"I know a LADY named Miss Jane Cobden.

Why ?" and he scrutinized the man's face.
"One I mean's got a child--big now--must be fifteen or twenty years old--girl, ain't it ?" "No, it's a boy.

He's one of the crew here; his name's Archie Cobden.
Me and him's been brothers since we was babies.

What do you know about him ?" Tod had resumed his walk, but at a slower pace.
"Nothin'; that's why I ask." The man had also become interested in the flotsam of the beach, and had stopped to pick up a dam-shell which he shied into the surf.

Then he added slowly, and as if not to make a point of the inquiry, "Is she alive ?" "Yes.