“Poor little waif,” Mrs. Royal remarked.  “He is somebody’s child, and perhaps his mother is longing for him at this very moment.”

“There is no doubt about it,” her husband replied.  “That sob which I heard to-night is still ringing in my ears, and I know it was the sob of a heart-broken mother.”

CHAPTER II

GIVING AND RECEIVING

The baby awoke bright and early the next morning, in fact too early for Mr. and Mrs. Royal.  The former, especially, enjoyed the hour from six to seven, when, as he once said, he obtained his “beauty sleep.”  But the little stranger of the night was no respecter of persons.  He lifted up his voice at the unnatural hour of five, and by means of a series of gurgles, whoops, and complaints, drove all sleep from drowsy eyes.  He was not in the least abashed in the presence of strangers, but standing in his crib, he rattled the side, and yelled shouts of baby defiance at the other occupants of the room.

“I didn’t know that he could stand alone,” the parson remarked as he first saw Rodney scramble to his feet.  “How old do you suppose he is?”

“About fourteen months, I should judge, Daniel,” his wife replied.  “He may be older, though.  One can’t always tell.”

“He’s a stirring lad, anyway, Martha, and we shall have our hands full.  Won’t you need some help, dear?  How would it do to get a woman in occasionally to assist with the work, as the baby will take so much of your time?”

“That will not be necessary, Daniel.  By the look of things now we shall be up earlier each morning, and one hour then is worth two later in the day.”

After the parson had lighted the fire in the cooking-stove, and also the one in the living-room, he went to the barn to milk.  He kept one Jersey cow which supplied enough milk for the house.  This was a fine animal, and the pride of the neighbourhood, as it had taken the first prize at the large Exhibition held that very fall in the city.

The rectory was situated upon land known as “The Glebe,” about fifty acres in extent, which had been granted to the Church by the Crown in Loyalist days.  About one-third of this was under cultivation, producing hay and oats for the horse and cow, as well as all the vegetables needed for the table.  Several acres were given up to pasturage, while the remainder was wooded.  The Royals were, therefore, most comfortably situated, and quite independent.  A small orchard provided them with apples, the taste of which was well known to every person in the parish, especially the children, for Parson Dan seldom started forth without his pockets filled with Russets, Pippins, or Fameuse.  Mrs. Royal had her hens, and no eggs seemed as large and fresh as the ones she often sent to some sick or aged person, in the parish.

While Mrs. Royal was looking after the baby, the parson fed his horse, “Sweepstakes,” and milked “Brindle,” the cow.  He then turned the latter loose, and drove her down the lane to the feeding-ground beyond.