Page:Tomlinson--The rider of the black horse.djvu/99

Rh by mistake—the one which at the very moment was concealed in his bosom.

"If you see my father, you may tell him that we are all well," added Hannah. "You 'll know him when you see him, for he is said to look very much like me. He is a little short man, and the best daddy there is on either side of the Hudson, I don't care where you go! I'd like to send him something, for he had his tenth birthday not long ago," she added demurely. "I always like to remember him then."

"His tenth birthday?" inquired Robert in surprise.

"Yes, that's what I said," retorted Hannah sharply.

Robert's face evidently betrayed the confusion in his mind, for even Mrs. Nott smiled, as she said quickly, "Tell him how it is, child."

"I have told him," retorted Hannah. "What more can I do?" "My husband's birthday was on the twenty-ninth of last February," explained Mrs. Nott. "He is forty-four years old, but he has had only ten birthdays, and that is what Hannah means."

"I see," laughed Robert. "I thought he must be a young soldier."