ay went Budge, and Mrs. Burton devoted herself to thought and
self-questioning. Unquestioning obedience had been her own duty since
she could remember, yet she was certain that her will was as strong as
Toddie's. If she had been always able to obey, certainly the unhappy
little boy in the attic was equally capable--why should he not do it?
Perhaps, she admitted to herself, she had inherited a faculty in this
direction, and perhaps--yes, certainly, Toddie had done nothing of the
sort. How was she to overcome the defect in his disposition; or was she
to do it at all? Was it not something with which no one temporarily
having a child in charge should interfere? As she pondered, an
occasional scream from Toddie helped to unbend the severity of her
principles, but suddenly her eye rested upon a picture of her husband,
and she seemed to see in one of the eyes a quizzical expression. All her
determination came back in an instant with heavy reinforcements, and
Budge came back a few minutes later. His bulletins from home, and his
stores of experiences _en route_ consumed but a few moments, and then
Mrs. Burton proceeded to dress for her ride. To exclude Toddie's screams
she closed her door tightly, but Toddie's voice was one with which all
timber seemed in sympathy, and it pierced door and window apparently
without effort. Gradually, however, it seemed to cease, and with the
growing infrequency of his howls and the increasing feebleness of their
utterance, Mrs. Burton's spirits revived. Dressing leisurely, she
ascended Toddie's prison to receive his declaration of penitence and to
accord a gracious pardon. She knocked softly at the door, and said:

"Toddie?"

There was no response, so Mrs. Burton knocked and called with more
energy than before, but without reply. A terrible fear occurred to her!
she had heard of children who screamed themselves to death when angry.
Hastily she opened the door, and saw Toddie tear-stained and dirty,
lying on the floor, fast asleep. She stooped over him to be sure that he
still breathed, and then the expression on his sweetly parted lips was
such that she could not help kissing them. Then she raised the pathetic,
desolate little figure softly in her arms, and the little head dropped
upon her shoulder and nestled close to her neck, and one little arm was
clasped tightly around her throat, and a soft voice murmured:

"I wantsh to go a'widin'."

And just then Mr. Burton entered, and, with a most ex