dog—get out of my way—isn’t my wife up there?” - -“S-s-stand back,” vociferated Higby, “or I shall h-h-hit you with this -broom.” - -“Why, Higby, you’re crazy,” said Tom, good-naturedly. “I tell you my -wife is up there. Would you separate man and wife? I’m going up, anyway. -Now, once more, and for the last time, will you announce me?” - -Higby shook his head. Tom gave a grunt of disapproval, and adroitly -taking his broom from him put it over his shoulder and began to march -upstairs with it. - -Higby came scrambling, stuttering, and scolding after him, and Tom, -mischievously allowing him to come quite near, would then take a short -run. - -“Hello, Tom,” said Titus, familiarly. - -“Hello,” returned Tom, looking up. “Since when has this castle been in a -state of siege? Here, retainer, take your flintlock,” and he gayly gave -Higby a playful dig with the broom as he handed it to him. - -“Since the assault this morning,” said Titus, with a laugh. - -“I declare,” said Tom, looking down at Higby with a whimsical face, “I -was just about to lift up my voice and ask you to call off your dog. I -believe the old fellow has gone crazy. Look at him prancing up and down -with that broom over his shoulder.” - -“Higby,” said Titus, staring down at him, “put down that broom.” - -“Y-y-yes, sir.” - -“And sit down and rest yourself,” continued Titus, anxiously. “You look -tired. I believe the events of the morning have upset him,” he said -under his breath to Tom. “I found him crying just now.” - -“He isn’t crying now,” said Tom, pointedly. - -Higby, in a state of silly glee, was seated in one of the high-backed -hall chairs, making a succession of most extraordinary and most uncouth -noises. - -“Man, what are you trying to do?” called Titus, severely. - -“B-b-bow-wow! I’m practicin’ a-barkin’,” replied Higby, with a wild -burst of laughter. “’Tis the second time this mornin’ I’ve been called a -d-d-dog. Missis Blodgett, she begun it. M-m-mister Everest here, he went -on with it. Bow-wow-wow! Ole Higby’s a d-d-dog. Ha! ha! ha!” - -“He’s off his head this time, Titus, sure pop,” said Tom. “He acted like -a fool when I arrived. Shut the door in my face, and when I went round -the back way he heard me coming and met me with that broom.” - -“Higby,” said Titus, quietly. - -“Y-y-yes, sir.” - -“Come here.” - -The old man got up and came giggling upstairs. - -“Go down to the kitchen,” commanded Titus, “and tell Jennie that you are -going to retire to your room for the rest of the day. Then march -upstairs, take off your clothes, and get into bed. Do you hear me?” - -“W-w-we’re a-goin’ to have some d-d-delicious jelly for luncheon,” said -Higby, anxiously. - -“You shall have some. I’ll see that a big tray of everything going is -sent to your room. Now hurry.” - -“B-b-bow-wow,” murmured Higby, under his breath. - -“And Higby,” said Tom, kindly, “I was only in fun when I called you a -dog. You’re not one really, you know.” - -“Be I a c-c-cat,” inquired Higby, mildly. - -Tom’s evil genius prompted him to yield to his impulse to make fun. - -“Yes,” he said, wildly, “meow, meow, poor pussy. Scat! Scat!” - -He pretended to spit and hiss, and Higby scuttled precipitately -downstairs. - -Tom watched him going, then he said, soberly, “How much would you sell -that fellow for, Titus?” - -“Grandfather likes him,” said the boy, briefly, “and he was nasty to you -because he had been told to let no one in.” - -“Does your grandfather let your servants eat just what you do?” inquired -Tom, curiously. - -“The very same. You ought to see his bills in strawberry season.” - -“Berty does the same; everyone in the house shares alike,” continued -Tom, “but my people don’t. They would think they couldn’t afford it. -Hello, here we are,” and he entered the Judge’s study. - -“How do you again, sir,” said Tom, shaking hands. “I’ve come for my -wife, but I thought I’d never get here.” - -“Tom, dear, do sit down,” said Berty, eagerly, “and listen, or perhaps -you can help me with my story. I was just at the most exciting part.” - -Tom and Titus seated themselves side by side on the sofa, and Mrs. -Everest continued. - - - - - CHAPTER XXIV - THE EXPLANATION CONTINUED - - -“As I was saying when Titus left the room, this morning was the time -fixed by the kidnapers for their grand stroke. You, in all ignorance of -it, and we, too, for that matter, though we were all on the alert, -watched little Bethany go to school. She was quietly and happily doing -her tasks with the other children when at ten o’clock there was an -arrival at her teacher’s front door.” - -“I think you said that you took Mrs. Hume into your confidence,” -remarked the Judge. - -“Yes, sir, we did; therefore when her maid said that there was a -carriage at the door and that a young woman wished to see her, Mrs. Hume -went quickly to her little parlor. She said a respectably dressed young -person stood there and said that you had sent her—” - -“That I?” inquired the Judge. - -“Yes, that you, Judge Sancroft, had requested her to call and get -Bethany; that Mrs. Tingsby had been taken suddenly ill, and you had gone -to her; that the doctor was afraid the poor woman would die, and she -wished to see Bethany. The whole thing was quite natural. Under ordinary -circumstances Mrs. Hume’s suspicions would not have been aroused. -However, knowing what we had told her, she was on her guard. And then, -of course, she did not know that the woman’s story was false. She asked -whether it wasn’t quite a drive out there, and the young woman said yes, -about five miles. She said she was a neighbor of Mrs. Tingsby’s, and -would take good care of the little girl. Mrs. Hume said she would get -Bethany ready, and she went away, leaving the young woman in the parlor. -Now, we had had a telephone put into Mrs. Hume’s house in the attic, and -hurrying up there she telephoned to you.” - -“I remember,” said the Judge. “She telephoned this morning.” - -“She asked whether you were at home.” - -“She did.” - -“And whether the Tingsbys were all well.” - -“And I told her that they were, at last accounts, and she abruptly -informed me that she would see me later in the day, and broke off.” - -“She had to telephone elsewhere,” said Mrs. Everest, with a smile, “and -her time was limited. She communicated with Harry Busby, the newspaper -reporter across the street, who also had a telephone in his apartment. -‘Are you watching for that blessed child, Mr. Busby?’ she asked. ‘I am -watching,’ he returned, and then she kissed Bethany and led her -downstairs.” - -The Judge shook his head. - -“Now, don’t you shake your head,” said Mrs. Everest, playfully, “until I -finish. Good is coming out of all this. Mrs. Hume took Bethany in the -parlor, she introduced her to the young woman, and Bethany trustfully -put out her little hand. She was quite ready to go with a stranger, if -Daddy Grandpa wished it.” - -The Judge stretched out a finger and softly touched the sleepy head -against his knee. - -“Mrs. Hume accompanied them to the front door. ‘Take good care of the -child,’ she said, anxiously, and she peered into the interior of the -closed cab. ‘Who have you got with you?’ ‘My sister,’ replied the young -woman. She came with me.’” - -“You see, there were four accomplices, sir,” said Tom Everest, when his -wife paused a minute and dabbed the perspiration from her face with a -handkerchief. - -“Four? Yes, I understand,” replied the Judge. “Mrs. Everest, we are -tiring you.” - -“Not at all; I want to tell you. I really enjoy giving you the details. -Well, Mrs. Hume was in an agony when she saw the child drive away, for -of course she knew that she had delivered her into the hands of two -scapegrace young women. However, she raised her eyes across the street. -There was Harry Busby throwing open his window and tossing aside the -curtains. She knew that he had the number of the cab, and a description -of it, and that he had telephoned to police headquarters. The cab would -hardly be round the corner before a detective would be after it. Then -there was Cracker scorching up and down beside it, his bad little head -thrown over his handle bars, his gimlet eyes looking everywhere but at -the driver, and yet observing his every movement. He remembered his -orders. He was artlessly to follow any vehicle that left Mrs. Hume’s. -Bethany was safe, but poor Mrs. Hume was in torture. She came on with a -raging headache, had to send her scholars home, and go to bed.” - -“I should think she needed to,” remarked the Judge. - -“Ere this she has heard of our happy issue out of our difficulties,” -continued Mrs. Everest. “Well, our cab went on its way.” - -“Tell the Judge what order the young woman gave the driver,” interposed -Tom. - -“O, yes, I forgot that. Before they left Mrs. Hume’s the young woman -said to the cabman, ‘Go to Jones’s drug store on Broadway.’ Then she -explained to Mrs. Hume that they had to call there for medicine. They -were really going to the railway station, but she didn’t want either -Mrs. Hume or the cabman to know it. Upon arriving at Jones’s the two -young women and a little boy stepped out of the cab, dismissed the -driver, and went in the store.” - -“They had metamorphosed Bethany, I suppose,” said the Judge, quietly. - -“Yes, sir. As soon as they got her away from Mrs. Hume these two women -overwhelmed her with caresses and gave her a box of candy, which they -said you had sent her. They also informed her that you were going to New -York, and that she was to go, too; that you would meet her there. Her -grandfather, her mother’s father, had heard of her, and wanted to see -her. He was going to give her a lovely house, full of dolls, and birds, -and all kinds of toys. Now, you see all this harmonized with what the -child had learned from her mother and Mrs. Tingsby. To any ordinary -child it might have seemed remarkable, but Bethany had been brought up -on expectations.” - -“Don’t forget the boy part,” suggested her husband. - -“No, I was just coming to it. These two young women told Bethany that in -order to please her grandfather, who had always wished for a little boy, -you had requested her to put on boy’s clothes. They had this little suit -all ready,” and Mrs. Everest touched the boyish little garments of the -sleeping child, “and they hurried her into it, and whipping out a pair -of scissors cut off her hair before the bewildered child had time to -protest. She was confused and submissive, and I fancy they kept stuffing -her mouth with candy, and quoted you to her. At the drug store they -bought five cents’ worth of cough drops, then they went into the street -and walked a block to the railway station. They did not hurry, neither -did they dawdle. They did not want Bethany to speak to anyone.” - -“Were you watching them then?” inquired the Judge. - -“No, sir, but I was requested to go to the station. I was to have the -proud honor of rescuing Bethany. Look here,” and she unbuttoned her -jacket and showed a little white apron rolled up round her waist. “I was -in the kitchen making cakes. When the chief of police telephoned I had -just twenty minutes to get to the station. I caught my hat and jacket -and ran. See, I have no gloves,” and she spread out her bare hands. - -Her expression was so good, so genuine, so lovely, that the Judge seized -one of her hands and pressed it warmly. “Go on, my dear girl,” he said, -affectionately. - -“I just rushed to the station,” she said. “The chief of police was -there, the chief detective was there. One was standing by the ticket -office, the other was loitering about the platform at which the train -for Boston and New York was to arrive in three minutes. I passed by the -ticket office. The chief gave a nod in the direction of the platform. I -hurried on, and my eyes went roving to and fro. I saw the two women and -the little boy. I saw a great many other people, men, women, and -children. All had the air of going on a journey, and, just to show how -one’s eye needs to be trained for such work, I did not recognize -Bethany, the two women stood so adroitly talking to each, and rather -hiding her face by their bags and cloaks.” - -“Not purposely hiding?” commented the Judge. - -“O, no, that would have aroused my suspicion at once. They stood so -naturally that actually the detective had to come over and stand beside -them, almost to point to them, before I took in the situation. Then I -boldly walked up to them. ‘Bethany,’ I said in a low voice. - -“You should have seen the sharp look these women gave me. For just one -instant they were off their guard. Up to that minute I don’t think they -had an idea that they were being followed. Then they recovered -themselves and looked down quite composedly at Bethany.” - -“And what did she do?” burst excitedly from Titus. - -They all turned to him, and Mrs. Everest went on with a smile: “The -little creature said, ‘O, Mrs. Everest!’ as if she were glad to see some -one she knew. However, she has not met me so very many times, so she was -just a little shy. But she put out a hand to me, and looked queerly at -the women, as if she didn’t just like going with them.” - -“Why are you dressed like a little boy?” I asked, “and what are you -doing here?” - -“Is this your little child, madam?” said one of the women, respectfully. - -“‘No,’ I replied, ‘but I know her. Where did you get her?’ - -“‘The woman who takes care of the waiting room told us that she had been -left here. Her mother missed her when the last train passed through for -Boston. She asked us to take charge of her, and we consented.’ - -“‘Why is she dressed like a boy?’ I asked, severely. - -“The young woman shrugged her shoulders. ‘She is just as we found her.’ - -“Bethany, who had been following our conversation with much interest, at -this piped up, and pointing to a suit case that one of them carried -said, ‘Bethany’s clothes are in there.’ - -“A very ugly look came over the young woman’s face. She knew that she -was trapped. I saw her glance at the other. Out of the mouth of a little -child they had been condemned. O, Judge, I looked for some sign of -softening, some regret, some tender feeling. There was nothing. - -[Illustration: “Why are you dressed like a little boy?” I asked.] - -“We heard a dull roar in the distance. The train was coming in. The -women looked at each other again. They were uncertain just what to do. I -think they had concluded that I was a chance passer-by and had made up -their minds to rush for the train in the confusion. I had seized Bethany -tightly by the hand. They knew they could not take her with them. - -“‘Don’t move,’ I said, in a low voice, ‘there are two police officers in -plain clothes behind you.’ Now, you know, Judge, we were all scattered, -we watchers, even though Bethany had been stolen. Harry Busby was still -on duty, Cracker was watching, the second newspaper reporter was keeping -his eyes open, and Jennie and Dallas were by no means asleep, though, of -course, they were busy with their respective duties—Jennie here in the -house and Dallas at school. But we weren’t sure of the plan of the -miscreants, Barry warned us. He said, ‘Don’t let them fool you by -dragging a red herring across your track.’ We did not know the extent of -their designs. Bethany’s capture might have been only the preliminary to -something else. However, as it turns out, it was the beginning and end, -and quite enough it is, I think.” - -“What about the women?” asked the Judge. - -“O, the train thundered in and thundered out. We wanted to see if they -would have any confederates on board. No one got off to meet them, and -then we turned. Such a quiet little group—the two women, Bethany, two -policemen, and I. We walked down the platform together. The women were -clever enough not to make a fuss. When we got to the place where the -carriages stand there was Mr. McIntyre, the detective, holding open a -carriage door. The two women got in, and he followed them. I could not -leave them that way. I rushed impulsively up to the door. I said, ‘O, -tell me you are sorry for this.’ It seemed to me that even then I could -have forgiven them for their crime if there had been the least sign of -contrition.” - -“Did they say anything to you, Berty?” asked her husband, eagerly. - -“One of them sneered, the other made a dreadful remark in which she -invoked vengeance on me for interfering with their scheme. It was no -time to reason with them. They were too sore over their defeat, but I -shall take pains to see them to-morrow.” - -“If the affair was managed so quietly, how is it that it got over the -city so quickly?” inquired the Judge. - -Berty laughed gleefully. “O, those newspaper men! They had done such -yeoman’s service that we were obliged to let them have their own way at -the last. You see, both men who helped us were on the staff of the News. -It was too good a chance to triumph over their rivals. So they had -everything ready. Bulletin boards were out, and extras were being -prepared, almost before the women got to the prison or I reached my home -with Bethany. I took her there to change her clothes, but found when we -got to the door that I had forgotten to get the suit case from the -wicked women, so we wheeled about and came here. By that time the news -had gone by word of mouth just like wildfire. I don’t know when I have -seen the city so excited, unless it was when we had our last -presidential election. I am proud of the way my fellow citizens are -standing by the rights of children.” - -She stopped, fanned herself with a newspaper, and they all gazed -silently at her. - -They were waiting for the Judge to speak. “My dear young lady,” he said, -in a moved voice, “you are reaping what you have sowed. Nearly five -years ago you began your cry for the children. Day after day you have -unweariedly gone on with your good work. This demonstration to-day was -more for you than for me.” - -“Dear Judge,” she said, extending a hand and speaking with exquisite -gentleness, “can we not say that youth and advancing age are united in -this? Together they stand, divided they fall.” - -She rose as she spoke, but the Judge made a gesture to detain her. “It -only remains for me to thank you most heartily for what you have done -for me. We will go over the thing more in detail at some future day. I -must be very largely in your debt, pecuniarily. As for the moral aspect -of the case, my mind seems to falter and stagger when I think of it. -There seems to be an awful cloud overshadowing me—a cloud of -possibilities—of probabilities. Suppose you had not rescued Bethany, -what would have been her fate?” - -The Judge’s voice broke. He was overcome by emotion. “I want to see the -cat man,” he said at last, weakly. “He is at the root of this -deliverance.” - -There was nothing amusing about his remark, but they all broke out -laughing. There had been a great strain on their nerves during the past -few hours. - -Titus and Dallas roared until they woke up Bethany, who sleepily rubbed -her eyes and looked about her. Mrs. Everest laughed so heartily that at -last she began to cry. - -“Come,” said her