And Teddy Pegram took most powerful to him and made him many a game and
many a clever toy. He'd walk with the child to the woods sometimes and
teach him the ways of birds and beasts, and show him how to catch 'em; for
Ted was a rare sportsman and deeply skilled in all the branches of it. And
'twas his bent in that direction led to the extraordinary affair of this
tale; though it was a good year before the crash came and for a long time
no cloud arose to darken his steadfast friendship with the Fords. You
might say they was more than friends, for Teddy explained to the young
couple that he stood alone in the world, without chick or child of his
own, and felt very wishful to have some special interest in his fellow
creatures.

"I followed the sea," he told them once, "and that's why I'm so handy all
round. But my passion be sporting, and now, having earned a little
competence, I've retired from the ocean and don't want to hear nor yet see
it no more. And you folk suit me and I suit you, so I'll put you first,
and if all goes well in the time to come, I dare say your lad, if not
yourselves, will be the gainers."

They was very pleased, of course, and Minnie showed it by fussing over the
man a bit and looking after his linen now and then and doing such chores
for him as he'd let her do; but he was very independent and, finding he
weren't over anxious for her and her husband to be in his house, though
always very willing to come to hers, she gave over her attempts to
befriend him in that direction. Little Joey, however, was always welcome
and he'd often drop in on the old sailor and never in vain. Teddy was fond
of sporting dogs and he'd got a lurcher bitch from somewhere, and when she
bore a litter, six weeks before Christmas, he had the thought to give Joey
the best of the bunch. When they was a fortnight old, he drowned all but
one, and on Christmas Eve, after the child was to bed and asleep, he took