ve you so much!' he said. 'I love you so much, I could
squeeze you to death.'

'I'm afraid you will, if you squeeze me so tightly as that.'

The boy laughed softly as he relaxed his hold. 'That WOULD be a funny
way of showing you how much I love you, wouldn't it, Dad? Squeezing
you to death!'

'Yes, I suppose it would,' replied Owen huskily, as he tucked the
bedclothes round the child's shoulders. 'But don't talk any more,
dear; just hold my hand and try to sleep.'

'All right,' said Frankie.

Lying there very quietly, holding his father's hand and occasionally
kissing it, the child presently fell asleep. Then Owen got up very
gently and, having taken the kitten out of the bed again and arranged
the bedclothes, he softly kissed the boy's forehead and returned to the
other room.

Looking about for a suitable place for the kitten to sleep in, he
noticed Frankie's toy box, and having emptied the toys on to the floor
in a corner of the room, he made a bed in the box with some rags and
placed it on its side on the hearthrug, facing the fire, and with some
difficulty persuaded the kitten to lie in it. Then, having placed the
chairs on which his clothes were drying at a safe distance from the
fire, he went into the bedroom. Nora was still awake.

'Are you feeling any better, dear?' he said.

'Yes, I'm ever so much better since I've been in bed, but I can't help
worrying about your clothes. I'm afraid they'll never be dry enough
for you to put on the first thing in the morning. Couldn't you stay at
home till after breakfast, just for once?'

'No; I mustn't do that. If I did Hunter would probably tell me to stay
away altogether. I believe he would be glad of an excuse to get rid of
another full-price man just now.'

'But if it's raining like this in the morning, you'll be wet through
before you get there.'

'It's no good worrying about that dear: besides, I can wear this old
coat that I have no now, over the other.'

'And if you wrap your old shoes in some paper, and take them with you,
you can take off your wet boots as soon as you get to the place.'

'Yes, all right,' responded Owen. 'Besides,' he added, reassuringly,
'even if I do get a little wet, we always have a fire there, you know.'

'Well, I hope the weather will be a little better than this in the
morning,' said Nora. 'Isn't it a dreadful night! I keep feeling
afraid that the house is going to be blown down.'

Long after Nora was asleep