husband, inexorably, and he checked his own amusement. -“Come now, old girl. You can’t be domestic, motherly, and grandmotherly -to a whole city without your nerves going on strike occasionally. You -come home and play with your baby and Cracker. He’s cutting up Jack.” - -Berty weakly wiped her eyes. When there was work to be done she regained -her self-control. - -“What is he doing?” she asked. - -“Teasing the life out of Daisy and the cook. They locked him in his room -and telephoned to me at the iron works.” - -“Good-bye, dear Judge,” said Berty, hastily. “I’ll see you soon again,” -and she fairly ran from the room. - -“Tom,” she said to her husband on their way home, “human nature is a -queer thing, isn’t it?” - -“Mighty queer, Berty.” - -“Do you know, when I first began my story of the Bethany affair the dear -old Judge was inclined to stand off and criticize.” - -“That was the man of him. He would like to have been consulted and to -have engineered the affair.” - -“In anticipating these revelations I really supposed that he would fall -on my neck when I told him what we had done,” continued Berty, -thoughtfully. - -“And you say he didn’t—just stood back and criticised? How funny,” and -Tom laughed irrepressibly. - -“But he changed,” pursued Berty, earnestly. “It seemed to come over him -that a dreadful fate might have been poor Bethany’s if we had not -rescued her.” - -“Of course he changed—would have been a donkey if he hadn’t,” said Tom, -disrespectfully. “You’re all right, Berty—always were and always will -be.” - -“And so are you, Tom,” she responded, generously. - -“However, speaking of Bethany,” he went on, “no dreadful fate would have -overtaken her for a while. Suppose the women had made off with her. They -would have taken mighty good care of her till the ransom business was -settled.” - -Berty shuddered. “Suppose no ransom had been given?” - -“O, I fancy Bethany, being a nice child, would make friends and settle -down to business. She would adapt herself to a changed environment. She -would make a pretty little thief.” - -“Tom, don’t jest on such a subject,” said Berty, passionately. Then she -went on in a musing tone, “Since this affair began I have thought so -much of another kidnaping case that Barry told me about.” - -“O, that New York affair?” - -“Yes—the only son of a widow. O, Tom, suppose our baby were taken from -us?” - -“Are you pining to be left childless and a widow?” he asked, pointedly. - -“Tom, don’t. You have that hopeless national habit of jesting upon every -subject. Do be serious. I assure you I dream of that widow.” - -“Why doesn’t she get her boy back?” - -“She can’t raise the money. She hasn’t got it. Barry thinks the Smalley -gang is in the affair. I wonder whether these women would know anything -about it?” - -“Possibly; ask them.” - -“I will; and Tom, as soon as we get home telephone to the fish market to -have a boat sent for Barry. I want him to come up this evening and talk -over this affair.” - - - - - CHAPTER XXV - VISITORS FOR THE JUDGE - - -Two weeks later Berty and her boy were spending the day at the Judge’s. -She arrived early in the morning. - -“Dear Judge,” she said, bundling out of a cab with various packages and -looking up at him as he stood on his front doorstep throwing crumbs to -the sparrows, “dear Judge, I have come to spend the blessed, livelong -day with you.” - -“I am delighted,” he said, gallantly, and throwing away his bread he -hurried down the steps and took the baby from her. - -“Yesterday,” she went on, “I was half distracted with calls upon me. -‘Tom,’ I said to my husband, ‘if I’m spared till to-morrow morning I am -going to take baby and hide for a day. You get up early in the morning -and go to your mother’s for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I am going to -close the house and give Daisy and the cook a holiday.’” - -“And what did your husband say?” inquired the Judge, as he held open the -door for her. “O, my dear lady—” - -“What is it?” asked Berty, anxiously. - -“This baby—he is putting something in my ear.” - -“Gravel,” said his mother, as she stood on tiptoe and examined the side -of the Judge’s head. “He had his hands full when we started. He is the -most mischievous baby ever born. You would better give him to me. You -take the packages, and I will take him.” - -“No, no; he is too heavy for you to carry.” - -“Have you had breakfast?” inquired Berty, as the Judge went toward the -dining room. - -“No, not yet. I was just waiting for the children.” - -“Here they come,” said Berty, looking up the stairway. “Good morning, -lammies.” - -Bethany and the boys pressed about Berty. They all loved her, and the -baby was a great attraction to them. He pulled out a wisp of Bethany’s -hair, untied Dallas’s necktie, and slapped Titus, all in the compass of -a minute, but without the slightest resentment they politely crowded -each other in endeavoring to get a seat near him during prayer time. - -His behavior during the reading of a psalm was so disgraceful that his -mother was obliged to carry him out of the room. Chuckling gayly, and -not at all abashed, he came back in time for breakfast. - -His exploits at the table, especially with a cream jug and his mother’s -plate of mush, became so exasperating that at last she put him on the -floor with a crust of bread. - -He was not hungry, having breakfasted earlier, so, taking his crust, he -crawled under the table and polished the children’s shoes with it. In -huge delight Bethany and the boys, with little explosive bursts of -laughter, submitted to his manipulations, while his mother talked to the -Judge. - -“Can you love your work and yet get tired of it?” she was inquiring -searchingly of her older friend. - -The Judge shook his head, not negatively, but in a thoughtful manner. -“O, so tired, my dear friend, especially when the flesh grows weak.” - -“‘The ghost is willing, but the meat is weak,’ a Frenchman once said,” -continued Berty, with a laugh. “Well, Judge, yesterday I thought I would -go crazy. They began before I was out of bed. ‘Mrs. Everest,’ said Daisy -at my door, ‘the man at the Babies’ Supply Depot says an accident has -happened to the fresh-milk van. The cans are upset. What shall he do?’ -‘Do,’ I said, ‘the foolish man! Why, do the best he can. There are other -cows. Let him ransack the town for fresh milk. Telephone to the suburban -places. There is milk somewhere. We’ve got to have it for the River -Street babies. Why does he waste time by coming to me? I put him there; -let him look after his business. If he doesn’t I’ll discharge him.’” - -“Do have some of this Cloverdale honey,” said the Judge, “it is -delicious.” - -“Now, Judge, you think I want sweetening,” she said, with a mischievous -twinkling of her black eyes, “but you’ve got to hear all my troubles. -Let me see, what was the next thing? O, yes, I know—and this, too, -before I was out of bed. Daisy calls through the door, ‘Mrs. Everest, -the footman from Miss Sally Draylittle’s is here. He says that his lady -says that the Angora cat she bought from your cat farm is going round -with its leg hanging loose. What shall she do?’” - -Dallas, who was listening to Berty, began to laugh. - -“I don’t wonder you laugh,” said Berty, indignantly. “Did you ever hear -of such a helpless woman trying to run an establishment? ‘Tell the -footman to tell Miss Draylittle to send for a good veterinary. The cat -has probably broken her leg.’ Then let me see, what came next? I’ve got -to tell you quickly while I’m cross about it, for when I get cool I -shall be ashamed of myself for telling my trials, even to such dear -friends as you all are.” - -“You in your work are hampered by inefficient persons in places of -trust,” said the Judge, philosophically. - -“That’s it in a nutshell,” said Berty. “Why, the average person doesn’t -seem to think. My next call was to go to see a sick woman. She wasn’t -sick; she was troubled and uneasy. Her husband had left home in a temper -the night before and hadn’t come back. She frightened me and I -frightened her. She poured out her woes to me, and I said, ‘I don’t -blame him. If I were your husband I wouldn’t come back for a week.’ The -poor creature stared at me. ‘Why, look about you,’ I said. ‘Look at this -dirty room, this filthy room. How could a man sit down in it with -self-respect. Stop your crying and clean it.’ And do you know, Judge, I -couldn’t make her see it was dirty. I sent for two men and had her moved -bag and baggage into two clean rooms in that house you were good enough -to buy for my poor people; and now the question is, will she have sense -enough to keep it clean?” - -“Reform is losing some of its rosy hues to you,” the Judge observed, -sententiously. - -Berty laughed. “Please give me some more honey, and just you try -criticising River Street. Then you will find out where baby gets his -temper. I scold those people frightfully, but I love them. Titus, are -you coming to live on River Street with me when you get to be a man?” -and she turned to the boy. - -“No, but perhaps I can help you,” he said, modestly. “I was thinking -that on that stock farm grandfather is going to let me have there will -be plenty of room for some cottages for poor sick folks, and I would -like to have some of the children out every day.” - -“You dear,” she said, enthusiastically; then as he began an animated -conversation with Titus on the subject of farming she remarked in a low -voice to the Judge, “Why, that boy has stopped stammering, hasn’t he?” - -The Judge nodded. “I will tell you about it presently.” - -When the two boys and the little girl were excused from the table, and -got up to go to school, there were simultaneous squeals of laughter from -them. Their shoes were all slipping off their feet. - -“It’s that cute little baby,” observed Bethany, “he’s untied all our -shoes.” - -“Mine are not only untied, but off my feet,” said Berty, unconcernedly. -“Perhaps Higby will be good enough to find them.” - -The old man, who was grinning with delight over the baby’s antics, found -one in the coal hod. The other was discovered an hour later out in the -yard, where it had been carried by Bylow the dog, he having probably -picked it up in the back hall, where it had been thrown by Tom, junior. - -“Why, I believe,” said the Judge, shuffling his feet about, “that the -little rascal has untied my laces. Dallas, just look before you leave -the room. I dislike fussing with my feet after I am fully dressed.” - -Dallas went down on his knees, neatly fastened the Judge’s laces, and -put his feet on a stool where they would be slightly out of baby’s way. - -“Who is going to take Bethany to school this morning?” asked the Judge. - -“It’s my turn,” replied Titus. - -“Good-bye, Daddy Grandpa,” said the little girl, coming to kiss him. - -“Good-bye,” he said, “mind and wait for Jennie to come and bring you -home. Don’t leave Mrs. Hume’s alone.” - -“No, dear Daddy Grandpa.” Then she went on, anxiously, “Will the baby be -here when Bethany comes home?” - -“I hope so,” said the Judge, politely. - -“Yes, he will,” said Berty, “that dreadful baby will be here for -luncheon, and for dinner, too, if he is not turned out before then.” - -The Judge smiled. “He won’t be. I have a fellow-feeling for that baby. -Many a time I have heard my dear departed mother say that I was one of -the worst children she ever saw.” - -“O, Judge,” said Berty, vivaciously, “is that true? Can it be that there -is hope for my baby of becoming a man like you?” - -“Tut! tut! he will be a far better one.” - -“Judge, will you take him and bring him up?” - -The Judge tried to repress a shudder, but could not. He liked Berty’s -baby, and had great patience with him as an occasional visitor, but as -steady company—“No,” he said, thoughtfully, “that baby needs a mother.” - -“So he does,” said Berty, catching him up in her arms, “mother’s great -fat lump of flesh with a naughty little mind inside. Now, Judge, what -are you going to do this morning?” - -“I am going to entertain you,” he said, politely. - -“No, no, I only stay on condition that I don’t interfere with your -regular occupations. Baby and I can amuse ourselves.” - -“I assure you that I would rather stay with you than do anything else,” -said the Judge. - -“Well,” she returned, “you are a truthful man, and I believe you. Will -you take me to see the pigeons first thing? But what shall we do with -baby?” - -“Higby,” said the Judge, “you are fond of children. You amuse him.” - -The old man deliberately came forward and received the crowing baby in -his arms. - -Young Tom was too much accustomed to strangers to object, and at once he -was fascinated by Higby’s teeth, which were rather large and curiously -shaped. Insinuating all his pink fingers in the man’s mouth, to tried to -take them out. They would not come. - -“If you don’t object to that, Higby,” said Mrs. Everest, “it is a sure -way to amuse him.” - -Higby gurgled a reply in the affirmative, and Berty went away with the -Judge. - -“O, the lovely creatures,” she exclaimed, when a few minutes later they -entered the pigeon loft, “and how tame they are!” - -The pigeons were flying all over the Judge, lighting on his head, his -shoulders, his arms, and gently tapping him with their beaks. - -“They are becoming tamer every day,” he said. “It is wonderful what kind -treatment will do in developing the intelligence of the lower order of -creation.” - -“I suppose Titus pets these birds very much.” - -“O, yes, he and Bethany are indefatigable. I watched him at first, for I -thought he might neglect them, but he does not.” - -“I used to keep pigeons,” said Berty, wistfully. “I was very fond of -them.” - -“I am sure Titus would give you a pair or two, if you wish to start -again. He won’t let everybody have them, but he would be sure of your -devotion to them.” - -“I should love to have some,” she said, enthusiastically. “By the way, -Judge, tell me about his stammering. Is he really cured?” - -“You noticed that he spoke slowly.” - -“Yes, I did.” - -“He is trying to cure himself, really trying hard now. He got a shock -the other day that started him in the right direction. It was after Airy -Tingsby’s last visit here. Just as soon as she went away I called him to -me. ‘Titus,’ I said, ‘did you notice that Airy stammered quite often -during dinner, and in the evening?’ - -“‘Yes,’ he said, reluctantly, ‘he had.’ - -“‘Do you know,’ I said, ‘that that little girl has set up a lofty ideal -for herself. She wishes to be a perfect lady.’ - -“Titus said he knew that. - -“‘And you,’ I said, ‘are going to be a stumbling-block. So anxious is -she to imitate the members of this family in every particular that she -is going to copy our bad as well as our good qualities. Now, don’t you -think you ought to endeavor to shake off this habit of stammering?’ - -“Titus asked me if I thought she was imitating him purposely. - -“‘Do you think so yourself?’ I asked. - -“He gave me to understand that he did not, that she was so consumed by a -burning, intense desire to improve that she unconsciously caught up -everything he said, absorbed all his words, and his mannerisms with -them. - -“I did not need to say anything further. The boy was perfectly upset -over the affair, so much so that I wondered. He was ashamed of standing -in the way of a girl—and such a fragile piece of ambition as Airy. So he -set himself resolutely to conquer his failing, and you see he is making -good progress. He slips sometimes, but not often.” - -“Titus is a noble boy,” said Berty, warmly. “He is going to make a fine -man.” - - - - - CHAPTER XXVI - THE ONLY SON OF A WIDOW - - -The Judge looked gratified by Berty’s praise of Titus; then, leading the -way to the nest boxes, he pointed to some young pigeons to her. - -“O, the darling things!” exclaimed Berty, looking in at the downy -creatures, “and all in twos. Do they always have two young ones at a -time? My pigeons never nested.” - -“Usually, sometimes only one. Of course, these pigeons are not allowed -to lay during the cold weather. They are just beginning, now that winter -is thinking of yielding to spring.” - -“Just look at them trying to hiss at me, Judge. Do they know that I am a -stranger?” - -“Certainly—try these homers.” - -Berty put her slim hand in between two young homers, who promptly beat -it with their unfledged wings. - -“Naughty little squabs,” said Berty, caressingly. “I suppose Titus will -fly these homers when they grow up. Are they workers?” - -“Yes, the parents have a record of five hundred miles, but they were not -bred in this loft, so he can’t let them out. These young ones would come -back.” - -“Training homing pigeons must be great sport,” said Berty, -enthusiastically. - -“It is. Even Dallas is interested in that. He has been reading that -country doctors use homing pigeons extensively in their practice, and he -may have to start in the country. By the way, speaking of doctors, some -one said Mafferty is ill; is he?” - -“Yes, but only with a cold; nothing serious. His memories of the last -few weeks keep him cheerful.” - -“I suppose he is as much elated as ever?” - -“More so—he is the proudest man in Riverport,” and Berty laid a hand on -an elusive fantail and clasped her gently. “No one could be more -delighted at the turn affairs took with regard to the kidnapers. His -well-laid plans succeeded.” - -“No credit was given him by the press,” remarked the Judge. “No -reporters interviewed him, but perhaps he does not care for that sort of -thing.” - -“Not at all. He shuns notoriety. All the people that he cared about gave -him the glory. You, in going out to his island, and wringing his hand, -conferred a tremendous honor upon him. You and the chief of police are -his heroes, and at police headquarters he stands very high, and is -correspondingly set up by it.” - -“And your good opinion,” said the Judge, pointedly; “he knows he has -that.” - -Berty smiled. “Amusing to retail, he does not value my praise half as -much as he does yours, or any man’s. He is sure of me. I befriended him -when he was friendless, and he thinks I would like him no matter what he -did. He likes me to approve; but still, nothing I could say or do would -come up to that handshake of yours.” - -“Remember your promise to let me know if there is anything I can do for -him.” - -“I will. Just now he is well enough as he is.” - -“By the way, are you still going to see those unfortunate women?” - -“O, yes, every day I have a dreadful feeling about them. I in one way am -responsible for their captivity. I vowed that I would do all I could to -mitigate it. The first few days, as I told you when we last met, they -would have nothing to say to me. Then they began to thaw slightly. -Little by little they seemed to understand that I had their good at -heart.” - -“Did you say anything to them about the other kidnaping case?” - -“Yes, but not until three days ago. I told them that their trial would -soon come off; that if they were to give any information about the -stolen child it might influence public opinion in their favor. I could -get nothing out of them. They flatly denied all knowledge of the missing -boy, but at the very first instant of my mentioning the affair I caught -a gleam of intelligence in the eye of one of them. She knew something -about it. So what do you think I did, dear Judge?” - -The Judge pushed away a pouter that was puffing and swelling out on his -shoulder. “Well,” he said, mischievously, “your actions are sometimes -unexpected.” - -She laughed gayly. “To be true to my reputation, they were in this case. -I telegraphed to New York to the little widow. I said, ‘Come to me, and -possibly I may give you news of your boy.’ The poor little woman -actually flew here. I wish you could have seen her, Judge. Such a teary, -weary, eerie sort of a widow. All big eyes and veil, and so consumed -with sorrow, which one could not wonder at.” - -“Did you take her to the jail?” - -“I did. I confronted her with those two young women. I had them both -brought into the same room. I made no explanation, either to them or to -the widow, whose name is Mrs. Tralee. When the two women, or girls—for -neither of them is much over twenty—came in I abruptly pointed to them, -and said to Mrs. Tralee, ‘Those girls can tell you where to get -information about your lost boy.’ - -“It was pitiful to see that little widow’s face, Judge. Just imagine -her—alone in the world, one pet boy, and he snatched from her. She gave -me one look, one terrible look, as if to say, ‘Are you deceiving me?’ I -shook my head solemnly. Those girls either knew where her boy was or -could tell us who did know. I would have staked my life on it. - -“Mrs. Tralee wasted no time in preliminaries. She fell right on her -knees before them. She, a rich woman, cultured and refined and -exquisitely dressed, took those degraded creatures in her outstretched -arms, she pleaded with them as for her soul’s salvation. - -“It was dreadful, Judge. I never heard anything more affecting in my -life. I just stood and cried like a baby, and I heard a sniffing behind -the door where the jailer stood, and when we came out I noticed his eyes -were all red. - -“At first the two girls tried to laugh it off. They looked sheepishly at -each other, but it was no laughing matter. Despite themselves, and -hardened as they undoubtedly are, something womanly arose in them, -something responded to that poor little woman’s cries and groans. - -“As I said before, it was terrible. It gave me a kind of exquisite pain -to listen to Mrs. Tralee. She assured the girls that she was telling the -truth in the sight of her Maker when she stated that the ransom demanded -for her son was one she could not pay. The money left to her by her -husband was not in her sole control. She would sacrifice every cent she -herself owned, but she absolutely could not touch the fortune left in -trust for her son. - -“The two girls looked at each other. They were getting uneasy and shaky. -One whispered something, the other responded, then they tried to -withdraw their dresses from Mrs. Tralee’s frantic grasp. At last one of -them, with a kind of desperate look, bent over and said, ‘Go to this -address in New York—we can’t, and shan’t tell you a word more,’ and she -rattled off something in Mrs. Tralee’s ears. - -“Then, without waiting for her thanks, they pulled themselves away and -ran to the door, and the jailer took them to their cells. - -“Mrs. Tralee took my head between her hands. She gave me such a look, -Judge—such a look from those big eyes of hers. There was no need of -speech. Then she fairly flew to the railway station, and took a special -train for New York; and I haven’t heard a word from her since.” - -“How long ago did you say that was?” - -“Three days. I thought she would telegraph me. I hope that those girls -weren’t deceiving her. I spoke to them about it yesterday when I took -them some things to eat, and they were utterly unresponsive.” - -“I imagine from what you have told me of this affair,” said the Judge, -shrewdly, “that they have not misled that bereaved woman. You will hear -from her later. She is probably in communication with the -child-stealers; quite likely, agreeing upon some concession—very -illegal, but very easily understood. But come, these pigeons are getting -to be too aggressive. Let us go out and see the rest of the live stock. -I know you like horses.” - -“Love them,” said Berty, intensely, “and I want to see the cow, too. -Brick said you had a new one. By the way, how is the boy getting on?” - -“Well, I don’t know that the phrase ‘getting on’ applies to Brick,” -observed the Judge, cheerfully. “It is rather a kind of backward and -forward motion that keeps him in about the same place. I know I have -felt it my duty to raise Roblee’s wages in order to enable him to bear -up under this new species of trial.” - -“The Lord will reward you, Judge,” said Berty, heartily. - -“I take no credit to myself, not a particle,” said the Judge. “I come in -contact with him but little. He regards Titus as his special oppressor. -Look up there, Mrs. Everest.” - -Berty raised her eyes. The Judge was standing in the open door of the -stable pointing toward the house. “Can you see two little gray balls of -down up at the top of that old elm?” - -“No, sir, I can’t.” - -“Look again—just where the topmost branches extend under the gutter at -the roof’s edge.” - -“O, yes, I do see something—those are surely not Dallas’s little owls -that Bethany told me about the other day?” - -“Yes, they sit there asleep all day. At night they fly about. What did -Bethany tell you about them?” - -“After I rescued her from those women she seemed greatly relieved, and -confided to me a slight misgiving she had had. Suppose they had taken -her to New York, and had not been able to find Daddy Grandpa. ‘I tell -you, Mrs. Everest, what Bethany would do,’ she said, sweetly, to me. -‘Bethany would open her window at night and call ’Frisco and ’Mento, -Dallas’s two little owls that fly in the dark, and she would say, “Go -home quickly and tell Daddy Grandpa that Bethany wants him.”’” - -The Judge was listening intently. “How curious is the working of a -child’s mind!” he said. “In that statement she confesses a belief that I -was here all the time, that I had not gone to New York. She must have -had an intuitive distrust of those women.” - -“I believe she had,” said Berty, decidedly. “It was just her sweet, -yielding nature that made her go with them.” - -“She is not always sweet and yielding. You should see her when Airy -Tingsby is about.” - -“I know she does not like Airy,” said Berty, in an amused voice, “but -Airy likes her.” - -The Judge looked grave. “Bethany is trying to overcome her dislike. She -has Airy here a good deal lately.” - -“And you have put Airy in Miss Featherby’s school, I hear,” said Berty, -with slight curiosity. - -The Judge smiled. “Yes, you know Dallas undertook to instruct her. He -mystified me greatly, for I knew he did not mind doing it, and yet he -suddenly became loath to go out to the Tingsby cottage to give Airy her -lessons.” - -“Of course, now, you understand that that was in consequence of his -instructions from us, to keep about the house as much as possible.” - -“Yes, now, I understand, but then I did not. However, I reasoned the -matter out with myself. Airy would be better under a woman’s care, so I -called on Miss Featherby. I had some scruples about putting Airy in a -boarding school.” - -“And such a fashionable one,” murmured Berty. - -“But Miss Featherby is such a sensible, such a very sensible person,” -continued the Judge, “that I very much wished Airy to be under her -care.” - -“You really like the poor little mortal, Judge, I do believe,” exclaimed -Berty, irrepressibly. - -The Judge looked cautiously over his shoulder as if he were afraid the -horses and the cow might be eavesdropping. - -“I do not like her, I do not like her,” he said, seriously. - -Berty burst into a merry peal of laughter. “No one does, yet. Why is it -she makes us all stand round?” - -“I don’t like her,” repeated the Judge, cautiously, “and yet I find -myself in the presence of a very strong young personality when I am with -her. That strength will be expended in some way. If I can train it, -perhaps I ought to.” - -“She is very clever, very peculiar, and very fascinating,” said Berty, -succinctly. “She could twist me round her little finger if she wished -to, but she doesn’t. Her ideals are not mine.” - -“She has affection, too,” said the Judge, warmly. “She came rushing in -the morning after Bethany’s attempted capture by those women and alarmed -me by her demonstrations of anger and alarm.” - -“I suppose she does not come here very much now that she is at Miss -Featherby’s.” - -“She comes whenever she is allowed to go out. If it is to go downtown -with a teacher she takes us in on her way.” - -Berty laughed again. “You will have to adopt her too, Judge; that is, if -you have no scruples about lifting her out of her sphere.” - -“I have scruples, but what am I to do? Is not ambition a good thing? -Mrs. Tingsby does not want to rise, Airy does. I have talked very -seriously to the child. I have explained to her that her wild ambition -is going to create a gulf between her and her family. She says it -won’t.” - -“It will,” remarked Berty, decidedly. - -“Well, my course is clear,” said the Judge. “I feel it. The spectacle of -that little sick creature sitting up at night, studying in a cheerless -room, haunted me. I have put her where she is warm and comfortable, -where her very environment is enough to cheer and uplift