greeting to her.

"Wal' now, this is nice," he said, heartily, after hearing his wife's
brief explanation. "Never can have too many little gals 'round to
suit me, an' as fer this young man," he lifted Little Brother gently
as he spoke, "he fits into this fam'ly jest like a book. Ted here's
gettin' most too much of a man to be our baby any longer."

Ted's round face had lengthened as his father took up the baby, but it
brightened at these words, and he straightened himself and slipped his
hands into the pockets of the very short trousers he was wearing.

"I'll be a big man pretty soon," he remarked, and his father patted
his head tenderly as he answered,

"So you will, sonny, so you will, an' the more you help other folks
the faster you'll grow."

That was a happy evening for Nan. As she sat at the supper-table at
"father's" right hand the only shadow on her satisfaction was the fear
that she might not be allowed to remain in this friendly
household. But somehow, even that thought could not cast a very dark
shadow on her heart when she looked up into the sunshine of Father
Hunt's plain face, or met the motherly smile of his good wife. She
lent a helping hand whenever she saw an opportunity to do so, and the
table was cleared, and the dishes washed so quickly that Mr. Hunt
remarked to his wife,

"Look here, now, mother, why can't you an' me go somewheres this
evening? You ain't been out with me for more'n a year, an' I feel's if