Before Lafe's mental vision rose Jinnie's lovely face, her parted lips and self-assured smile. "But where'd she get it? It must belong to some 'un." Mrs. Grandoken shook her head. "I dunno. It's a boy. He was with a woman--a bad 'un, I gather. She beat 'im until the little feller ran away to find his own folks, he says--and--Jinnie brought 'im home here. She says she's goin' to keep 'im." The speaker drew her brown skin into a network of wrinkles. "Where'd she find 'im?" Lafe burst forth, "Of course he can't stay----" Mrs. Grandoken checked the cobbler's words with a rough gesture. "Hush a minute! She got 'im over near the plank walk on the hill--he was cryin' for 'is ma." Lafe was plainly agitated. He felt a spasmodic clutch at his heart when he imagined the sorrow of a homeless, blind child, but thinking of Peg's struggle to make a little go a long way, he dashed his sympathy resolutely aside. "Of course he can't stay--he can't!" he murmured. "It ain't possible for you to keep 'im here." In his excitement Lafe bent forward and closed his hands over Peg's massive shoulder bones. Peggy coughed hoarsely and looked away. "Who says the kid can't stay?" she muttered roughly. "Who said he can't?" The words jumped off the woman's tongue in sullen defiance. "But you got too much to do now, Peg. We've made you a lot of trouble, woman dear, an' you sure don't want to take another----" Like a flash, Peg's features changed. She squinted sidewise as if a strong light suddenly hurt her sight. "Who said I didn't?" she drawled. "Some husbands do make me mad, when they're tellin' me what I want, an' what I don't want. I hate the blind brat like I do the girl, but he's goin' to stay just the same." A deep flush dyed Lafe's gray face. The intensity of his emotion was almost a pain. Life had ever vouchsafed Lafe Grandoken encouragement when the dawn was darkest. Now Peg's personal insult lined his clouds of fear with silver, and they sailed away in rapid succession as quickly as they had come; he saw them going like shadows under advancing sun rays. "Peggy," he said, touching her gently, "you've the biggest heart in all the world, and you're the very best woman; you be, sure! If you let the poor little kid stay, I'll make more money, if God gives me strength." Peggy pushed Lafe's hand from her arm. "I 'spose if you do happen to get five cents more, you'll puff out with pride till you most bust.... Anyway, it won't take much more to buy grub for a kid with an appetite like a bird.... Come on! I'll wheel you to the kitchen so you can have a look at 'im." Jinnie glanced around as the husband and wife entered the room. She pushed Happy Pete from her lap and got up. "Lafe," she exclaimed, "this is Bobbie--he's come to live with us." She drew the blind boy from his chair and went forward. "Bobbie," she explained, "this is the cobbler. I told you about him in the park. See 'im with your fingers once, and you'll know he's the best man ever."