* * * * *
It was the sixth year after Rupert's return that the citizens of the
Bench decided to enlarge the reservoir in Dry Hollow. Rupert was given
the work to supervise, and he entered upon the task with his usual
energy.
That morning in September, when he gave his wife the usual departing
kiss, the children--four of them, were hanging about his legs and
clinging to his coat in great glee.
"Now papa must go," said he, as he tried to shake them off.
"A kiss, another kiss," "A tiss, some more tisses," they shouted.
So he lifted them up, one by one, and kissed them again. Then his arm
went around his wife's neck, and he drew her face to his.
"Goodbye, sweetheart," said he, "take care of the children, and don't
forget me," and he tried to hum a song as he walked to the gate. Signe
stood watching him. The tune which floated back to her was, "O, my
Father." Then a peculiar feeling came over her, and she sat down crying,
while the children climbed over her with questions and comforting words.
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