A retiring, unobtrusive figure, he settled quickly to his work. He
seemed content, even happy; and at times there was a far-away,
exultant look in his gray eyes. Miss Sherwood caught this on several
occasions; it puzzled her, and she spoke of it to Larry. Larry
understood what lay behind Joe's bearing, and since the thing had
never been told to him as a secret he retold that portion of Joe's
history he had recited to the Duchess: of a child who had been brought
up among honorable people, protected from the knowledge that her
father was a convict--a child Joe never expected to see and did not
even know how to find.
Joe Ellison became a figure that moved Miss Sherwood deeply: content
to busy himself in his earthly obscurity, ever dreaming and gloating
over his one great sustaining thought--that he had given his child the
best chance which circumstances permitted; that he had removed himself
from his child's life; that some unknown where out in the world his
child was growing to maturity among clean, wholesome people; that he
never expected to make himself known to his child. The situation also
moved Larry profoundly whenever he looked at his old friend, merging
into a kindly fellowship with the earth.
But while busy with new affairs at Cedar Crest, Larry was all the
while thinking of Maggie, and particularly of his own dilemma
regarding Maggie and Dick.
Pages:
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210