and.

The shadow of the stranger pausing at their door cut short her rhapsody
and sent her, the table, and Bo'sn, promptly out of doors, because when
any of the sailor's old cronies called to see him, there wasn't room in
"the littlest house" for all. So, from the narrow sidewalk beyond the
door, the child listened to the talk within, not much of it being loud
enough for her to hear, and fancied, from grandpa's short, sharp replies
to his guest's questions, that he was crosser, therefore, more ill, than
ever.

Bo'sn, too, sat on his haunches beside her, closely attentive and, at
times, uttering a low, protesting growl. Both child and dog had taken a
dislike to this unknown, who was so unlike the usual visitors to the
Lane.

Glory sometimes wandered as far as Fifth Avenue, with her peanut basket,
and now confided to Bo'sn:

"He's just like them dressed-up folks on th' avenue, what goes by with
their noses in th' air, same's if they couldn't abide the smell o'
goobers, whilst all the time they're just longing to eat 'em. Big shiny
hat, clothes 'most as shiny, canes an' fixin's, an' gloves, doggie;
gloves this hot day, when a body just wants to keep their hands under
the spigot, to cool 'em.

"An'," continued Glory, "he ain't like the rest, Cap'n Gray, an' Cap'n
Wiggins, what makes grandpa laugh till he cries, swoppin' yarns. This
one 'most makes him cry without the laughin' an'---- Why, Bo'sn, Bo'sn!"

In the midst of her own chatter to the terrier, Glory had overheard a
sentence of the "shiny gentleman" which sent her to her feet, and the
table, work, and stool into the gutter, while her rosy face paled and
her wide mouth opened still more widely. The stranger was saying:

"_Of course, they'll never take in the child._ You can go to the
'Harbor' to-day, if you will, and you ought. She--oh, there are plenty
of Homes and Orphanages where they will give her shelter. She'd be far
better off than she is here, in this slum, with only a blind old man to
look after her. You come of good stock, Beck, and, with a proper chance,
the little girl might make a nice woman. Here--whew, I really can't
endure the stench of this alley any longer. We'll make it this
afternoon, captain. At three o'clock I'll send a man to take you over,
and I'll get my sister, who knows about such things, to find a place for
your grandchild. Eh? I didn't quite catch your words."

Grandpa was murmuring something under his breath about: "Slum! I knew