noticed my uneasiness.

"My mamma blew the whistle for the horses to go on," he said.

That was so; the barge, towed by the horses, glided over the soft waters
which lapped gently against the keel; on either side were trees and
behind us fell the oblique rays from the setting sun.

"Will you play?" asked Arthur.

He beckoned to his mother. She sat down beside him. He took her hand and
kept it in his, and I played to them all the pieces that my master had
taught me.

CHAPTER XI

ANOTHER BOY'S MOTHER

Arthur's mother was English. Her name was Mrs. Milligan. She was a
widow, and Arthur was her only son; at least, it was supposed that he
was her only son living, for she had lost an elder child under
mysterious conditions. When the child was six months old it had been
kidnaped, and they had never been able to find any trace of him. It is
true that, at the time he was taken, Mrs. Milligan had not been able to
make the necessary searches. Her husband was dying, and she herself was
dangerously ill and knew nothing of what was going on around her. When
she regained consciousness her husband was dead and her baby had
disappeared. Her brother-in-law, Mr. James Milligan, had searched
everywhere for the child. There being no heir, he expected to inherit
his brother's property. Yet, after all, Mr. James Milligan inherited
nothing from his brother, for seven months after the death of her
husband, Mrs. Milligan's second son, Arthur, was born.

But the doctors said that this frail, delicate child could not live. He
might die at any moment. In the event of his death, Mr. James Milligan
would succeed to the fortune. He waited and hoped, but the doctors'
predictions were not fulfilled. Arthur lived. It was his mother's care
that saved him. When he had to be strapped to a board, she could not
bear the thought of her son being closed up in a house, so she had a
beautiful barge built for him, and was now traveling through France on
the various canals.

Naturally, it was not the first day that I learned all this about the
English lady and her son. I learned these details little by little,
while I was with her.

I was given a tiny cabin on the boat. What a wonderful little room it
appeared to me! Everything was spotless. The only article of furniture
that the cabin contained was a bureau, but what a bureau: bed, mattress,
pillows, and covers combined. And attached to the bed were drawers
containing brushes, combs, etc. Ther