"Did you know his wife?"
"I've seen her often. She's dead too. They both died of a fever."
"I suppose they had no children," said Mark, putting the question anxiously.
"Let me see," said the colonel slowly, evidently searching his memory; "yes, I believe there was a child, a little boy."
"Is he alive?" asked Mark eagerly.
"There you've got me, stranger. Children ain't much in my line. I never heerd of Ransom's child dying. I reckon it left town though."
"Where could I get any information about it, do you think?"
Colonel Tarbox reflected.
"I reckon you'd better go to Mrs. Finn; she was intimate with Mrs. Ransom. She lives in the little white cottage alongside of the Presbyterian church."
"Thank you, Colonel Tarbox; I am much indebted to you for what you have told me."