nd though
a dash of cold water banished drowsiness from her eyes it made them see
more clearly how empty and desolate the "littlest house" had now become,
so desolate that she could not stay in it and running to Meg-Laundress's
crowded apartment, she burst in, demanding, "Has he come? Has anybody in
the Lane seen my grandpa?"

Meg desisted from spanking the "baddest o' them twins" and set the small
miscreant upon the sudsy floor before she answered, cheerfully, "Not
yet, honey. 'Tain't scurce time to be lookin' fer him, I reckon. When
them old sailors gets swappin' yarns needn't----"

"But, Meg dear, he ain't at any one of their houses. I've been to the
hull lot--two er three times to each one, a-yest'day--an' he wasn't. An'
they think--I dastn't think what they think! An' I thought maybe--he
always liked you, Meg-Laundress, an' said you done his shirts to beat.
Oh, Meg, Meg, what shall I do? Whatever shall I do?"

The warm-hearted washerwoman thrilled with pity for the forsaken child
yet she put on her most brilliant surface-smile and answered promptly:

"Do? Why, do jest what Jane an' me laid out to have ye do. An' that is,
eat a grand breakfast. We ain't such old friends o' the cap'n's an' yet
go let his folks starve. Me an' Jane, we done it together, an' the
grocer-man threw in the rolls. There's a cunnin' little piece o'
porterhouse's ever ye see, an' 'taties--biled to the queen's taste with
their brown jackets on. Two of 'em, an' no scantin', nuther. No, you
small rapscallions, ye clear out! 'Tain't none your breakfasts, ye hear?
It's Goober Glory's an'--you all, the half-dozen on ye, best clear out
way beyant th' Elbow an' watch out fer the banan' man! If he comes to
the Lane, ma's got a good wash on hand, an'--_who knows?_"

Away scampered Meg's brood of children, assorted sizes, yet one and all
with a longing for "banan' cheap!" and sure that no amount of coaxing
would give them a share in the savory breakfast which the two toiling
women had provided for Glory.

Left comfortably free from crowding, Meg bustled about, removing from
the small oven the belated "steak an' 'taties" which had long been
drying there. In this removal, she clumsily tilted the boiler in which
her "wash" was bubbling and flavored the meal with a dash of soapsuds,
but Glory was more hungry than critical, and far more grateful than
either. Smiles and tears both came as she caught Meg's wet hand and
kissed it ecstatically, which action