Marshall Saunders

“ There on the hearthrug by the fire, with Princess Sukey, the two children, or, rather, the boy and the child, sat and talked, while the Judge listened quietly from his armchair. Part of the time Titus was shouting with laughter. In some marvelous way he had got over all his bashfulness of the morning. Bethany was such a little girl that it did not seem worth while to be afraid of her, and then he was in honor bound to tell her about their visit to the Tingsbys. ”

“ Dallas gave him a peculiar glance. It certainly was not an ungrateful one.
The Judge gazed at him more steadfastly. How well the boy looked in his heavy black coat and dark fur cap! He was stouter, too, than when he came. Already good living and freedom from care were beginning to show a favorable influence upon him. But what about the soul? And the Judge peered more earnestly than ever at him. A good outside was a fine thing, but the inner things of the heart were what counted, and the elderly man made up his mind to ask a few questions. ”

“ Higby, delighted to find no share of mismanagement attributed to him, snickered agreeably, and even the maids who had just come up from the kitchen and were going to their work in different parts of the house, hearing the sound of enjoyable laughter, echoed it light-heartedly.
“This is a good Christmas joke on you and me, Titus,” said the Judge at last, putting his handkerchief to his face to wipe his eyes. “It is said that one finds what one looks for. We were looking for a boy, and we persuaded ourselves that we had found one.” ”

“ Nancy drawn on by impetuous Bethany, and Titus, Dallas, and Airy bringing up the rear.
“Grandfather,” said Titus, imperiously; “Dear Daddy Grandpa,” exclaimed Bethany; “Mr. Judge,” said Airy, solemnly; and “Dear Judge,” said the young widow, smilingly, “the children absolutely refuse to play a new guessing game I want to teach them unless you are in it.”
The Judge took off his spectacles and blandly surveyed the young faces about him. “Will it take long?”
“O, no, sir,” said Dallas, eagerly, “I half know it now. We can easily stop at Bethany’s bedtime.” ”

“ Titus did not dare to say, “It is feeding time for the pigeon, Higby,” for the Judge might have heard, and Titus feared that he would be exceedingly annoyed if he found out that a bird was being kept in his house.
It was really curious that such a dislike for the lower creation should have been imputed to a really benevolent and kind-hearted man like Judge Sancroft. True, he did not care particularly for animals. He had been brought up in a city, and he had never had any animals about him but horses and cows. He was not actively fond of them, but he always saw that they were well cared for. ”

“ Bethany looked at him in surprise. “Why, course not, Daddy Grandpa, if you don’t want me to.”
“And take the soap Mrs. Blodgett gives you; don’t use Hittaker’s.”
“Very well, Daddy Grandpa,” she replied, quietly. “Has Bethany been a bad girl?”
“No, child, no; but it is not necessary for you to be so economical.”
“I don’t know what that means.”
“It means saving. Do you think that Titus ought to go and pick up sticks for the fire?”
“No, sir.”
“Why not?”
“Because he isn’t a little poor boy. He is your very own child.”
“Yes, he is my very own grandson, and you are my very own granddaughter.” ”

“ Some persons are bad and make their living off others. Now, as I said before, I never was a criminal. In fact, I was too low down for one, for I didn’t want to work. But traveling about the country I used to hear about famous sharpers. I was as dust under their feet, but when I would get into a tramp’s refuge of any kind I used to hear them talking of this one and that who had distinguished himself in the world of crime—you are listening, are you?” and he peered forward to look at Mrs. Everest’s face.
“Yes, Barry, listening and interested, but the light from that hall gas is not enough. ”

“ Dallas stuck his head out a window. “Ah, there are the miscreants, sitting on the limb of that tree.”
The branches of the big, leafless old elm brushed the hall window, and the little owls sitting there were calmly contemplating a rising moon.
The Judge let Bethany look at them, then he 171said: “See, Higby, there are your burglars. There are no traces of any others here. No man would be bold enough to pass through this lighted house, and if he did why should he attack you?” ”

“ The Pigeon Princess Dear little Princess Sukey sitting by the fire—pretty little pigeon—of what is she thinking as she dreamily eyes the blazing wood? If a pigeon could review its past life, what she has of bird mind would be running back over the series of adventures that she had ere she established herself in this well ordered household. ”

“ For her that attic would be a kind of treasure-house.
How like a mirror her face was, how different from his, even from Titus’s, for the boy, young as he was, had learned to conceal his emotions; and now what was he going to do with her? ”