her.” - -“How does she get on with the other girls?” - -The Judge smiled. “Peculiarly. I fancied that she would have a hard time -with them on account of her different social station. However, I said to -her, ‘No stories, Airy. Tell the truth about yourself.’” - -“And did she?” - -“She did,” said the Judge, laconically. Then, after a time, he laughed -suddenly and heartily. “The truth in her case so far transcended the -schoolgirls’ anticipations or realizations that they looked upon it as -the wildest absurdity.” - -Berty seemed puzzled. - -The Judge repressed his amusement, and looking down at her in his -fatherly, benevolent way said, “Imagine to yourself, my dear Mrs. -Everest, a schoolroom full of girls, all interested in the newcomer—I -have this straight from Airy—she, poor child, sitting grim and composed, -ready for anything. Finally, one girl plucks up courage enough to ask -Airy what her name is, where she has lived, how many servants her mother -kept, what her father’s business is, what church she goes to, how much -money she has in the bank, how many silk dresses her mother owns, and so -on.” - -Berty laughed gleefully. “I know them—that is schoolgirls—they are so -delightfully silly. What did Airy say?” - -“The truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.” - -“And the girls were staggered, I suppose,” chuckled Berty. - -“Staggered and confounded. Then Airy says they looked her over. Having -foreseen something of this, in a dim and masculine way, I had taken care -to provide my protégée with a carefully selected wardrobe. Her clothes -were not showy, but they were what you women call elegant. I suppose you -will think it the foolish whim of an old man when I tell you that I -myself interviewed the dressmaker who fitted Airy out. I told her to -line her little garments with the best of satin.” - -Berty leaned against the stable doorway and laughed long and -irrepressibly. “Well, Judge, you are the greatest man—” - -“And I gave her a gold watch,” he went on, with twinkling eyes—“a very -little one, but very exquisite—and a chain of wonderful workmanship.” - -“You dear man!” exclaimed Berty, impulsively. “You did all this not to -encourage vanity, but to spare a child’s feelings.” - -“Well,” said the Judge, modestly, “I did not plan to deceive Airy’s -schoolmates, but the little witches had heard of my other protégée, -Bethany, and her rich grandfather, so Airy says they received her -truthful account of herself as the most absurd kind of fairy tale. They -shouted with laughter over her laconic description of the penury to -which she had been accustomed. Then she was received into the inner -circle as a kind of mystery. She says that the girls think her a -foreigner, on account of her dark complexion, and this opinion is -heightened by her poor English. The most accredited rumor is that she is -an Italian princess, stolen from a magnificent castle by gypsies.” - -Berty was convulsed with amusement. “And how does Airy take all this?” - -“Philosophically,” laughed the Judge. “Really she is an astonishing -girl. Details don’t concern her as much as they do most people. She -grasps the whole. Dress and environment are secondary things with her, -things not to be disregarded, but not to be overestimated. The primary -thing is to get an education. Then she wishes to earn money, and repay -me for what I have done for her, and also to support her family—a heavy -burden for such young shoulders.” - -“I wonder what she is going to be when she grows up?” remarked Berty, -meditatively. - -“Now that brings me to something that I wish to ask your advice about,” -said the Judge. “Ever since the attempt was made to steal Bethany from -us I have been thinking that I need some young person to look after my -children—particularly the two little girls.” - -“Are you counting Airy in the family?” said Berty, significantly. “I -thought she would end by establishing herself here.” - -“How can one defeat such an ingenious child?” responded the Judge, -frankly. “She began by calling, then dropping in at mealtimes. Really, -she spent the most of her time here before she went to Miss Featherby’s, -and I know that when holidays come we shall have her altogether.” - -“In which case you will need a lady housekeeper,” said Berty, promptly, -“or Airy will rule you all. Now I know just the person for you, Judge.” - -“Who is it?” he inquired, with interest. - -“My friend Nancy Armitage Steele.” - -“You don’t mean little Nancy, the daughter of the late General -Armitage?” - -“The same, Judge; but she is a tall young married woman now, and, -unfortunately, a widow.” - -“What! That child married!” - -“Child—she is twenty-five years old.” - -“How time flies!” said the Judge, musingly. “It seems only the other day -that the General and I were lads in school. But how is it that his -daughter needs to support herself.” - -“Her husband’s health failed, then after a long illness he died. He left -Nancy nothing and her father had left her nothing, so she had to go to -work.” - -“Poor Armitage—I knew that he made some bad investments, but I thought -he could leave his child a competency. However, I have rather lost sight -of the family.” - -“Yes, it is some time since they left here. Now, Judge, don’t you think -Mrs. Nancy would preside charmingly over your household? She is the -sweetest girl.” - -“I do, indeed,” said the Judge, heartily, “if she would not be too much -of a fine lady to have a motherly or sisterly care of the children. You -see, Mrs. Blodgett is getting old, and her department is the -housekeeping. I want the next best thing to a mother for those little -girls.” - -“Nancy is at present mothering two hundred and fifty children in an -orphan asylum,” said Berty, warmly, “and mothering them so well that the -board of managers has offered to increase her salary ever so much if she -will stay. But the responsibility is too much for her. She is a great -worker, but she is not very strong. Next week she is coming to visit me. -I know of several positions that have been offered her, but I don’t -believe she has anything in view that would suit her as well as this one -with her father’s old friend.” - -“I shall be obliged if you will arrange an interview with her for me,” -said the Judge, “but don’t say anything decisive. Twenty-five does not -seem very young to you, but a girl of that age appears like a child to -me, and I don’t want to adopt any more children.” - -“You used not to be afraid,” replied Berty, smilingly. “Nancy has an old -head on her young shoulders.” - -“Mrs. Everest,” said the Judge, suddenly, “I am keeping you in a -draught. Let us step back here and see the horses.” - -Berty went with him; then, a sudden thought of the baby coming over her, -she hurried the Judge into the house. - -Baby had been good—a perfect angel, and his proud young mother took him -upstairs, where he fell asleep in the Judge’s study. - -The Judge himself went downtown, and the tired Berty, putting down her -head on the sofa beside young Tom, fell asleep, and did not wake till -Bethany and the Judge came home for luncheon. - -After lunch there was a long drive with the Judge. Baby again was good, -but upon coming back to the avenue he distinguished himself. Before -dinner was announced he had successively worn out the Judge, his mother, -Dallas, Titus, and Bethany. He had beaten Higby with a hearth-brush, -pulled out two of Sukey’s tail feathers and sent her shrieking out to -the balcony, upset a bottle of ink on the handsome study carpet, torn -leaves out of a valuable Shakespeare that he snatched from the table, -and generally conducted himself with such shameless impropriety that his -young mother at last slapped his hands. - -He promptly whipped hers. “Never mind, dear Judge,” she said, with an -imploring glance at him. “After dinner you will be rid of this -nightmare.” - -The Judge smiled cheerfully. “I assure you I have not suffered. If you -worry I shall suffer, so please forgive your baby. He is full of animal -spirits.” - -She kissed the little hands that she was holding, then looked up as -Jennie uttered her name. - -The modest, pretty young maid stood in the doorway and gazed -alternatively at the Judge and at Berty. - -“There’s a lady downstairs,” she said, doubtfully. “She asked if Judge -Sancroft lived here. She said she must see Mrs. Everest. It was -something very special. Her name is Mrs. Tralee, and she has a little -boy with her.” - -Berty gave a joyful cry. “O, Judge, dear Judge, she has got her boy. -Come downstairs with me. Jennie, look after the baby—I can’t take him -down in the parlor; he would demolish every bit of bric-a-brac there. -Come, dear Judge,” and seizing his hand she drew him from the room. - -A little, a very little woman stood in the middle of the large parlor. -The Judge gazed intently at her. Berty had spoken truly when she had -said that Mrs. Tralee was mostly eyes and veil—and what eyes! - -The Judge stepped back. He felt himself an intruder. This was no common -scene, and there was no formal introduction. The two women stood for an -instant looking at the little boy who accompanied the lady. Then they -fell on each other’s necks—that is, Berty and the little widow. - -There was a sound of crying and kissing, and the Judge quietly turned -and was about to withdraw when Berty called to him. - -“O, Judge, Judge,” she said, “this is the boy—the lost boy. O, my dear -Mrs. Tralee, where did you get him. Tell me about it.” - -The strange lady was gazing in rapt admiration at Berty, who had run to -the