"Is it a long time before the baby needs his bottle again, Suzanna?" she asked.
"Oh, not for hours," said Suzanna. "You see, now he eats crackers and bread and butter and an egg sometimes, and we gave him some before we started." She returned relentlessly to the question again, appealing to the man. "Are you related to Miss Massey?"
"No," the stranger said after a time, "we're just friends."
Miss Massey put in hastily: "Shall we go into the house, children, and I'll show you some interesting things?"
The man rose quickly, the baby still in his arms. In this manner they all entered the big house and went into the beautiful room that Suzanna remembered so well.
"Do you live here?" asked Suzanna of the man. He shook his head.
"You mean in this little town?" he asked. "I once did years ago, but I moved away to the city. I'm paying a short visit to my sister now."
"Oh," said Suzanna. "My father has a sister called Aunt Martha. She comes sometimes when we have a new baby."
"Why," said Maizie suddenly, as they were all seated, the baby contentedly sitting on the man's knee, her voice shrill with new discovery. "He is related to Miss Massey; he looks at her that way."
The man, after a long pause in which he gathered understanding, answered very solemnly. "Well," he said, "if loving a person makes you a relative, then I am very closely related to Miss Massey. But if lack of money keeps one from being related, then I'm only a stranger to her."