"It was proper nice," he agreed. "Yer see," falling into a confidential tone, "I couldn't make out no surer way to git hold o' that letter. Jane she's kind o' cranky sometimes, but she's got her good streaks, and you can coax her into 'most anything. Now when we was whirlin' along there through Cat-hole Pass, on that slick road, I just broached the subjec'. Couldn't 'a' picked out a better minute nohow! She chimed right in, and said 'twas time yer had it, if yer was ever goin' to--an' there it is!" He chuckled like a boy over his bit of stratagem. "Hadn't yer better look at it, my dear," he proposed, "just to make certain it's all right?" Eager that his service should bring her joy, he was anxious to see its consummation. Polly, still dimpling with amusement over Mr. Bean's management of Aunt Jane, unfolded the sheet. One glance at the closely-written first page, the smiles vanished, her cheeks went white, and, drooping her head, she wailed out:-- "Mamma! mamma! Oh, mamma, I want you!" Mrs. Dudley sprang to comfort her, but the little man was there first. Gathering Polly tenderly in his arms, he crooned over her like a mother. "There! there! my dear! There, dearie! I know! I know! It's hard! I felt just that way when Susie went. There! cry right on my shoulder--it'll do you good. There, dearie! Pretty soon I'll tell you something. There! there!" The tones were soft and soothing. Mrs. Dudley could barely make out the words. Soon the sobbing ceased. "I didn't know the letter was from her," Polly broke out plaintively. "That's what she used to call me--'Polly Precious'--oh, de-e-ar!" "There! there! I know! I know! It's hard, awful hard! I know!" She lay back on his shoulder again, and presently was more calm. "Now I'm goin' to tell you something," the little man resumed. "After Susie went, I just couldn't stand it without her--she was all I had. Her mother'd gone two years before. An' I got to thinkin' 'bout Susie, an' how she'd always tag me round, from cellar to attic, goin' with me fur's I'd let her when I went to work, and runnin' to meet me when I come home. And thinks I, 'S'pose Susie's goin' to stay up in Heaven away from me? No, sir! She's taggin' me round just the same as ever! I can't see her, but she's right here!' An' she has been! I couldn't 'a' stood it no other way! An' Susie couldn't! The good God knows how much we c'n stand, and he eases things up for us. "Now, my dear, it's just so with your mother. She loves you more--yis, more--than you do her, an' do you think she stays away from you? Why, no, dearie, she's right here, takin' care o' you all the time!" "Oh! do you really s'pose that?" cried Polly joyously. "My dear, my dear!" the little man's voice was tense with feeling, "I don't s'pose--I _know_! Ther' 's nothin' in all God's universe so strong as love, and so what is there to keep love away from us? For, of course, our folks don't stop lovin' us. They're just the same, here or there.