So had Miss Martha. Fragments of the doctor’s noble and touching utterances on the text: “_Inasmuch as ye do it unto the least of these, my brethren, ye have done it unto me._” inconveniently returned to her. “I _can’t see_----” Mrs. Shields reiterated helplessly. And neither could Martha Wilcox. The puzzle was too much for her. Nobody, not even the notorious Tillie Shields, had intentionally done any wrong, yet the cumulative result of all their acts seemed to be heartbreakingly wrong, somehow; she herself, were it not for needing the income, could have let Mrs. Shields live there for nothing--but she could not let her live there for eighty-five dollars a month! “I’m so sorry----!” was all that she could say. NOT WANTED BY JESSE LYNCH WILLIAMS From _Saturday Evening Post_ Phil had read it in a book. But life did not come true to literature. When they put his first-born in his arms a strange nausea suffused this father’s frame and he handed the warm little bundle back to his sister hastily, as if it were hot. “Take it away,” he whispered to Mary. “I might break it.” And he bolted out of the room, for the doctor said he could see Nell now. The only joy he felt was over a less vainglorious but more important matter than becoming a father. The beautiful brave mother was all right. This young man had not wanted to become a father; not in the least. He and Junior’s mother had been happy together. Now they would have to be happy apart, if at all, for whole years at a time, until Junior was big enough to stand trips to the wilds of Alaska or Africa or wherever else mining engineers had to go. Nell had always gone along until this usurper spoiled their life together. So Junior was really doing a scandalous thing, coming between husband and wife. No wonder that Phil had not wanted him. Well, Junior’s mother wanted him anyway. She wanted him terrifically, more than anything in the world except Junior’s father. And as her husband wanted her to have everything she desired, why, probably it was all right. There was not much else that she had lacked. Junior did not seem to understand that he wasn’t wanted by his father and took to Phil from the first. “All babies do,” said the jealous young aunt. “It’s a great gift and it’s wasted on a man.” Mary was a maiden, but she had hopes. “He’s so big and so kind,” said the contented mother. “Children, dogs, and old ladies always adore Phil.”