his arms, but up into and beyond the
nets in the rafters, seeking another glimpse of her father's dear face.
Alarmed by her strange silence, the little man bore his precious burden
back to the cot and knelt beside the passive figure. Holding the baby
close, he breathed,

"Don't, brat, dear! Look at me. I been feelin' yer daddy round all day,
too. He'll always be near to help you an' the little kid."

A pathetic trembling of her lips hushed the flow of his words.

"It seems's if I couldn't live, Andy. I dunno how I can, I dunno how!"

Her voice trailed away into a plaintive moan.

"Let me take hold of yer hand, brat," murmured Andy. "I want to tell ye
somethin'."

He clasped one of her hands in his, while her free fingers shaded her
eyes.

"You got three folks standin' by you, kid," continued Andy, earnestly.
"Me, Young an' Jesus. While I been alone in the garret, all this time, I
been readin' an' a reasonin' out things. Don't ye remember when Mr.
Young come that night how he said he didn't blame ye fer nothin' ye'd
done?"

Beneath the tense fingers, she breathed a simple, "Yes."

"An' me--why me--I know yer heart's if I'd made it, honey, an'
Jesus--Air ye listening Tess?"

"Sure," assented Tess.

"Then I'll tell ye a story. Once a woman loved a man awful much, an' she
loved 'im like all women love men folks. An' a hull lot of righteous
ones dragged 'er right up to Jesus an' says, 'She air a sinner, sir,
what'll we do with 'er?' An' he says, 'Go away an' leave 'er with me.'"

Tessibel's hand clutched at the fingers holding hers.

"An' when he were alone with 'er," went on the dwarf, "an' she were a
kneelin' at 'is feet, he jest touched her lovin' like, an' says--"

"Don't, Andy, you--you hurt me ..." moaned Tess. "Don't!"

"An' I wanted to help ye, sweet," insisted Andy. "But still, I air
askin' ye to listen to the rest. Will ye?"

Tess acquiesced silently, her hand falling away from her white, drawn
face.

"An' Jesus says to the woman in baby trouble like yours, he says, 'Poor
soul, I ain't blamin' ye this day, I ain't!'"

The little man's eyes shone with the sublimity of the truth he was
imparting, and an uplifted expression of faith settled on his features.
The baby whimpered in his arms, and loosening his hold upon the girl's
hand, he rose to his feet carefully. Tessibel was crying now, in low
caught breaths that wrenched and tore at Andy's heart cruelly.

To soothe the child, he pattered to a