as that I should
call you mon pere, too."

"There was one other promise, Philip," replied Adare quickly. "There
must have been one other promise, that you would never take my girl
away from me. If you did not swear to that, I am your enemy!"

"That promise was unnecessary," said Philip. "Outside of my Josephine's
world there is nothing for me. If there is room for me in Adare House--"

"Room!" interrupted Adare, beginning to throw off his great fur coat.
"Why, I've dreamed of the day when there'd be half a dozen babies under
my feet. I--" His huge frame suddenly stiffened. He looked at
Josephine, and his voice dropped to a hoarse whisper: "Where's the
kid?" he asked.

Philip saw Josephine turn at the question. Silently she pointed to the
curtained bed. As her father moved toward it she went to the door, but
not before Philip had taken a step to intercept her. He felt her
shuddering.

"I must go to my mother," she whispered for him alone. "I will return
soon. If he asks--tell him that we named the baby after him." With a
swift glance in her father's direction she whispered still lower: "He
knows nothing about you, so you may tell him the truth about
yourself--except that you met me in Montreal eighteen months ago, and
married me there."

With this warning she was gone. From the curtains Philip heard a deep
breath. When he came to the other's side John Adare stood staring down
upon the sleeping baby.

"I came in like a monster and didn't wake 'im," he was whispering to
himself. "The little beggar!"

He reached out a great hand behind him, gropingly, and it touched a
chair. He drew it to him, still keeping his eyes on the baby, and sat
down, his huge, bent shoulders doubled over the edge of the bed, his
hands hovering hesitatingly over the counterpane. In wonderment Philip
watched him, and he heard him whisper again:

"You blessed little beggar!"

Then he looked up suddenly. In his face was the transformation that
might have come into a woman's. There was something awesome in its
animal strength and its tenderness. He seized one of Philip's hands and
held it for a moment in a grip that made the other's fingers ache.

"You're sure it's a boy?" he asked anxiously.

"Quite sure," replied Philip. "We've named him John."

The master of the Adare House leaned over the bed again. Philip heard
him mumbling softly in his thick beard, and very cautiously he touched
the end of a big forefinger to one of the baby's ti