"Kin' I have a dime, grandma. I wana' go up to the corner and git some hot chestnuts." It was the boy asking.
"Yes, I guess so, Russell. But listen to me. You are to come right back."
"Yes, I will, grandma, sure. You know me."
He took the dime that his Grandmother had extracted from a deep pocket in her dress and ran with it to the chestnut vendor.
Her darling boy. The light and color of her declining years. She must be kind to him, more liberal with him, not restrain him too much, as maybe, maybe, she had——She looked affectionately and yet a little vacantly after him as he ran. "For his sake."
The small company, minus Russell, entered the yellow, unprepossessing door and disappeared.
THE END
[Transcriber's Note: Inconsistent hyphenation left as printed.]