spital had been scorned. It seemed to me that it
was the most abject thing in the world to be a foundling. I did not want
Mrs. Milligan and Arthur to know. Would they not have turned from me in
disdain!

"Mamma, we must keep Remi," continued Arthur.

"I should be very pleased to keep Remi with us," replied Mrs. Milligan;
"we are so fond of him. But there are two things; first, Remi would have
to want to stay...."

"Oh, he does! he does!" cried Arthur, "don't you, Remi? You don't want
to go back to Toulouse?"

"The second is," continued Mrs. Milligan, "will his master give him up?"

"Remi comes first; he comes first," Arthur insisted.

Vitalis had been a good master, and I was very grateful for all he had
taught me, but there was no comparison between my life with him and that
which I should have with Arthur, and at the same time, there was also no
comparison between the respect I had for Vitalis and the affection which
I felt for Mrs. Milligan and her invalid boy. I felt that it was wrong
for me to prefer these strangers to my master, but it was so. I loved
Mrs. Milligan and Arthur.

"If Remi stays with us it will not be all pleasure," went on Mrs.
Milligan; "he would have to do lessons the same as you; he would have to
study a great deal; it would not be the free life that he would have in
going tramping along the roads."

"Ah, you know what I would like,..." I began.

"There, there, you see, Mamma!" interrupted Arthur.

"All that we have to do now," continued Mrs. Milligan, "is to get his
master's consent. I will write and ask him if he will come here, for we
cannot return to Toulouse. I will send him his fare, and explain to him
the reason why we cannot take the train. I'll invite him here, and I do
hope he will accept.

"If he agrees to my proposition," added Mrs. Milligan, "I will then make
arrangements with your parents, Remi, for of course they must be
consulted."

Consult my parents! They will tell her what I have been trying to keep
secret. That I am a foundling! Then neither Arthur nor Mrs. Milligan
would want me!

A boy who did not know his own father or mother had been a companion to
Arthur! I stared at Mrs. Milligan in affright. I did not know what to
say. She looked at me in surprise. I did not dare reply to her question
when she asked me what was the matter. Probably thinking that I was
upset at the thought of my master coming, she did not insist.

Arthur looked at me curiously all the e