"Can I come down, brat?" begged the dwarf, huskily.
"Yep," whispered Tess. "Mother Moll air gone."
"I heard 'er when she went," said Andy, and he slipped down the ladder.
The babe's shrill cry continued as the dwarf went to the bed.
"Yer daddy don't need ye as much as me an' the little feller. Let me take 'im--I ain't seen 'im yet, ye know."
Andy bent over the cot. Gently he lifted the infant and carried him nearer the lamp's dim rays. He stood gazing intently into the rosy face. Then, he raised a tiny hand and spread first one finger, then each baby fellow out in his own palm.
"Why he's real handsome," he decided at last. "Brat, he air the most beautifulest in the world!"
At the last words he turned shining eyes toward Tessibel. She lay gazing, not at Andy or the babe in his arms, but up into and beyond the nets in the rafters, seeking another glimpse of her father's dear face. Alarmed by her strange silence, the little man bore his precious burden back to the cot and knelt beside the passive figure. Holding the baby close, he breathed, "Don't, brat, dear! Look at me. I been feelin' yer daddy round all day, too. He'll always be near to help you an' the little kid."
A pathetic trembling of her lips hushed the flow of his words.
"It seems's if I couldn't live, Andy. I dunno how I can, I dunno how!"
Her voice trailed away into a plaintive moan.
"Let me take hold of yer hand, brat," murmured Andy. "I want to tell ye somethin'."
He clasped one of her hands in his, while her free fingers shaded her eyes.
"You got three folks standin' by you, kid," continued Andy, earnestly. "Me, Young an' Jesus. While I been alone in the garret, all this time, I been readin' an' a reasonin' out things. Don't ye remember when Mr. Young come that night how he said he didn't blame ye fer nothin' ye'd done?"
Beneath the tense fingers, she breathed a simple, "Yes."
"An' me--why me--I know yer heart's if I'd made it, honey, an' Jesus--Air ye listening Tess?"
"Sure," assented Tess.
"Then I'll tell ye a story. Once a woman loved a man awful much, an' she loved 'im like all women love men folks. An' a hull lot of righteous ones dragged 'er right up to Jesus an' says, 'She air a sinner, sir, what'll we do with 'er?' An' he says, 'Go away an' leave 'er with me.'"
Tessibel's hand clutched at the fingers holding hers.
"An' when he were alone with 'er," went on the dwarf, "an' she were a kneelin' at 'is feet, he jest touched her lovin' like, an' says--"