He wondered drearily how a woman dealt with a ten-year-
old boy who from sunrise to sunset had done every mortal thing he ought not to
have done, and had left undone everything that he had been told to do; and, as
if to carry out the very words of the church service, neither was there any
health in him; for he had an inflamed throat and a whining, irritable,
discontented temper that could be borne only by a mother, a father being
wholly inadequate and apparently never destined for the purpose.
It was a mild evening late in October, and Louisa sat on the porch with her
pepper-and-salt shawl on and a black wool "rigolette" tied over her head.
Jack, very sulky and unresigned, was dispatched to bed under the care of the
one servant, who was provided with a cupful of vinegar, salt, and water, for a
gargle. John had more than an hour to wait for a returning train to Farnham,
and although ordinarily he would have preferred to spend the time in the
silent and unreproachful cemetery rather than in the society of his sister
Louisa, he was too tired and hopeless to do anything but sit on the steps and
smoke fitfully in the semidarkness. Louisa was much as usual. She well knew--
who better?--her brother's changed course of life, but neither encouragement
nor compliment were in her line.
Pages:
288
289
290
291
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
300
301
302
303
304
305
306
307
308
309
310
311
312