"'Oh, you are to the house's party, too!' Chris cried, and threw himself all over him.
"Robin knelt down beside the child, and the way she was with him made me think of that first night when she see him at the church, and when her way with him made him turn to her and talk with her and love her ever since.
"'Listen, dear,' she said. 'Mr. Insley came here to tell you something. Something about daddy—your daddy. Mr. Insley knows where he is, and he's going to take you to him. But he's very, very sick, dear heart—will you remember that when you see him? Remember Robin told you that?'
"There come on his little face a look of being afraid that give it a sudden, terrible grown-up-ness.
"'Sick like my mama was?' he asked in a whisper. 'And will he go out, like my mama?'
"Robin put her arm about him, and he turned to her, clung to her.
"'You come, too, Robin,' he said. 'You come, too!'
"She got up, meeting Alex's eyes with her straight look.
"'I must go, Alex,' she said. 'He wants me—needs me. Why, how could I do anything else?'