done from the boy, the tatters in which she was knotted up rather than

dressed, and swathed her in a rag, which, though of coarse linen, was

clean and dry. This rough and sudden dressing made the infant angry.

"She mews relentlessly," said he.

He bit off a long piece of sponge, tore from the roll a square piece of

linen, drew from it a bit of thread, took the saucepan containing the

milk from the stove, filled the phial with milk, drove down the sponge

halfway into its neck, covered the sponge with linen, tied this cork in

with the thread, applied his cheeks to the phial to be sure that it was

not too hot, and seized under his left arm the bewildered bundle which

was still crying. "Come! take your supper, creature! Let me suckle you,"

and he put the neck of the bottle to its mouth.

The little infant drank greedily.

He held the phial at the necessary incline, grumbling, "They are all the

same, the cowards! When they have all they want they are silent."

The child had drunk so ravenously, and had seized so eagerly this breast

offered by a cross-grained providence, that she was taken with a fit of

coughing.

"You are going to choke!" growled Ursus. "A fine gobbler this one, too!"

He drew away the sponge which she was sucking, allowed the cough to

The Man Who Laughs