William Bannister Winfield was the most wonderful child. Of course,you had to have a certain amount of intelligence to see this. To thevapid and irreflective observer he was not much to look at in the earlystages of his career, having a dough-like face almost entirely devoidof nose, a lack-lustre eye, and the general appearance of a poachedegg. His immediate circle of intimates, however, thought him a model ofmanly beauty; and there was the undeniable fact that he had come intothe world weighing nine pounds. Take him for all in all, a lad ofpromise.

　　Kirk's sense of being in a dream continued. His identity seemed to haveundergone a change. The person he had known as Kirk Winfield haddisappeared, to be succeeded by a curious individual bubbling over withan absurd pride for which it was not easy to find an outlet. Hitherto arather reserved man, he was conscious now of a desire to accost perfectstrangers in the street and inform them that he was not the ordinaryperson they probably imagined, but a father with an intensely unusualson at home, and if they did not believe him they could come rightalong and see for themselves.

　　The only flaw in his happiness at the moment was the fact that hiscircle of friends was so small. He had not missed the old brigade ofthe studio before, but now the humblest of them would have beenwelcome, provided he would have sat still and listened. Even PercyShanklyn would have been acceptable as an audience.

　　Steve, excellent fellow, was always glad to listen to him on hisfavourite subject. He had many long talks with Steve on the question ofWilliam's future. Steve, as the infant's godfather, which post he hadclaimed and secured at an early date, had definite views on the matter.

　　Here, held Steve, was the chance of a lifetime. With proper training, ababy of such obvious muscular promise might be made the greatestfighter that ever stepped into the ring. He was the real White Hope. Headvised Kirk to direct William's education on the lines which wouldinsure his being, when the time was ripe, undisputed heavy-weightchampion of the world. To Steve life outside the ring was a pooraffair, practically barren of prizes for the ambitious.

　　Mrs. Lora Delane Porter, eyeing William's brow, of which there wasplenty, he being at this time extremely short of hair, predicted a lessrobust and more intellectual future for him. Something more on thelines of president of some great university or ambassador at someimportant court struck her as his logical sphere.

　　Kirk's view was that he should combine both careers and be anambassador who took a few weeks off every now and then in order todefend his champion's belt. In his spare time he might paint a pictureor two.

　　Ruth hesitated between the army, the navy, the bar, and business. Butevery one was agreed that William was to be something special.

　　This remarkable child had a keen sense of humour. Thus he seldom beganto cry in his best vein till the small hours of the morning; and onthese occasions he would almost invariably begin again after he hadbeen officially pronounced to be asleep. His sudden grab at the hair ofany adult who happened to come within reach was very droll, too.

　　As to his other characteristics, he was of rather an imperious nature.

　　He liked to be waited on. He wanted what he wanted when he wanted it.

　　The greater part of his attention being occupied at this period withthe important duty of chewing his thumb, he assigned the drudgery oflife to his dependants. Their duties were to see that he got up in themorning, dressed, and took his tub; and after that to hang around onthe chance of general orders.

　　Any idea Kirk may have had of resuming his work was abandoned duringthese months. No model, young and breezy or white-haired and motherly,passed the studio doors. Life was far too interesting for work. Thecanvas which might have become "Carmen" or "A Reverie" or even "TheToreador's Bride" lay unfinished and neglected in a corner.

　　It astonished Kirk to find how strong the paternal instinct was in him.

　　In the days when he had allowed his mind to dwell upon the abstractwife he had sometimes gone a step further and conjured up the abstractbaby. The result had always been to fill him with a firm convictionthat the most persuasive of wild horses should not drag him from hisbachelor seclusion. He had had definite ideas on babies as a class. Andhere he was with his world pivoting on one of them. It was curious.

　　The White Hope, as Steve called his godson--possibly with the idea ofinfluencing him by suggestion--grew. The ailments which attacked lesserbabies passed him by. He avoided croup, and even whooping-cough paidhim but a flying visit hardly worth mentioning. His first tooth gavehim a little trouble, but that is the sort of thing which may happen toanyone; and the spirited way in which he protested against theindignity of cutting it was proof of a high soul.

