in which the baby was to grow up. Socialistic
agitations, which a dispassionate bachelor could afford to regard with
philosophic indifference, now presented themselves as diabolical plots
to undermine the baby's happiness, and deprive her of whatever earthly
goods Providence might see fit to bestow upon her, and so on, _ad
infinitum_. From a radical, with revolutionary sympathies, my friend
in the course of a year blossomed out into a conservative Philistine
with a decided streak of optimism, and all for the sake of the baby.
It was very amusing to listen to his solemn consultations with the
nurse every morning before he betook himself to the office, and to
watch the lively, almost child-like interest with which, on returning
in the evening, he listened to her long-winded report of the baby's
wonderful doings during the day. On Sundays, when he always spent the
whole afternoon at home, I often surprised him in the most undignified
attitudes, creeping about on the floor with the little girl riding on
his back, or stretched out full length with his head in her lap, while
she was gracious enough to interest herself in his hair, and even
laughed and cooed with much inarticulate contentment. At such times,
when, perhaps, through the disordered locks, I caught a glimpse of a
beaming happy face (for my visits were never of sufficient account to
interfere with baby's pleasures), I would pay my respectful tribute to
the baby, acknowledging that she possessed a power, the secret of
which I did not know.

But in spite of all this, I did not fail to detect that Storm's life
was not even now without its sorrow. At our luncheons, I often saw a
sad and thoughtful gloom settling upon his features; it was no longer
the bitter reviling grief of former years, but a deep and mellow
sadness, a regretful dwelling on mental images which were hard to
contemplate and harder still to banish.

"Do you know," he exclaimed once, as he felt that I had divined his
thoughts, "her face haunts me night and day! I feel as if my happiness
in possessing the child were a daily robbery from her. I have
continued my search for her up to this hour, but I have found no trace
of her. Perhaps if you will help me, I shall not always be seeking in
vain."

I gave him my hand silently across the table; he shook it heartily,
and we parted.

It was about a month after this occurrence that I happened to be
sitting on one of the benches near the entrance to Central