Lovin Child Wriggles In

Cash lifted his eyebrows and pinched in his lips under his beard. It did
not seem to occur to Bud that one of them could stay in the cabin
with the baby while the other carried to Alpine the news of the baby's
whereabouts and its safety. Or if it did occur to Bud, he was careful
not to consider it a feasible plan. Cash wondered if Bud thought he was
pulling the wool over anybody's eyes. Bud did not want to give up that
kid, and he was tickled to death because the storm gave him an excuse
for keeping it. Cash was cynically amused at Bud's transparency. But
the kid was none of his business, and he did not intend to make any
suggestions that probably would not be taken anyway. Let Bud pretend he
was anxious to give up the baby, if that made him feel any better about
it.

That day went merrily to the music of Lovin Child's chuckling laugh and
his unintelligible chatter. Bud made the discovery that "Boy" was trying
to say Lovin Child when he wanted to be taken and rocked, and declared
that he would tell the world the name fit, like a saddle on a duck's
back. Lovin Child discovered Cash's pipe, and was caught sucking it
before the fireplace and mimicking Cash's meditative pose with a comical
exactness that made Bud roar. Even Cash was betrayed into speaking a
whole sentence to Bud before he remembered his grudge. Taken altogether,
it was a day of fruitful pleasure in spite of the storm outside.