Red-Robin

ght up on stories of the ceremonious life there. Therefore he considered it quite fitt

to Mrs. Budge. "To 'ave the poor little fellow arrive here alone d

ad always called it, had roused poignant memories, so that her wrinkled face was streaked now and red. "'Pears to me mos

England woman. And we're not going to quarrel at such a rememberable moment, not we. And we're going to give Mr. Gordon a welcome

Things have been at sixes and sevens in this house ever since the gloom came.

up from the village to fill any need. He was not to be daunted, however; there were the gardener and the undergardener and the chauffeur and the st

rkey and cranberry sauce, and a tasty salad and a good old New England pumpkin pie, which she would

sweet and deck the gloomy rooms with flowers-he knew what wa

said, "'twill be th

ner and the undergardener and the stableman and their wives came in, breathless with importance; Chloe, the old colored cook, appeared in a brand new turban and 'kerchief. Mrs. Budge, her gray hair brushed back tighter than

nt not being so important as to still her grumbling, "said she wouldn't come in. And when I told her she could just choose t'wixt this and th

rk-haired girl in a plain gingham dress slipped into the room and took her place at the end of the lin

r of voices came th

yes tight from sheer nervousness. There was a visible straightening and

her eyes, under the fringe of red h

a cackle in his throat, leaving his mouth agape. He stared at the little creature and beyond

s Gordon

k in the situation. He bustled up the step

. "And a fine welcome you're giving us!" He turned to Robin, who stood rooted to the threshold. "My dear, these

ed, curious eyes upon her, limped into her new home. Harkness, b

were expectin

sly waved off whatever

s always tiresome. In Madame's absence, I am sure you will take care of Miss Gordon and-me." There was

, the brilliant lights, the staring faces. Her eyes swept from Mrs. Budge's stony face down the line and crossed the curious glance of the dark-haired girl in the gi

ne nice friendly thing in the whole place. And, as though he knew how she

l not be wanting the young master's roo

e." The lawyer's voice carried a rebuke that was not lost upon the housekee

and their wives following Mrs. Budge's stiff back out through the service

want of strength, Mrs. Bu

and a cripple. Did you ever hear the like?" She looked from one to the other of Harkness' retainers and answered herself with the same breath. "You never did. Don't know when I've been s

nd a reiteration that Hannah Budge "wasn't going to

hungry," Harkness retorte

ith everything else going to sixes and sevens that old Chloe's forgot her turkey," and with a

istopher the Third's. "Here's where they'd have put you if you were a boy," her new guardian had told her. In spite of Mrs. Budge's efforts at cleaning and dusting, a melancholy hung over the room a

in one of the windows. "He loves hills, and doesn't that

m with a bay window, on the other into a tiny bat

statically clasped her hands. "Only wha

had not spent his life in such tiny quarters as the bird

And remember-everything is at your command. This is your home

a bright smile. She patted the garland of

he different characters. Jimmie lets me play it because I am alone so much and it keeps me happy. Sometimes he even plays it with me. It makes horrid things seem nice. And Jimmie never wanted me to know the boys and girls at school-because I'm lame, I guess-so I always preten

r read a fairy story in his life, le

nother chapter

to the end and see how it all turns out? Bu

ook his head. "No,