　　Such was the remarkableness of this child that it annoyed Kirk more andmore that he should be obliged to give the exhibition of hisextraordinary qualities to so small an audience. Ruth felt the same;and it was for this reason that the first overtures were made to thesilent camp which contained her father and her brother Bailey.

　　Since that evening in the library there had come no sign from the houseon Fifth Avenue that its inmates were aware of her existence. Life hadbeen too full till now to make this a cause of trouble to her; but withWilliam Bannister becoming every day more amazing the desire came toher to try and heal the breach. Her father had so ordered his life inhis relation to his children that Ruth's affection was not so deep asit might have been; but, after all, he was William Bannister'sgrandfather, and, as such, entitled to consideration.

　　It was these reflections that led to Steve's state visit to JohnBannister--probably the greatest fiasco on record.

　　Steve had been selected for the feat on the strength of his having theright of entry to the Fifth Avenue house, for John Bannister was stillobeying his doctor's orders and taking his daily spell of exercise withthe pugilist--and Steve bungled it hopelessly.

　　His task was not a simple one. He was instructed to employ tact, tohint rather than to speak, to say nothing to convey the impression thatRuth in any way regretted the step she had taken, to give the idea thatit was a matter of complete indifference to her whether she ever sawher father again or not, yet at the same time to make it quite clearthat she was very anxious to see him as soon as possible.

　　William Bannister, grown to maturity and upholding the interests of hiscountry as ambassador at some important court, might have jibbed at themission.

　　William Bannister was to accompany Steve and be produced dramaticallyto support verbal arguments. It seemed to Ruth that for her father toresist William when he saw him was an impossibility. William's positionwas that of the ace of trumps in the cards which Steve was to play.

　　Steve made a few objections. His chief argument against taking up thepost assigned to him was that he was a roughneck, and that the job inquestion was one which no roughneck, however gifted in the matter ofleft hooks, could hope to carry through with real success. But heyielded to pressure, and the expedition set out.

　　William Bannister at this time was at an age when he was beginning totalk a little and walk a little and take a great interest in things.

　　His walking was a bit amateurish, and his speech rather hard to followunless you had the key to it. But nobody could have denied that hiswalk, though staggery, was a genuine walk, and his speech, thoughlimited, genuine speech, within the meaning of the act.

　　He made no objections to the expedition. On being told that he wasgoing to see his grandpa he nodded curtly and said: "Gwa-wah," afterhis custom. For, as a conversationalist, perhaps the best descriptionof him is to say that he tried hard. He rarely paused for a word. Whenin difficulties he said something; he did not seek refuge in silence.

　　That the something was not always immediately intelligible was thefault of his audience for not listening more carefully.

　　Perhaps the real mistake of the expedition was the nature of itsbaggage. William Bannister had stood out for being allowed to take withhim his wheelbarrow, his box of bricks, and his particular favourite,the dying pig, which you blew out and then allowed to collapse with apleasing noise. These properties had struck his parents as excessive,but he was firm; and when he gave signs of being determined to fight itout on these lines if it took all the summer, they gave in.

　　Steve had no difficulty in smuggling William into his grandfather'shouse. He was a great favourite below stairs there. His great ally wasthe English butler, Keggs.

　　Keggs was a stout, dignified, pigeon-toed old sinner, who cast off thebutler when not on duty and displayed himself as something of arounder. He was a man of many parts. It was his chief relaxation tolook in at Broadway hotels while some big fight was in progress outWest to watch the ticker and assure himself that the man he had backedwith a portion of the loot which he had accumulated in the form of tipswas doing justice to his judgment, for in private Keggs was essentiallythe sport.

　　It was this that so endeared Steve to him. A few years ago Keggs hadwon considerable sums by backing Steve, and the latter was always givento understand that, as far as the lower regions of it were concerned,the house on Fifth Avenue was open to him at all hours.

　　To-day he greeted Steve with enthu............