or your bottle, chances are. Aw, looky!" Bud
pulled his watch from his pocket -- a man's infalli-
ble remedy for the weeping of infant charges -- and
dangled it anxiously before Lovin Child.

With some difficulty he extracted the small hands
from the long limp tunnels of sleeves, and placed the
watch in the eager fingers.

"Listen to the tick-tick! Aw, I wouldn't bite into
it . . . oh, well, darn it, if nothing else'll do yuh,
why, eat it up!"

Lovin Child stopped crying and condescended to
take a languid interest in the watch -- which had a
picture of Marie pasted inside the back of the case,
by the way. "Ee?" he inquired, with a pitiful
little catch in his breath, and held it up for Bud to
see the busy little second hand. "Ee?" he smiled
tearily and tried to show Cash, sitting aloof on his
bench beside the head of his bunk and staring into
the fire. But Cash gave no sign that he heard or
saw anything save the visions his memory was con-
juring in the dancing flames.

"Lay down, now, like a good boy, and go to sleep,"
Bud wheedled. "You can hold it if you want to --

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