Produced by Katherine Ward, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) NOBODY'S CHILD By ELIZABETH DEJEANS Author of THE TIGER'S COAT, etc. FRONTISPIECE BY ARTHUR I. KELLER INDIANAPOLIS THE BOBBS-MERRILL COMPANY PUBLISHERS COPYRIGHT 1918 THE BOBBS-MERRILL COMPANY PRESS OF BRAUNWORTH & CO. BOOK MANUFACTURERS BROOKLYN, N. Y. [Illustration] CONTENTS I ANN II THREE MEN AND A GIRL III PENNIMAN AND WESTMORE IV BUT IF HE FAILED HER? V IN COLONIAL FASHION VI BAIRD RECONNOITERS VII THE WESTMORES OF WESTMORE VIII THE COLONEL IS SUSPICIOUS IX A FEMININE PROCEDURE X THE INFINITELY PAINFUL THING XI KEPT IN THE DARK XII A VENDETTA XIII INERADICABLY BRANDED XIV THE MISFITS XV AS WITH A CHILD XVI "IT WAS BORN IN HER" XVII COMPLEXITIES XVIII "YOU'RE ALL I HAVE" XIX A BARGAIN XX MARRY? YES XXI A LOT OF PLANNING XXII IMPRESSIONS XXIII CHAOTIC UNCERTAINTY XXIV A DEFINITION OF LOVE XXV BECAUSE SHE LOVED TOO MUCH XXVI THE ETERNAL ATTRACTION XXVII THE THING XXVIII THE HELL-HOLE OF THE WESTMORES XXIX "WHAT'S NOT KNOWN" XXX CONTENT XXXI THE FAMILY NAME XXXII THE DEATH-TRAP XXXIII FROM DESPAIR TO HOPE XXXIV BEN BROKAW EXPLAINS XXXV WAITING XXXVI "IT LIES WITH ANN" XXXVII COLD CASH XXXVIII THE REVELATION XXXIX "WILL YOU GO WITH ME?" CONCLUSION NOBODY'S CHILD I ANN The quietude of winter still lay on the land, the apathetic dun of field and woodland unstirred as yet by the hint of spring that was tipping with eagerness the wings of the birds and, under their brown frost-dulled blanket, was quickening into fresh green the woody stems of arbutus. The mid-morning sun had struggled out of a gray March chill and was setting a-gleam the drops of moisture on trees and grass, drawing little rivulets from the streaks of snow which hid in the corners of the rail-fences and in the hollows of the creek. Winter was reluctantly saying farewell. The girl, who a mile back had turned in from the old Fox-Ridge Post-Road and had come up through the pastures to the edge of the woodland, looked with smiling understanding at the slow yielding of winter. Another winter added to her sum of seventeen. Or, rather, as youth always looks forward and counts much upon the future, perhaps a joyous spring to be added to her sum of experience.