400 FLUTTER-DUCK.
And as soon as Rachel had got her mother installed in a wonderful easy-chair, she hastened with all the eagerness of maternal pride, with all the enthusiasm of remorse, to throw open the folding-doors that led to her bedroom, so as to give Flutter- Duck the crowning surprise — the secret tit- bit she had reserved for the grand climax.
" There's a fine boy ! " she cried.
And as Flutter-Duck caught sight of the little red face peeping out from the snowy draperies of the cradle, a rapt- ure too great to bear seemed almost to snap something within her foolish, overwrought brain.
" I have already a grandchild ! " she shrieked, with a great sob of ecstasy ; and, running to the cradle-side, she fell on her knees, and covered the little red face with frantic kisses, repeating " Lewis love, Lewis love, Lewis love," till the babe screamed, and Rachel had to tear the babbling creature away.
You may see her almost any day walking in the Ghetto market-place — a meagre, old figure, with a sharp-featured face and a plaited chignon. She dresses richly in silk, and her golden earrings are set with coloured stones, and her bonnet is of the latest fashion. She lives near Epping Forest, and almost always goes home to tea. Sometimes she stands still at the point where the two market streets meet, extending vacantly a gloved hand, but for the most part she wanders about the by-streets and alleys of White- chapel with an anxious countenance, peering at every woman she meets, and following every young couple. " If I could only find her ! " she thinks yearningly.
Nobody knows whom she is looking for, but everybody knows she is only " Flutter-Duck."
Printed in the United States of America.
