TWO:"Stop!" yelled Reuben again. Then he cried, "Stand back!" to the crowd, and ran towards his brother.He was soon confirmed in his idea that the birth had brought him luck. Before little David was a week old, the welcome news came that Lardner had died. For[Pg 273] some time he had been able to swallow only milk food, and his speech had been reduced to a confused roaring, but his death at this juncture seemed to Reuben a happy coincidence, an omen of good fortune for himself and his son.