still, and slipping to the ground rushed up to meet the embrace of this stern and melancholy-faced man. “I am so glad you have come,” she cried over and over again; and her little arms went round his neck, and her soft cheek nestled against his, with a content that made the mother’s eyes sparkle with pleasure, as obedient to her promise, she quietly left the room.
And Mr. Sylvester? If anyone had seen the abandon with which he yielded to her caresses and returned them, he would have understood why this child should have loved him with such extraordinary affection. He kissed her forehead, he kissed her cheek, and seemed never weary of smoothing down her bright and silky curls. She reminded him of Geraldine. She had the same blue eyes and caressing ways. From the day he had come upon his old friend Hopgood in a condition of necessity almost of want, this blue-eyed baby had held its small sceptre over his lonely heart, and unbeknown to the rest of the world, had solaced many a spare five minutes with her innocent prattle. The Hopgoods understood the cause of his predilection and were silent. It was the one thing Mrs. Hopgood never alluded to in her gossips with Mrs. Kirkshaw. But today the attentions of Mr. Sylvester to the little one seemed to make the janitor restless. He walked up and down the narrow room uneasily surveying the pair out of the corner of his great glassy eyes, till even Mr. Sylvester noticed his unusual manner and put the child down, observing with a sigh, “You think she is not well enough for any excitement?”
“No sir, it is not that,” returned the other uneasily, with a hasty look around him. “The fact is, I have something to say to you, sir, about—a discovery—I made the other day.” His words came very slowly, and he looked down with great embarrassment.
Mr. Sylvester frowned slightly, and drew himself up to the full height of his very imposing figure. “A discovery,” repeated he, “when?”