Five minutes passed; ten minutes. At last the fingers loosed their hold, the eyes closed, the lines faded, and the ugly old wax mask lay still on the pillow. Quietly Mary rose, her soft dress making no sound. Quietly she stole to the door, quietly opened it, so quietly that no one saw or heard her, for at that moment another door was flung wide open from outside, and a gay "Hello! hello! hello!" brought every one to their feet. Pippin stood in the doorway, laughing, glowing, his wheel at his back; in his arms--a child--a little, dark, bright-eyed child, who clung to him and gazed wide-eyed at the strange faces, for all were clustering about him now with greetings and questions. "Where have you been, Pippin? We've been looking for you all day. How are you? What you been doing? Whose child is that?" "Easy, folks, easy!" laughed Pippin. "You're scaring the kiddy out of his boots--if he had any!" with a glance at the brown toes that were curling frantically round him. "Mis' Bailey, you come--" "Whose child is it?" asked Lucy Bailey again, as she came forward. "Well!" Pippin laughed again, as he tried to unwind the clinging brown arms from his neck. His face was alight, there was a ring of triumph in his voice. "He calls me Daddy. What do you know about that? I expect he's mine, ain't he?" Mary! Mary! Stop! Wait and listen! This child is six years old, and Pippin two and twenty. Use the reason on which you pride yourself! But Mary is gone, closing the door softly. Gone to fling herself on her knees beside the dying reprobate, to tell him--silently, be sure! His sleep must not be broken--tell him over and over that he is all she has in the world, that she is a wicked, wicked girl; that she will try to love him; she will, she will! "Mother! mother! I will try!" No one sees; no one hears. Pippin, after a wistful glance round the room, sat down at the table and tucked the child comfortably away under his left arm. "Set down, please, everybody!" he said. "I'm right sorry I disturbed you all. Seemed so good to get here! No, Mis' Bailey, full as much obliged, seein' he holds so to me, I'll keep him right here. If you'd pass me some bread and milk; he can eat by himself," proudly; "can't you, old sport? There now! Fall afoul of that, what say? Elder, I am proper glad to see you, I sure am. I was scared to death you'd got out of patience and gone. Mary--Miss Blossom--well? The Old Man--she got here in time?" Reassured on this point, he drew a long sigh of relief. "That's good! That's good! I kep' on thinkin' and thinkin', what if she come too late? She comin' in soon?" "Pretty soon, Pippin; he can't bear to have her out of his sight, so she's waiting till he drops asleep. If you don't tell us about that child, Mrs. Bailey won't give you a morsel to eat, will you, Mrs. Bailey? And it's the best corned beef hash you ever tasted." Pippin threw back his head and laughed again, the gay, triumphant laugh that rang through the kitchen.