Then he went over in his mind all that had happened
to him since the day he had driven Bart out
into the night, and from that same House of Refuge,
too, which, strange to say, lay within sight of the
Station. He recalled his own and Bart's sufferings;
his loneliness; the bitterness of the terrible secret
which had kept his mouth closed all these years, depriving
him of even the intimate companionship of
his own grandson. With this came an increased
love for the boy; he again felt the warm pressure of
his hand and caught the look in his eyes the morning
Archie congratulated him so heartily on Bart's
expected return, he had always loved him; he
would love him now a thousand times more when he
could put his hand on the boy's shoulder and tell
him everything.
With the changing of the patrol, Tod and Polhemus
taking the places of Archie and Parks, he fell
into a doze, waking with a sudden start some hours
later, springing from his bed, and as quickly turning
up the lamp.
Still in his stocking feet and trousers--on nights
like this the men lie down in half their clothes--he
walked to the window and peered out. It was nearing
daylight; the sky still black.
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