little lad and was holding his hand and earnestly looking into his -eyes. - -Mrs. Tralee turned to the Judge. “Sir,” she said, simply, “the only son -of a widow—they stole him from me. But this dear girl found him, and I -bought him. I bought back my precious child. Can you wonder that I -worship her?” - -As she spoke she pointed to Berty. Her tone was animated, even -passionate, and the Judge nodded comprehendingly. - -“O, I am so tired,” said Mrs. Tralee, suddenly dropping into a chair. -“For weeks I have scarcely slept for grief, and now I cannot sleep for -joy.” - -Berty turned round suddenly. “You are coming right home with me,” she -said, “and I am going to put you in a quiet room where you can rest, and -I will watch your boy every minute while you sleep. Dear Judge, may we -have a carriage?” - -Mrs. Tralee sat gazing at Berty in mute acquiescence. The expression in -her eyes was almost painful, and the Judge averted his head. “How women -suffer!” he murmured to himself, as he went to the telephone for a -carriage. “And how they can comfort each other!” - - - - - CHAPTER XXVII - MR. HITTAKER CALLS ON THE JUDGE - - -A few weeks later on a lovely spring day Titus, hammer in hand, stood -prying open a box that had just come for him by express. - -While he was energetically pulling out nails and removing strips of wood -Brick came lounging up the steps holding a mayflower between his teeth. - -“Mass’ Titus, Jennie she say an ole gen’l’man jus’ come from New York -want to see de Jedge.” - -“‘Jedge’ has gone driving,” said Titus, briefly. - -“Well, but dat ole gen’l’man won’t take no for yes. He says he mus’ see -some one.” - -“Bring him out here, then.” - -Brick hesitated. He had some idea of propriety, and he did not like to -think of “young Mass’ Titus” receiving company in the pigeon loft. - -Titus understood him. “Do you suppose I’d leave the pigeons?” he said, -indignantly. “They’ve had a hot, tiresome journey. I’ve got to feed and -water them. Bring the old gentleman out here if he can’t wait. If he -can, I’ll go in the house later.” - -Brick disappeared, and presently returned, followed by a thin, slight, -elderly man who carried his hands in his pockets. - -“Sorry to bring you out here, sir,” said Titus, politely, “but these -birds are suffering and I can’t leave them. Will you sit down?” and he -nodded toward a stool. - -The gentleman remained standing, and with a pair of remarkably small -eyes listlessly surveyed the roomy, bright pigeon loft, the birds at the -open windows, and the wiry, athletic young figure of Titus himself. - -There was a weary sneer on his face. Titus saw it, but unconcernedly -went on with his work. - -“What is the good of all these?” said the stranger at last, and he -withdrew one of his hands from his pocket and waved it at the birds. - -“O, I like to hear them laugh and talk and fight, just the way we do,” -said Titus, calmly. - -“Laugh and talk,” repeated the elderly man, and he straightened himself -and looked like one trying to force himself to take an interest in -something. - -“Yes, sir, they have their language just as we have ours. Look at that -young one there. He is crying because his stepfather is beating him. -Here, stepfather, come away.” - -The man’s head sank on his breast. He seemed to be thinking deeply, but -Titus shrewdly guessed that his mind was not on the relations of birds -to each other. - -“Looks as if he’d had some trouble,” thought the boy to himself, then he -said aloud, “Come in here, pigeons,” and he gently guided the two -prisoners he had released from their traveling box into a large cage. - -“I always put strangers in this cage for a few days,” he remarked, in a -cheerful, explanatory way, “so they can look about them. Pigeons hate to -be rushed into a crowd.” - -The stranger roused himself and gazed at the newcomers. “What kind of -pigeons do you call them?” he asked, in languid curiosity. - -“Pouters,” replied Titus. - -“They look as if they had their stomachs under their chins,” said the -elderly man, with slight animation. “Ugly things!” - -“They’re New Yorkers,” said Titus, slyly. Then he added, “I don’t think -they’re beautiful myself, but I wanted to have them. Here, pigeons, have -some canary seed,” and he put a dish in beside them. - -“Where is your grandfather?” asked the stranger, abruptly. “That is, if -you are Judge Sancroft’s grandson. I think some one said you were.” - -“Yes, sir, I am. My grandfather is driving with my adopted sister -Bethany.” - -“Adopted sister,” said his companion, thoughtfully. “Is that the -Hittaker child?” - -“Yes, sir—Hittaker-Smith. My grandfather had some kind of papers made -out. We’re going to hold on to little Bethany.” - -A heavy shadow passed over the man’s face, and Titus thought he heard -him sigh. “I heard about her,” he said, dreamily. “They said kidnapers -tried to steal her.” - -A sudden thought flashed into Titus’s mind. “You’re not Mr. Hittaker, -are you, sir?” he asked, sharply, and he stared in boyish curiosity at -his visitor. - -The man nodded slightly. “Yes, yes, my name is Hittaker.” - -Titus looked deeply sympathetic, and his eye ran over his caller’s black -clothes. “I say, sir,” he murmured, sympathetically, “we were awfully -sorry for you. Bethany cried when she heard about the little children -being drowned.” - -At this statement Titus lost the attention of his companion. Mr. -Hittaker’s face became more dreamy. His mind was wandering away into -regions where the boy could not follow it. He thought Mr. Hittaker -looked ill. He certainly was in a peculiar state mentally. Minute after -minute he stood silently, his eyes fixed on vacancy. - -Titus leaned against the wall and watched him. Finally, just as his -young limbs began to ache from inaction, Mr. Hittaker roused himself, -turned to him, and said, abruptly, “We were speaking of your -grandfather. When will he come home?” - -“Probably not till near dinner time. It is such a fine day.” - -“I planned to take the seven o’clock train back to New York,” said Mr. -Hittaker, slowly, “but it doesn’t matter, it doesn’t matter.” - -“Stay all night, sir,” said Titus, hospitably. “Then you will have time -to talk to my grandfather. But,” he went on, slowly, “I hope you are not -to ask him for Bethany. It wouldn’t be any use. We can’t give her up.” - -Mr. Hittaker stared moodily at him and made no reply. - -“My grandfather doesn’t think an awful sight of money,” said the boy, -proudly. - -“Money,” repeated his caller, and a gleam illuminated his small eyes and -sharp, shrewd face. “Show me the man that doesn’t care for it, or the -woman, either.” - -“Grandfather does care for it, in a way,” Titus went on, earnestly. “He -thinks you can do a lot of good and be a great power in the world if you -have plenty of money, but he preaches to us all the time about not -thinking too much of riches.” - -“Easy to talk,” replied Mr. Hittaker, with some show of interest in the -subject. “If you were that black stable boy you couldn’t have all this,” -and he looked about the well appointed loft. - -“Sir,” said Titus, intensely, “the other evening I was walking with -grandfather. We passed a tiny house in the suburbs. A boy was nailing -away at a box and whistling like a good fellow. We stopped and spoke to -him. He was making a house for his rabbits out of two big soap -boxes—and, by the way, they were Hittaker soap boxes; I saw the name. -When we left him my grandfather said, ‘Do you suppose you are any -happier than that boy?’ - -“‘No, sir,’ I said, ‘I don’t.’ - -“Then my grandfather went on: ‘Don’t run away with the idea that no -happiness can exist in cottages. The contented mind makes its own -dwelling.’” - -Mr. Hittaker gazed in an uninterested way at a box of sawdust. He was -too old, and too self-centered, and too absent-minded, to be moved by -Titus’s eloquence; and then, when he had been a boy, he had had no wise -grandfather to train his youthful mind. A grasping, miserly father had -made a grasping, miserly son. - -Titus broke off with a slight shrug of his shoulders. He was half -pitiful, half inimical to his visitor. “Come into the house, sir,” he -said, hospitably. “I can leave these birds now. Perhaps the time won’t -seem so long if you are looking at grandfather’s books.” - -Mr. Hittaker did not care for reading. The most interesting books to him -were account books. However, he followed Titus willingly enough. - - - - - CHAPTER XXVIII - THE JUDGE REVIEWS HIS FAMILY - - -Weeks and months flew by. Spring passed, summer came and went, autumn -followed, then winter and Christmas and the Christmas holidays. - -It was just one year since the Judge and Titus had found Bethany -trotting along Broadway. It was considerably over a year since the -adoption of the pigeon princess into the family, and she was now a fully -matured bird. - -She sat in her basket by the fireside. Higby had just been in and -carefully arranged the wire screen, so that no sparks from the wood fire -should fly out on her. - -Sukey was listening for the Judge’s footstep. Dinner was over some time -ago. He ought to be coming to his study. - -The Judge, after dinner, had put on his cap and had gone out to the -stable. He wished to review his family, to see that they were all happy -and comfortable. - -To his great satisfaction, he found Roblee and Brick together. The old -coachman had brought the boy into his room. He was teaching him to read. -Outside it was cold and dreary. A wild wind was blowing, and the air was -full of gathering snowflakes. Inside Roblee’s apartment