u know, being so really fond of her, and all that--wishing to
do it for the sake of her dear friend--what could I say, especially as
those women were killing the unfortunate brat between them? She was not
so very young, and was evidently clever at managing--"

"Yes," interposed Alice, smiling still.

"And peculiarly situated for undertaking the job, having a good home,
and only an old mother, who let her do what she liked. And awfully set
on the baby from the first, and wanting an object in life, as she said.
But chiefly it was for Lily's sake. To see Lily's child messed about by
just anybody, and killed with arrowroot and stuff, was more than she
could stand--to tell the truth, I couldn't stand it either--and she
begged me to let her have it to look after, as there was no female
friend or relative nearer to it than she was. What COULD I do? She
lived in a nice, healthy spot, and there was the old mother with her
experience, and I was obliged to go to sea; and--and--well, I just had
to say "yes", and be thankful to say it. We got the--the doctor found
a--we engaged the sort of nurse that does everything, you know--a fine,
strapping young woman, in the pink of condition; and--and--well, there
it was. And at the first blush the worst of the trouble seemed over,
instead of just beginning. I gave up my house, and went off to sea,
miserable enough, as you may suppose, but at least with an easy mind
about the boy. As far as he was concerned--as far as my poor Lily was
concerned, I felt I had acted for the best. Indeed, I don't for the
life of me understand how any man could have acted otherwise, under the
circumstances."

The listener, listening intently, here put a quiet question--"Did you
pay her?"--which caused the narrator to wince like a galled horse.

"Ah, there you hit the weak spot, Miss Urquhart, right in the
bull's-eye," he declared, sighing furiously. "If I could have paid her,
of course there'd have been no difficulty at all. But she wouldn't be
paid."

"You ought to have insisted on it," said Alice severely.

"I did insist. I insisted all I knew. But she said it was a labour of
love for her friend, and seemed so hurt at the idea of money being
brought into the question, that I was ashamed to press her beyond a
certain point. She let me pay for the nurse's board, and that was all.
The baby didn't eat anything, you see, and they were comfortably off,
with lots of spare room in their house, and I just looked o