I never seen the child," she added, with an expression which made her visitor smile, "but as near 's I c'n make out f'm Dave's tell, he must 'a' ben red-headed.

Didn't you know 't he'd ever ben married?
Wa'al, he was fer a few years, though it's the one thing--wa'al, I don't mean exac'ly that--it's _one_ o' the things he don't have much to say about.

But once in a while he'll talk about the boy, what he'd be now if he'd lived, an' so on; an' he's the greatest hand fer childern--everlastin'ly pickin' on 'em up when he's ridin' and such as that--an' I seen him once when we was travelin' on the cars go an' take a squawlin' baby away f'm it's mother, who looked ready to drop, an' lay it across that big chest of his, an' the little thing never gave a whimper after he got it into his arms--jest went right off to sleep.

No," said Mrs.Bixbee, "I never had no childern, an' I don't know but what I was glad of it at the time; Jim Bixbee was about as much baby as I thought I could manage, but now--" There was some reason for not concluding the sentence, and so we do not know what was in her mind..