“ Possibly Sukey was sympathizing with Bethany, whom she had got to love devotedly. Anyway, the Judge must answer the child, so he said, kindly, “The bird is a pigeon; she is called a Jacobin.”
“She’s an ugly thing, anyway,” replied Airy, sulkily, “an’ she hates me. Shoo!” and she clapped her hands.
The indignant Sukey, who was no heroine, turned tail and scuttled under Bethany’s table, where the Judge heard a low growl of welcome greet her. Then, his two pets safely disposed of, he looked expectantly at Airy, hoping that she would remember his question as to her motive for calling on him. ”

“ Titus led the way to the kitchen. “Mrs. Blodgett,” he called to the housekeeper, who was directing the maids, “please make me some warm feed for this pigeon.”
The housekeeper stared at the bird. “O, law! what a nasty little thing!”
By this time the future little princess was nearly dead, and Titus in dismay called, “Hurry up.”
“Master Titus,” she replied, snappishly, “the girls are preparing dinner. You’ll have to wait.”
“I can’t wait,” returned the boy, angrily, and he began to step forward. “Don’t you see the bird’s dying? Higby, you talk to her.” ”

“ That was just what she wanted.
“But you haven’t any wraps,” said the Judge. “However, I can bundle you up in something, and Roblee will drive us to Furst Brothers. There we will find everything under one roof. Here you are,” and, laughing like a boy, he smothered her up in the fur coat that he intended to give Mafferty and carried her out to the sleigh.
A quiet-living man, a man of simple pleasures, one who rarely experienced new sensations, the trip through Furst Brothers’ establishment was as full of interest to the Judge as a voyage of exploration would have been to another man. ”

“ Little by little the appearance of the houses had improved, until here on Grand Avenue he found himself among mansions.
Arrived near Judge Sancroft’s house, he walked more slowly, then suddenly he turned, and retracing his steps walked up the driveway leading to the stable.
His keen eyes scrutinized every window of the house. Here and there one was open. “They all like fresh air,” he murmured. Under one open window he paused. He could hear the sound of voices. Dallas was speaking—Dallas the clever English boy that the Judge had adopted—and he was scolding Bethany, dear little Bethany. ”

“ The Judge, fearing Higby’s bad example, had spoken of sending him away, though it was with extreme reluctance that he even spoke of discharging so faithful a servant. Titus’s teacher did not urge him to do so. He said that Higby was a stammerer, while Titus, as yet, only stuttered. The boy’s habit could be broken if he gave himself earnestly to breaking it up. “Wait a little,” he said to the Judge. “He does not take himself seriously yet. Wait till something rouses him and makes him coöperate with me.” ”

“ Titus turned round. His grandfather’s face was glowing.
“How can you ever think for an instant,” said the Judge, “that any boy or any girl can take the place of my only dear child?”
Titus’s sullen face melted.
“I want to make a noble man of you, my boy,” continued the older man, advancing with both hands outstretched. “I want you to have a great, generous heart, to get out into the huge world and make thousands of souls happy. You cannot expect all those souls to be responsive. You have got to make them happy, in spite of themselves ”

“ How do you do, young sir? I’m pleased to meet you,” and he shook hands with Titus.
Titus was as proud as his grandfather, so he, too, did not seek enlightenment.
Suddenly Mrs. Everest stood at the Judge’s side. He did not know how she got there.
“Worked my shoulders through the press,” she said, gayly; “there’s an art in it. You turn one blade, then the other, and they cut the crowd. Dear Judge, the house is packed—not another one can get in. They’re lining up on the sidewalk and the middle of the street. Just see. You can’t shake hands with all. You’ll have to make a speech.” ”

“ Titus was still in his tramp suit, Charlie Brown was considerably disheveled from working about his pigeon loft, and Dallas had taken the precaution, when he went into the house hastily to change his good suit of clothes for the one in which he had arrived at the Judge’s. Therefore they were a trio of pretty disreputable-looking boys, and Bylow, after a lazy look at them, glanced at his young master as if to say, “What are you worrying about? You are among friends.” Then he again lay down by the radiator and went to sleep. ”

“ Titus went on, earnestly. “He thinks you can do a lot of good and be a great power in the world if you have plenty of money, but he preaches to us all the time about not thinking too much of riches.”
“Easy to talk,” replied Mr. Hittaker, with some show of interest in the subject. “If you were that black stable boy you couldn’t have all this,” and he looked about the well appointed loft.
“Sir,” said Titus, intensely, “the other evening I was walking with grandfather. We passed a tiny house in the suburbs. A boy was nailing away at a box and whistling like a good fellow. ”

