Royal some time to silence when she had him alone in the kitchen.

"I didn't see you, Mrs. Marden," the parson gasped, as he tried to
recover his breath as well as his composure.

"So I observe," was the somewhat sarcastic reply, as the visitor
surveyed her rector. "I knocked long and loud, but as there was no
response, I took the liberty to enter. I am sorry that I have
intruded. Perhaps I had better go."

"No, no, you must not think of such a thing," the parson replied, as he
handed her a chair, and then struggled quickly into his coat, which he
had cast aside at the beginning of the frolic. He was annoyed at Mrs.
Marden's intrusion into the privacy of his family life, especially when
he was off guard. He knew that she had come on some important
business, as she otherwise never darkened the rectory door.

"You've become quite a family man, so I understand," she began. "It's
the first time that I've seen the baby. I suppose you'll put him in
the Orphan Home in the city."

"No, I shall do nothing of the sort," was the emphatic reply. "He
shall stay here until his mother comes for him."

"H'm," and the widow tossed her head in a knowing manner, "then you'll
have him on your hands for a long time. Do you for a moment imagine
that a mother who is heartless enough to leave her baby with total
strangers, will come for him? Not a bit of it. Mark my word, she's
only too glad to be rid of it, and is off somewhere now having a good
time. I should be very careful, if I were you, about bringing up such