. . .It was growing late. How could they live through the night with the thought of their darling out alone in the darkness? And where?

"Oh, where can he be?"

Suddenly the mother looked up—yes, there were the stars coming out again one after the other, as if nothing were the matter; just as they had done two evenings before when little Max had been gazing at them from behind the curtains. What was it he had been saying in his funny little way? The half-heard words rushed back to her memory.

"Williams," she said to the gardener, "is there a ladder anywhere about?"

They all stared at her. Yes, he had left one—a very high[Pg 23] one—against a tree. There were some branches he was lopping off, but he had "never thought for to—"

She did not wait, but rushed off to where he pointed, and breathless, speechless, signed for some one to ascend it. Max's father of course. And then came a joyful cry.

"I have h. . . Read More