第380章 MISS MINA AND THE GROOM(61)

Even if you were right," I began--"even it she did desert you--"He interrupted me sternly. "I would not cross the street to see her," he said. "A woman who deserts her child is a monster.

Forgive me for speaking so, miss! When I see good mothers and their children it maddens me when I think of what _my_ childhood was."Hearing these words, and watching him attentively while he spoke, I could see that my silence would be a mercy, not a crime. Ihastened to speak of other things.

"If you decide to leave us," I said, "when shall you go?"His eyes softened instantly. Little by little the color faded out of his face as he answered me.

"The General kindly said, when I spoke of leaving my place--" His voice faltered, and he paused to steady it. "My master," he resumed, "said that I need not keep my new employer waiting by staying for the customary month, provided--provided you were willing to dispense with my services."So far, I had succeeded in controlling myself. At that reply Ifelt my resolution failing me. I saw how he suffered; I saw how manfully he struggled to conceal it.