"
Mickey suddenly turned his back on them and tried to swallow the lump in
his throat. Then he arranged his family so it was not in a draft, sponged
and fed it, and failed in the remainder of his promise, because it went to
sleep with the last bite and lay in deep exhaustion. So Mickey smoothed
the sheet, slipped off the ribbon, brushed back the curls, shaded the
light, marshalled them in on tiptoe, and with anxious heart studied their
compassionate faces.
Then he telephoned Douglas Bruce to ask permission to be away from the
office the following day, and ventured as far from the house as he felt he
dared with Junior; but so anxious was he that he kept in sight of the
window. And so manly and tender was his scrupulous care, so tiny and
delicate his small charge as she lay waxen, lightly breathing to show she
really lived, that in the hearts of the Harding family grew a deep respect
for Mickey, and such was their trust in him, that when he folded his
comfort and stretched it on the floor beside the child, not even to each
other did they think of uttering an objection.
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