She was helpless,--an outcast. Pride would
never let her go home. She could go nowhere else. They had her money,
and here she must live and die. She sat down in a sort of stupor, and
paid no heed to the squabbling children who pulled at her gown, or the
dogs who sniffed snappingly at the stranger.
Lisetta, busy with greetings and chattings, quite forgot her for a time,
and was dismayed when she saw her sitting disconsolately by. "Come,
Signorina," she cried, "go down to the bay. Here is Talila; she will
guide you."
Mae looked up quickly at that. Talila, was she here? A few feet from her
she saw an uncouth woman, with that falling of the jaw most imbeciles
possess, and a vacancy in her eyes. She had her hand raised and was
swearing at one of the children. "Talila," repeated Mae, rubbing her
eyes, and shivering, "but I thought Talila would be different. You said
she loved children, but this woman swears at them."
"O, dear, we all swear at them, but we love them; you shall see how they
follow her.
Pages:
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179