it was snug and -comfortable. At a little table drawn up under the electric light sat -Roblee, his feet on a coil of hot-water pipes, his mouth open nearly all -the time to correct Brick’s innumerable mistakes as he struggled through -the chapters of Oliver Twist. - -The Judge stood at the door watching them. “Do you like that book, -Brick?” he said, suddenly. - -The two inmates of the room turned round, then, seeing who it was, rose -respectfully. - -“Sit down,” said the Judge, and coming into the room he took a chair -himself and for a few minutes talked kindly to them. - -Roblee was certainly much bothered with Brick, but he was certainly much -benefited by having some young life under the roof with him. - -After the Judge left his room he turned into the pigeon loft. The -sleepy, contented birds gave him bright glances. - -“You are out of the coming storm,” he murmured to himself, as he went -downstairs to look at the horses and the cow. When he emerged from the -stable, and the biting wind struck his face, he looked up at the big, -brightly lighted house. Up under those dark eaves he knew a few street -pigeons were nestling. - -“Their footing is precarious,” he said. “I will have a carpenter come -and make a better shelter for them. I cannot bear to think that anything -under my care should suffer this cold weather. Is that you, Bylow?” he -went on, as something touched his knee. - -“Good dog,” and he stooped down and patted the now respectable member of -society. “Go into the stable. It is too cold for a short-haired dog to -be outside,” and he opened the door for him. - -As he turned something passed his face. He heard nothing, but he knew -that one of the owls had flown by on its noiseless wings. - -“’Frisco and ’Mento,” he said, with a smile, “having your night’s spin? -Well, there is a comfortable box for you above when you get through -wandering, and you know it. Strange,” he murmured, as he continued his -way to the house, “how the whole creation not only groans together, but -rejoices together, and is linked together. I used not to think of the -dumb creatures; but it is easy to go down, even to the owls, when one -begins to care for the children. Ah! that is a pretty sight!” and he -stopped short and looked in the window. - -The curtains were not drawn. Down in the little dining room for the -servants Martha the cook and Jennie, Betty, and old Higby were seated -about a blazing fire. Martha was rubbing some kind of ointment on her -hands, Jennie and Betty were sewing, and Mrs. Blodgett, enthroned in a -big rocking-chair at the head of the table, was reading to them—reading -somewhat pompously and condescendingly, but also in a most satisfactory -manner, judging from the frequent smiles of her auditors. Higby, indeed, -sometimes transgressed by laughing too irrepressibly, upon which -occasions Mrs. Blodgett interrupted her reading, took off her glasses, -and solemnly scolded him. - -The Judge came softly into the house, so that he would not disturb them, -and passed quietly upstairs. - -Ah! here was the best picture of all, and he paused at the parlor door. - -Mrs. Nancy Steele had arrived; the Judge had engaged her to become lady -housekeeper, mother-ingeneral, adviser-in-chief, and whatever was needed -to make a perfect superintendent for his family. - -She was succeeding admirably, and the Judge gazed in intense admiration -at the slender, graceful figure at the piano. Mrs. Nancy was charming, -very ladylike, and very forceful, under a quiet, almost a languid -exterior. - -The children were charmed with her. Bethany stood close to her, begging -her to sing again. Airy sat near by, quiet and watchful, her eyes glued -to Mrs. Nancy’s face. The Judge knew that both little girls adored her, -and he was delighted, for he had given them the young widow as a model. - -Airy was spending a part of her Christmas holidays at 110 Grand -Avenue—the larger part, the Judge shrewdly guessed it would be. - -Mrs. Steele spoke with a slight, a very slight drawl, and to the Judge’s -amusement Airy had already acquired this, though she had only been in -the house a few days with her. She also had put on a black dress, -because she so much admired the young widow’s trailing, somber garments. - -Dallas and Titus were playing some game at a little table and -occasionally glancing up at the group by the piano. - -Their faces were all happy. “Peace and good will,” murmured the Judge. -“How I wish my dear wife could look in on this sight. It reminds me of -the happy times we had when we first came to this house. For many years -this room has been desolate. Now it is again sanctified by the presence -of a good woman and promising children. Now if they will only turn out -well! God grant it, and give me grace so to train them that they may be -shining lights in this troublous world!” and casting a farewell glance -at the occupants of the handsome room the Judge went on his way to his -study. - -Sukey was overjoyed to see him. She strutted toward the doorway, -spreading her tail and cooing with pleasure. - -“The only thing I have left,” said the Judge, cheerfully; “that is, the -only thing under my special jurisdiction. Mrs. Steele has relieved me of -a great weight of care.” - -Now he could spend the evening after his own fashion, safe from any -interruption from Bethany, or Airy, or the boys, he reflected, with a -deep sigh of satisfaction. - -But could he? He had scarcely opened his book when they were all -hurrying in upon him—the elegant Mrs. Nancy drawn on by impetuous -Bethany, and Titus, Dallas, and Airy bringing up the rear. - -“Grandfather,” said Titus, imperiously; “Dear Daddy Grandpa,” exclaimed -Bethany; “Mr. Judge,” said Airy, solemnly; and “Dear Judge,” said the -young widow, smilingly, “the children absolutely refuse to play a new -guessing game I want to teach them unless you are in it.” - -The Judge took off his spectacles and blandly surveyed the young faces -about him. “Will it take long?” - -“O, no, sir,” said Dallas, eagerly, “I half know it now. We can easily -stop at Bethany’s bedtime.” - -“Mrs. Steele says I may sit up half an hour later than usual, you -naughty Dallas,” interposed Bethany, resentfully. - -The Judge smiled. Bethany occasionally showed a little bit of temper. -Well, she had been rather spoiled lately, and he was afraid that some -foolish people had been talking to her about her rich grandfather. - -He had had rather a trying interview with Mr. Hittaker. In the first -place, being two men so absolutely unlike, they had found no common -ground on which to stand. Then Mr. Hittaker had been painfully -absent-minded. It had been almost impossible to induce him to -concentrate his attention on the subject of Bethany, though it was for -the purpose of talking about her that he had come to see the Judge. - -He evidently was not much interested in her. All the mind and heart that -he had seemed to have been buried with his dead daughter and her -children. However, before leaving, he gave the Judge to understand that -he regarded Bethany as the only remaining member of his family besides -himself, and in the event of his death she would receive what property -he had to leave. - -He had at one time in their interview expressed a desire that Bethany -should come to New York to live with him. - -This desire the Judge kindly but promptly told him could not be -gratified. Inwardly he added a resolve that not for all the wealth of -the Union would he deliver Bethany up to the training of so -self-centered a man. - -Mr. Hittaker did not seem to feel disappointed. Indeed, so strange a -state of mind had he been in that he had not even asked to see the -child. It was the Judge who suggested having her come in the room. - -He had expressed a little curiosity, though, on the subject of her -kidnapers, and had shown some satisfaction after hearing that Smalley -and the two women were serving long terms of imprisonment. The Judge -told him that everything was being done to influence them for good. - -“Daddy Grandpa!” said Bethany, stroking his hand. - -The Judge called back his wandering thoughts. While he had been busy -with his reminiscences Mrs. Steele and the children were waiting. -“Certainly, certainly, my dears,” he said, “I will play your game with -you. Shall we go downstairs?” - -Airy was for returning to the parlor. She liked pomp and ceremony. “No, -no,” said Bethany, when the Tingsby girl remarked in a stilted voice, -“The parlor is more agreeable.” - -“No, no,” the child went on, “here in the study with Daddy Grandpa and -Sukey. It is more cozy.” - -They all seated themselves about the fire, and Mrs. Steele began the -guessing game. - -Princess Sukey, in her basket, lifted her hooded head and with a wise -look surveyed her circle of friends. Her greenish-yellow eyes rested -longest on the beloved white head. There was the leader of the family -and her chief friend, and his benevolent eyes, taking in the happy faces -of the group about him, did not forget to rest occasionally on the -little creature who loved him, though she was only a bird. - - - THE END. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES - - - 1. P. 215, changed “Let him out,” ordered Dallas, “let him out; my - back’s ’most broken.” to “Let him out,” ordered Titus, “let him - out; my back’s ’most broken.” - 2. Silently corrected obvious typographical errors and variations in - spelling. - 3. Retained archaic, non-standard, and uncertain spellings as printed. - 4. 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