"Oh," cried Bobbie, "he had them to think about and be miserable about too, then, all the time he was in prison?"
"Yes, he had them to think about and be miserable about all the time he was in prison. For anything he knew they might have been sent to prison, too. They do those things in Russia. But while he was in the mines some friends managed to get a message to him that his wife and children had escaped and come to England. So when he deserted he came here to look for them."
"Has he got their address?" said practical Peter.
"No; just England. He was going to London, and he thought he had to change at our station, and then he found he'd lost his ticket and his purse."
"Oh, do you think he'll find them—I mean his wife and children, not the ticket and things."
"I hope so. Oh, I hope and pray that he'll find his wife and children again."
Even Phyllis now perceived that Mother's voice was very unsteady.
"Why, Mother," she said, "how very sorry you seem to be for him!"
Mother didn't answer for a minute. Then she
