YOURS WITH ALL MY HEART 



close beside her. Inez was creeping stealth- 

 ily through the veranda door. 



"It's only me, madam; I want to do or 

 say something to comfort you;" and she wet 

 a velvet sponge in cologne and bathed the 

 aching head and heated brow of her weeping 

 mistress, and soothingly smoothed out the 

 golden hair. "Just think, madam, though 

 'tis dreadful to lose those lovely jewels, how 

 much worse it might have been; supposing 

 they had crept in and stolen the baby!" 

 This was a master stroke, for Inez's voice 

 had such a scary bugaboo tone to it that 

 even Skippum and I felt the hair rise along 

 our little spines. 



"Oh, merciful heavens! Inez, where is the 

 baby ? Where is the baby ? " fairly screamed 

 mother Wakeman. 



"He's all safe, right here in his crib, 

 where I've been watching him all the time. 

 You were so half-distracted with that know- 

 nothing man, quizzing round about those 

 two silly little dogs. What does he s'pose 

 they know, anyway? I thought best to 

 stick to the baby, and not lose him with the 

 rest." 



Skippum and I heard her wicked, lying 

 126 



