Quincy started to speak, "But what--"

"I know what you were going to say," said Uncle Ike. "You are going to
ask that tiresome old question, what will become of the children? Well,
I should consider them part of the property on hand and divide them and
the money according to law."

"But few mothers would consent to be parted from their children."

"Oh, that's nonsense," replied Uncle Ike. "I have a Massachusetts State
Report here that says about five hundred children every year are
abandoned by their mothers for some cause or other. They leave them on
doorsteps and in railroad stations; they put them out to board and don't
pay their board; and the report says that every one of these little
waifs is adopted by good people, and they get a better education and a
better bringing up than their own parents could or would give them. Have
you ever read, Mr. Sawyer, of the Austrian baron who was crossed in
love and decided he would never marry?"

Quincy shook his head.

"Well, he was wealthy and had a big castle, with no one to live in it,
and during his life he adopted, educated, clothed, and sent out into the
world, fitted to make their own living, more than a thousand children.
To my mind, Mr. Sawyer, he was a bigger man than any emperor or king who
has ever lived."

Quincy asked, "But how are you going to start such a reform, Mr.
Pettengill? The first couple that got reunited on the partnership plan