she had been dead for quite a long time when Tommy came back to look for
her. You mothers who have lost your babies, I should be a sorry knave
were I to ask you to cry now over the death of another woman's child.
Reddy had been lent to two people for a very little while, just as your
babies were, and when the time was up she blew a kiss to them and ran
gleefully back to God, just as your babies did. The gates of heaven are
so easily found when we are little, and they are always standing open to
let children wander in.

But though Reddy was gone away forever, mamma still lived in that house,
and on a day she opened the door to come out, Tommy was standing
there--she saw him there waiting for Reddy. Dry-eyed this sorrowful
woman had heard the sentence pronounced, dry eyed she had followed the
little coffin to its grave; tears had not come even when waking from
illusive dreams she put out her hand in bed to a child who was not
there; but when she saw Tommy waiting at the door for Reddy, who had
been dead for a month, her bosom moved and she could cry again.

Those tears were sweet to her husband, and it was he who took Tommy on
his knee in the room where the books were, and told him that there was
no Reddy now. When Tommy knew that Reddy was a deader he cried bitterly,
and the man said, very gently, "I am glad you were so fond of her."

"'T ain't that," Tommy answered with a knuckle in his eye, "'t ain't
that as makes me cry." He looked down at his trousers and in a fresh
outburst of childish grief he wailed, "It's them!"

Papa did not understand, but the boy explained. "She can't not never
see them now," he sobbed, "and I wants her to see them, and they has
pockets!"

It had come to the man unexpectedly. He put Tommy down almost roughly,
and raised his hand to his head as if he felt a sudden pain there.

But Tommy, you know, was only a little boy.

CHAPTER V

THE GIRL WITH TWO MOTHERS

Elspeth at last did something to win Tommy's respect; she fell ill of an
ailment called in Thrums the croop. When Tommy first heard his mother
call it croop, he thought she was merely humoring Elspeth, and that it
was nothing more distinguished than London whooping-cough, but on
learning that it was genuine croop, he began to survey the ambitious
little creature with a new interest.

This was well for Elspeth, as she had now to spend most of the day at
home with him, their mother, whose health was failing through freque