ell you the dreadful bad word he said! I
wouldn't have the minister hear about it for all the earth, for Jake's
been a member of the church ever since before we were married, an'
never used a bit o' bad language in his life, to my knowledge. An'
then he says, in a ter'ble voice, 'You leave that child alone, she's
goin' with me,' he says. An' with that she puts her arms 'round his
neck an' hangs on, an' calls him all the sweet names you ever heard.

"Well, that was bad' enough, but it seems we weren't done yet. We were
jist beginnin' to get collected to start again, when one o' the twins
commenced to yell again. It was the black-headed one, but I ain't sure
o' their names. One's Lorena, an' the other's Lenora--ain't they awful
pretty names? But I think they must change them 'round, 'cause I can
never remember which is which, nor Jake, neither. Well, anyhow, the
black one starts to holler louder'n ever, an' she kept screamin' in
between hollers, 'I don't want to leave Timmy! I don't want to leave
Timmy!' An' with that, the other girl starts up the same, an' the wee
red-head he gets at it harder'n the rest, an' there was the three o'
them cryin' an' takin' on, 'Oh, let Timmy come, too! Let Timmy come,
too!' 'Who's Timmy?' says Jake to the matron. 'Is he their dog?' says
he. 'No,' says she, 'he's their brother,' says she. 'Lord 'a' mercy!'
says I, 'don't tell me there's another one!' 'Yes, there he is,' says
she, an' she points to him. He was settin' on the edge of a long seat,
all humped up, an' queer, watchin' everything, without sayin' a word,
but if I live to be a hundred I'll never get the look o' that child's
face out o' my mind. It was so kind o' awful lonesome an' forsaken an'
hungry-lookin', an' so fearful old, an' him not quite ten."

Hannah paused to wipe her eyes.

"I knew, the minit I seen him, we'd jist got to adopt him, or I'd wake
up nights seein' his poor little face lookin' at me with them terrible
eyes. But he never asked to be took. He jist looks at the others, an'
he says, kind o' gruff like, 'Go on, yous; don't you mind me.'

"Well, it was my turn this time, an' I jist bust out louder'n the
twins. An' I says, 'Oh, Jake,' I says, 'he'll die if we don't adopt
him, too, an' so'll I!' I says. An' Jake, he jist snaps his fingers at
the little fellow, an' he says, 'Come along, then, little shaver, we'll
take you, too.' An' he gives one spring off the bench an' catches Jake
around th