Good night , May ! Good night , Bertha ! '' Could she kiss them ? Could she be blithe and cheerful in her parting ? Could she venture to reveal her face to them without a blush ? Yes . Tackleton observed her closely , and she did all this . Tilly was hushing the baby , and she crossed and recrossed Tackleton a dozen times , repeating drowsily : `` Did the knowledge that it was to be its wives , then , wring its hearts almost to breaking ; and did its fathers deceive it from its cradles but to break its hearts at last ! '' `` Now , Tilly , give me the Baby ! Good night , Mr. Tackleton . Where 's John , for goodness ' sake ? '' `` He 's going to walk beside the horse 's head , '' said Tackleton ; who helped her to her seat . `` My dear John ! Walk ? To-night ? '' The muffled figure of her husband made a hasty sign in the affirmative ; and , the false stranger and the little nurse being in their places , the old horse moved off . Boxer , the unconscious Boxer , running on before , running back , running round and round the cart , and barking as triumphantly and merrily as ever . When Tackleton had gone off likewise , escorting May and her mother home , poor Caleb sat down by the fire beside his daughter ; anxious and remorseful at the core ; and still saying , in his wistful contemplation of her , `` Have I deceived her from her cradle , but to break her heart at last ? '' The toys that had been set in motion for the Baby had all stopped and run down long ago . In the faint light and silence , the imperturbably calm dolls , the agitated rocking-horses with distended eyes and nostrils , the old gentlemen at the street-doors , standing half doubled up upon their failing knees and ankles , the wry-faced nut-crackers , the very Beasts upon their way into the Ark , in twos , like a Boarding-School out walking , might have been imagined to be stricken motionless with fantastic wonder at Dot being false , or Tackleton beloved , under any combination of circumstances .
CHIRP THE THIRD The Dutch clock XXXXX the corner struck Ten when the Carrier sat down by his fireside .
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