e hill"! By a strong effort, he kept his eyes closed and
breathed regularly and deeply as though still sleeping. He must not let
them suspect that he was listening, but he must catch every word they
said, every word. How he hated them, this band of rascals that had
gotten his David into their clutches and were slowly but surely making
him as bad as they! His David bad? No, no! David was kind and good and
gentle to him always. David was not bad, he would not listen to their
dreadful scheme. He would refuse to help them; surely he would. His
David a thief? It was impossible. But that dreadful plan they were
discussing! "The brown house on the hill"; "to-morrow night"; and David
was promising to go with them.

Patsy shivered beneath the bedclothes and bitter tears gathered in his
eyes and trickled down the pale, sunken cheeks. The men were leaving and
David was renewing his promise to accompany the expedition to the brown
house on the hill to-morrow night. In fact, he was to act as guide to
the man appointed to commit the deed, for who, so well as David, could
show them the way to the library in which was the safe that they were
going to rob?

They had gone now and Patsy felt that David was standing beside the bed
and looking down at him. He opened his eyes and two more tears escaped,
which he hastily brushed away. Immediately David was on his knees, the
little cripple's hand clasped tenderly in his.

"What's the trouble, kid?" he questioned anxiously. "Is it the pain
that's bad to-night?"

"'Tain't the pain, Davy, 'tain't the pain at all," sobbed the child.

"What is it then, youngster? Come now, tell your own Davy what's
troubling you, there's a good boy."

"David, how long is it since mother was taken away from us? It seems so
long. I was thinkin' of mother, Davy, and wishing she was here with us
this night."

"You poor kid, poor little crippled kid," muttered David, patting the
small, thin hand. "It's natural, I suppose, for you to pine for your
mother, but ain't Davy been almost like a mother to you, Patsy? He's
tried hard, that he has, to be father and mother and big brother all in
one." And the man smiled somewhat wistfully.

"You've been all that and more too, Davy. 'Twasn't on my account I was
wishin' for mother, 'twas on yours. If she was here, she'd know how to
keep you from going with them men to-morrow night. She'd know how to
keep you to home, and I don't know what to say or to do to stop you from
g