aid in his ear, "And then the Lady
sings," and she tuned her voice to a young-ladyish, high sweetness and
sang,

"My father was a Spanish Captain,
Went to sea a month ago,"

Mark made a great effort and choked down his cries to heaving sobs as he
tried to listen,

"First he kissed me, then he left me;
Bade me always answer 'no.'"

She told the little boy, now looking up at her out of the one eye not
covered by his hands, "Then the gentleman says to her," she made her
voice loud and hearty and bluff,

"Oh, Madam, in your face is beauty,
On your lips red roses grow.
Will you take me for your lover?
Madam, answer 'yes' or 'no.'"

She explained in an aside to Mark, "But her father had told her she must
always answer just the one thing, 'no,' so she had to say," she turned
up in the mincing, ladylike key again, and sang,

"Oh no, John, no, John, no."

Mark drew a long quivering breath through parted lips and sat silent,
his one eye fixed on his mother, who now sang in the loud, lusty voice,

"Oh, Madam, since you are so cruel,
And that you do scorn me so,
If I may not be your lover,
Madam, will you let me go?"

And in the high, prim voice, she answered herself,

"Oh no, John, no, John, _no!_"

A faint smile hovered near Mark's flushed face. He leaned towards his
mother as she sang, and took down his hands so that he could see her
better. Marise noted instantly, with a silent exclamation of relief that
the red angry mark was quite outside the eye-socket, harmless on the
bone at one side. Much ado about nothing as usual with the children. Why
_did_ she get so frightened each time? Another one of Mark's hairbreadth
escapes.

She reached for the cold wet compress and went on, singing loudly and
boldly, with a facetious wag of her head, (how tired she was of all this
manoeuvering!),

"Then I will stay with you forever
If you will not be unkind."

She applied the cold compress on the hurt spot and put out her hand for
the bandage-roll, singing with an ostentatiously humorous accent and
thinking with exasperation how all this was delaying her in the thousand
things to do in the house,

"Madam, I have vowed to love you;
Would you have me change my mind?"

She wound the bandage around and around the little boy's head, so that
it held the compress in place, singing in the high, sweet voice,

"Oh no, John, no, Joh