第22章

Oh，mygriefandconscience，Billy!Itisn’t_the_baby。It’s_babies!_It’stwins——boys。Cyrilhasthemnow——thenursehasn’tgothereyet。’

Twins!_Cyril_hasthem!’brokeinBilly，hysterically。

Yes，andthey’recryingsomethingterrible。

We’vesentforasecondnursetocome，too，ofcourse，butshehasn’tgothereyet，either。Andthosebabies——ifyoucouldhearthem!That’swhatwewantyoufor，to——’

ButBillywasalmostlaughingnow。

Allright，I’llcomeout——andhearthem，’

shecalledabitwildly，asshehungupthereceiver。

Somelittletimelater，apalpablynervousmaidadmittedBillytothehomeofMr。andMrs。CyrilHenshaw。Evenasthedoorwasopened，Billyheardfaintly，butunmistakably，themoaningwailsoftwoinfants。

Mrs。StetsonsaysifyouwillpleasetohelpMr。Henshawwiththebabies，’stammeredthemaid，afterthepreliminaryquestionsandanswers。I’vebeeninwhenIcould，andthey’reallright，onlythey’recrying。They’reinhisden。

Wehadtoputthemasfarawayaspossible——

theircryingworriedMrs。Henshawso。’

Yes，Isee，’murmuredBilly。I’llgotothematonce。No，don’ttroubletocome。I

knowtheway。JusttellMrs。StetsonI’mhere，please，’shefinished，asshetossedherhatandglovesontothehalltable，andturnedtogoupstairs。

Billy’sfeetmadenosoundonthesoftrugs。

Thecrying，however，grewlouderandlouderassheapproachedtheden。Softlysheturnedtheknobandpushedopenthedoor。Shestoppedshort，then，atwhatshesaw。

Cyrilhadnotheardher，norseenher。Hisbackwaspartlytowardthedoor。Hiscoatwasoff，andhishairstoodfiercelyonendasifanervoushandhadruffledit。Hisusuallypalefacewasveryred，andhisforeheadshowedgreatdropsofperspiration。Hewasonhisfeet，hoveringoverthecouch，ateachendofwhichlayarumpledrolloflinen，lace，andflannel，fromwhichemergedaprodigiouslypuckeredlittleface，twouncertainlywavingrose-leaffists，andawailofprotestingragethatwasnotuncertainintheleast。

InonehandCyrilheldaTeddybear，intheotherhiswatch，danglingfromitsfobchain。

Bothoftheseheshookfeebly，oneaftertheother，abovethetinyfaces。

Oh，come，come，prettybaby，goodbaby，hush，hush，’hebeggedagitatedly。

InthedoorwayBillyclappedherhandstoherlipsandstifledalaugh。Billyknew，ofcourse，thatwhatsheshoulddowastogoforwardatonce，andhelpthispoor，distractedman；butBilly，justthen，wasnotdoingwhatsheknewsheoughttodo。

Withamutteredejaculation(whichBilly，tohersorrow，couldnotcatch)CyrillaiddownthewatchandflungtheTeddybearaside。Then，inveryevidentdespair，hegingerlypickeduponeoftherumpledrollsofflannel，lace，andlinen，andhelditstraightoutbeforehim。Afteramoment’sindecisionhebeganawkwardlytojounceit，teeterit，rockitbackandforth，andtopatitjerkily。

Oh，come，come，prettybaby，goodbaby，hush，hush，’hebeggedagain，frantically。

Perhapsitwasthechangeofposition；perhapsitwasthenoveltyofthemotion，perhapsitwasonlyutterweariness，orlackofbreath。Whateverthecause，thewailingsobsfromthebundleinhisarmsdwindledsuddenlytoagentlewhisper，thenceasedaltogether。

Witharayofhopeilluminatinghisdrawncountenance，Cyrilcarefullylaidthebabydownandpickeduptheother。Almostconfidentlynowhebeganthejouncingandteeteringandrockingasbefore。

There，there!Oh，come，come，prettybaby，goodbaby，hush，hush，’hechantedagain。

Thistimehewasnotsosuccessful。Perhapshehadlosthisskill。Perhapsitwasmerelytheworld-olddifferenceinbabies。Atallevents，thisinfantdidnotcareforjerksandjounces，andshoweditplainlybyemittingloudandyetloud

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