“ There is a fearful amount of suffering in the world. We should do what we can to lessen it.”
“I-I-I don’t want one of those River Street cubs,” said Titus, sharply.
“I shall take the greatest pains to get a boy of good antecedents,” said the Judge, decidedly. “You know that my profession has brought me into contact with crime and criminals. I have a horror of inherited vicious tendencies.”
“A-a-all right, sir,” replied Titus, with a sigh. “If you’ve promised we’ve got to do it,” and getting up he walked over to his grandfather and threw his arm over his shoulder. ”

“ Mrs. Nancy Steele had arrived; the Judge had engaged her to become lady housekeeper, mother-ingeneral, 333adviser-in-chief, and whatever was needed to make a perfect superintendent for his family.
She was succeeding admirably, and the Judge gazed in intense admiration at the slender, graceful figure at the piano. Mrs. Nancy was charming, very ladylike, and very forceful, under a quiet, almost a languid exterior.
The children were charmed with her. Bethany stood close to her, begging her to sing again. Airy sat near by, quiet and watchful, her eyes glued to Mrs. Nancy’s face. ”

“ O, you’ll get to love her like your own flesh an’ blood.”
“I am sorry that she is not a boy,” vociferated the Judge; “a boy would have been more of a companion for my grandson.”
“Yes, sir—yes, sir,” said Mrs. Tingsby, beaming on him, “a boy an’ a girl—just a nice family. I always did despise two boys or two girls for a set piece.”
“You tell her,” said the Judge, with a wave of his hand toward his grandson.
Titus approached his lips somewhat nearer to the little woman’s ear than they were. “M-m-my grandfather says he is sorry the girl is not a boy.” ”

“ I’ve been pretending to like pigeons to curry favor with your grandson. It doesn’t matter about speaking the truth now that I am going away.”
The Judge looked from the bits of raw meat in the box to Dallas’s red penknife.
“Where do you get food for them?”
“I buy meat or beg it; and, in fact, all the family but Titus think that I’m taking a raw-meat cure. Titus caught on to me, though I don’t know whether he understands what kind of creatures I’m feeding.”
“I hope you don’t keep them in that little box at night?”
“O, no; I let them fly about my room at night. They sleep all day.” ”

“ O, my dear Bylow, my lovely spotted dog, I could hug you.”
The Judge, happening to be near the hall window, and happening to hear a dog bark, instinctively looked out.
To his amazement a colored boy with a dog was passing on the opposite side of the street—and the dog was spotted.
“Bethany,” he said, suddenly, “is your colored boy very black?”
She threw up her little head, and, losing her thoughtful expression, came back to earth. “No, sir; Brick is a kind of a red-brown boy—like bricks. That is why the boys called him Brick.” ”

“ The Judge, who had been standing watching her, walked back and forth, and finally extended his promenade to the hall.
When he approached the doorway or entered the study he could catch sentences from Bethany.
“Yellow, spotted dog, you must not bite clothes. Be a good, gentle dog, or boys will throw stones at you. Brick, will you let poor doggie sleep in your hogshead to-night? He is lonely all by himself.” ”

“ Dallas gave Titus a queer look, and the latter immediately burst out laughing.
“’Pon my word; poor old Higby,” gasped Titus. “You’ve been fooled.”
The manservant looked at him indignantly, while Dallas turned to the Judge, who was waiting for an explanation.
“You told me not to keep my birds so closely, sir, so I let them do pretty much as they please. I open my window every night at dusk. They must have got in through some other window into the hall. It is a habit of owls to pounce on anything furry or hairy.” ”

“ Strange,” he murmured, as he continued his way to the house, “how the whole creation not only groans together, but rejoices together, and is linked together. I used not to think of the dumb creatures; but it is easy to go down, even to the owls, when one begins to care for the children. Ah! that is a pretty sight!” and he stopped short and looked in the window.
The curtains were not drawn. Down in the little dining room for the servants Martha the cook and Jennie, Betty, and old Higby were seated about a blazing fire. ”

“ The combatants, withdrawing from the others, would seize each other by the heads and drag each other about, finally coming back to find all the seeds gone. Their rueful faces when they contemplated Bethany’s empty palms were very amusing, and with a foolish air they always listened to the little girl’s gentle reproaches on the subject of quarreling. ”