's baby. The
Dorcas woman says so. Oliver, _did thee know Rose?_"

This was the "plain speech" with a vengeance! The miller could
scarcely credit his own ears and doubting them used his eyes to the
greater advantage. What he saw was a bonny little face, from which
looked out a pair of fearless eyes; and a crown of yellow hair that
made a touch of sunlight in that dark room. "Did he know Rose?"

For the first time in many a day he remembered that he _had_ known
Rose; not as a rebellious daughter gone astray from the safe fold of
Quakerdom, but as a dutiful innocent little one whom he had loved.
Rising at last after a prolonged inspection of his grandson, an
inspection returned in kind with the unwinking stare of childhood, he
took the boy's hand and said:

"Very well, Benjamin, I will go with thee to dinner."

"But the wool? Can I have that? If I had that I could wrap it around
Sap--I mean R-u ru, t-h thuh, Ruth, when it's cold at night and Him's
off messagin'."

"Yes, yes. Thee can have anything if thee'll keep still while we ask
blessing."

The face of Dorcas glowed with a holy light. Never had that silent
grace been more earnestly felt than on that dark day when the coming
of "Rose's babies" had wrought such a happy effect on her husband's
sorrowful mood. True she also was sorrowful, though in less degree
than he; but now she believed with all her heart that this one
righteous thing he had done--this allowing of the orphans to come
home--would in some way heal that sorrow, or end it in happiness for
all.

All afternoon she busied herself in making ready for the permanent
comfort of her new-found "blessings." She hunted up in the attic the
long disused trundle-bed of her children; foraged in long-locked
cupboards for the tiny sheets and quilts; dragged out of hiding a
small chest of drawers and bestowed the twins' belongings therein,
bemoaning meanwhile the worldliness that had selected such fanciful
garments as a trio of young girls had done. However, there was plenty
of good material somewhere about the house. A cast-off coat of
Oliver's would make more than one suit for Benjamin; while for little
Ruth, already the darling of her grandmother's soul, there were ample
pieces of her own gowns to clothe her modestly and well.

"To-morrow will be the Fifth day, and of course, though he seems so
indifferent we shall all go to meeting. And when the neighbors ask:
'Whose children has thee found?' I shall just say