and a new start
apparently unconscious of the pause.

"It is over for me. What I saw!"

"What did you see?"

"I don't know, but I'm going back home to my child. Good-night."

* * * * *

Yes, the music had stopped suddenly. The man in the farthest alcove
turned to his companion. They were hidden by a group of palms.

"I wonder why?" queried the woman. She was deathly pale. Her eyes were
dark with fear, yet alight with passionate determination.

"When it begins," said the man tenderly, "we will slip away. My car is
outside. Everything is ready."

"That is my husband over there," said the woman.

"Yes," said the man, "he won't trouble you any more."

"That woman with him is leaving him," she said. "I wonder why." She
turned suddenly with a great start. "There is somebody here," she
whispered, staring into the back of the alcove.

"Nonsense," said the man, throwing a glance around the recess. "There's
nobody here but you and I. We are alone together, as we shall be
hereafter, when we have taken the step."

"But that child," whispered the woman, "with his strange vesture and
his wonderful face. His eyes look at me so."

"There is no child there, my dear," urged the man; "you are overwrought,
excited, nervous. The music starts. Let us go."

He stretched out his hand to the woman, but as he came nearer she shrank
back with her own hand on her heart.

"Oh," she said faintly, "he's gone."

"Of course he's gone," he answered soothingly. "Now is our time to get
away. Let me--"

"No, no," said the woman. "I can't go with you now. It wouldn't be
right."

"But you knew that before," pleaded the man. "Besides--"

"Yes, but I can't do it. He was there! His eyes spoke--I--don't touch
me," she said; "I'm going back to my husband. Don't follow."




II

The Child




"SUFFER THE LITTLE CHILDREN TO COME UNTO ME"




II

The Child


The employees had all gone home, carrying with them Christmas checks and
hearty greetings from th

William Babington Maxwell (18661938) was a British novelist. He was a son of novelist Mary Elizabeth Braddon. Though nearly 50 years old at the outbreak of the First World War, he was accepted as a lieutenant in the Royal Fusiliers and served in France until 1917.

Cyrus Townsend Brady (December 20, 1861 January 24, 1920) was a journalist, historian and adventure writer. His most well-known work is Indian Fights and Fighters. He was born in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, and graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1883. He was also a deacon in the Episcopal church. His first wife was Clarissa Guthrie, who died in 1890. His second wife was Mary Barrett.

Rebecca Sophia Clarke (1833-1906), also known as Sophie May, was an American author of childrens fiction. Using her nieces and nephews as inspiration, she wrote realistic stories about children. She wrote 45 books between 1860 and 1903. The most popular being the Little Prudy books. She lived most of her life in her native town of Norridgewock, Maine, where she lived out her life with her sister, who was also a successful author.