then, when she gets older and becomes a young lady, she could
go to some school--but that's a bit too far ahead to plan for
the present; but that's what I am going to do, though," said
the young man, confidently, and as though speaking to himself.
"That theatrical boarding-house person could be bought off
easily enough," he went on, quickly, "and Lester won't mind
letting her go if I ask it,--and--and that's what I'll do. As
you say, it's a good deal of an experiment, but I think I'll
run the risk."

He walked quickly to the door and disappeared in the
hall, and then came back, kicking the door open as he
returned, and holding the child in his arms.

"This is she," he said, quietly. He did not look at or
notice the father, but stood, with the child asleep in the
bend of his left arm, gazing down at her. "This is she," he
repeated; "this is your child."

There was something cold and satisfied in Van Bibber's
tone and manner, as though he were congratulating himself upon
the engaging of a new groom; something that placed the father
entirely outside of it. He might have been a disinterested
looker-on.

"She will need to be fed a bit," Van Bibber ran on,
cheerfully. "They did not treat her very well, I fancy. She
is thin and peaked and tired-looking." He drew up the loose
sleeve of her jacket, and showed the bare forearm to the
light. He put his thumb and little finger about it, and