\"I\'meighty-four，\"hewenton，\"andterriblebadwiththerheumaticsandmychest。Maybeit\'llnotbelongbeforetheLordremembersme。\"
Thechildcreptcloseandputastickylittlehandconfidinglyintothetiredoldpalm。Thetwolookedstrangelyalike，fortheworldseemsmuchthesametothosewholeaveitbehindastothosewhohavebuttakenthefirststeponitscircularpathway。
\"\'Ookatmykitty，\"shesaid，pointingtothesmallcreatureinherlap。Then，astheoldmantoucheditwithtremblingfingersshewenton-\"\'Ooisn\'tmygrandad；he\'sawayinthesky，butI\'llkiss\'oo。\"
Iworkedon，hearingatintervalstheoldpipingvoiceandthechild-treble，muchofanote；andthinkingoftheblessingsvouchsafedtothesimpleoldagewhichcrownsaharmlessworking-
lifespentinthefields。Thetwounderthehedgehadeverythingincommonandwereboundlesslycontenttogether，thestingoftheknowledgeofgoodandevilpastfortheone，andfortheotherstilltocome；whileIstoodonthebattlefieldoftheworld，theflesh，andthedevil，though，thankGod，withmyfacetothefoe。