d them forward, yet held them
back. It was the home of the son they had begotten, conceived, tended,
loved, praised, punished, feared, prayed for, counseled, provisioned,
and surrendered. Years of separation had made him almost a stranger, and
they dreaded the intrusion into the home he had built for himself,
remote from their influence. Poor, weak, silly old things, with a
boy-and-girlish gawkishness about them, the helpless feeling of
uninvited guests!

"You go first, Paw."

And Paw went first. On the sill of the drawing-room he paused and swept
a glance around. He would have given an arm to be inspired with some
scheme for whisking his wife away or changing what she must see. But she
was already crowding on his heels, pushing him forward. There was no
retreat. He tried to laugh it off.

"Well, here we are at last, as the fellow doesn't say in the circus."

There was nothing to do but sit down and wait. The very chairs were of
an architecture and upholstery incongruous to them. They knew something
of luxury, but not of this school. There was nowhere for them to look
that something alien did not meet their eyes. So they looked at the
floor.

"It gets awful hot in town, don't it?" said Paw, mopping his beaded
forehead.

"Awful," said Maw, dabbing at hers.

Eventually they heard the elevator door gride on its grooves. All the
way in on the train they had planned to hide and spring out on the boy.
They had giggled like children over the plot. It was rather their
prearrangement than their wills that moved them to action. Automatically
they hid themselves, without laughter, rather with a sort of guilty
terror. They found a deep wardrobe closet and stepped inside, drawing
the door almost shut.

They heard a key in the lock, the click of a knob, the sound of a door
closed. Then a pause. They had forgotten to turn off the lights.
Hurrying footsteps, loud on the bare floor, muffled on the rugs. How
well they knew that step! But there was excitement in its rhythm. They
could hear the familiar voice muttering unfamiliarly as the footsteps
hurried here and there. He came into the room where they were. They
could hear him breathe now, for he breathed heavily, as if he had been
running. From place to place he moved with a sense of restless stealth.
At length, just as they were about to sally forth, he hurried forward
and flung open their door.

Standing among the hanging clothes, the light strong on their faces,
they se