The captain's arm tightened a little round the sleeping child. "I do you the justice to suppose, sir, that, in spite of what you have said, even you would not leave a baby out of doors on such a night as this," he said.
"Well, well, who said I should? But there are more important things in the world than children; I have work to do here, and have no time to give to the guardianship of babies."
"She is your child?" said the captain. "I have already heard how the mite wanders round this place at night, lonely and neglected. Is there no one to care for her?"
The man laughed, in a curious, hard fashion, and looked straight at the captain. "No, no one," he said. "Really, sir, you take a great deal upon yourself. You trespass on my property, and you interfere with my domestic affairs. Is there anything else about which you would care to make an inquiry?"
The sarcastic note was lost on the captain; he answered bluntly and simply, as was his habit:
"I am an old and a very lonely man, sir, and, although I was brought up to the profession of a soldier, I have thought sometimes that I am not altogether fitted for it. I have some tenderness of heart still left in me, and I could not have slept in my bed to-night with the knowledge that this child was neglected and unhappy. I have no desire to interfere in any business which does not concern me; but it must occur to you that it is a strange life for a child to be----"
"Well, the fault of that is not mine,", said the man, swinging about suddenly and facing the captain. "She--she has no mother, and I am occupied with--with other things. You--you should not trouble; what can _I_ do?" He spoke like a fretful child, walked to his desk, and began turning over the leaves of a book.
The captain was puzzled; saw no prospect, with such a creature as this, of making him understand the responsibilities of a parent. He turned to Mrs. Blissett and put the child in her arms, and said with some sternness: "Take her away, and warm and dry her, and put her to bed. And be tender with her."
Mrs. Blissett vanished hurriedly with ejaculations of "My precious! The dear lamb!" and the like, and the captain faced the father once more. That gentleman, now that the chief object of the disturbance was gone, seemed only anxious to be rid of his visitor; he seated himself at his desk, and appeared to be busied with his books.