ar, until she died, and she made me the
guardian of the child. I train children for the stage, you know, me
and my sister, Ada Dyer; you've heard of her, I guess. The courts pay
us for her keep, but it isn't much, and I'm expecting to get what I
spent on her from what she makes on the stage. Two of them other
children are my pupils; but they can't touch Madie. She is a better
dancer an' singer than any of them. If it hadn't been for the Society
keeping her back, she would have been on the stage two years ago.
She's great, she is. She'll be just as good as her mother was." Van
Bibber gave a little start, and winced visibly, but turned it off into
a cough. "And her father," he said hesitatingly, "does he--"

"Her father," said the woman, tossing back her head, "he looks after
himself, he does. We don't ask no favors of HIM. She'll get along
without him or his folks, thank you. Call him a gentleman? Nice
gentleman he is!" Then she stopped abruptly. "I guess, though, you
know him," she added. "Perhaps he's a friend of yourn?"

"I just know him," said Van Bibber, wearily.

He sat with the child asleep beside him while the woman turned to the
others and dressed them for the third act. She explained that Madie
would not appear in the last act, only the two larger girls, so she let
her sleep, with the cape of Van Bibber's cloak around her.

Van Bibber sat there for several long minutes thinking, and then looked
up quickly, and dropped his eyes again as quickly, and said, with an
effort to speak quietly and unconcernedly: "If the little girl is not
on in this act, would you mind if I took her home? I have a cab at the
stage door, and she's so sleepy it seems a pity to keep her up. The
sister you spoke of or some one could put her to bed."

"Yes," the woman said, doubtfully, "Ada's home. Yes, you can take her
around, if you want to."

She gave him the address, and he sprang down to the floor, and gathered
the child up in his arms and stepped out on the stage. The prima donna
had the centre of it to herself at that moment, and all the rest of the
company were waiting to go on; but when they saw the little girl in Van
Bibber's arms they made a rush at her, and the girls leaned over and
kissed her with a great show of rapture and with many gasps of delight.

"Don't," said Van Bibber, he could not tell just why. "Don't."

"Why not?" asked one of the girls, looking up at him sharply.

"She was asleep; yo