suit case one fateful afternoon not so long before.

When Lovin Child was not permitted to dabble in
the pan of soapy water, he revenged himself by bring-
ing Cash's mitten and throwing that in, and crying
"Ee? Ee?" with a shameless delight because it
sailed round and round until Cash turned and saw
it, and threw it out.

"No, no, no!" Lovin Child admonished himself
gravely, and got it and threw it back again.

Cash did not say anything. Indeed, he hid a grin
under his thick, curling beard which he had grown
since the first frost as a protection against cold. He
picked up the mitten and laid it to dry on the slab
mantel, and when he returned, Lovin Child was sit-
ting in the pan, rocking back and forth and croon-
ing "'Ock-a-by! 'Ock-a-by!" with the impish twinkle
in his eyes.

Cash was just picking him out of the pan when
Bud came in with a load of wood. Bud hastily
dropped the wood, and without a word Cash handed
Lovin Child across the dead line, much as he would
have handed over a wet puppy. Without a word
Bud took him, but the quirky smile hid at the corners

-210-