Another rowdy snatched off my new cap—just because our people considered it a sin to go bareheaded. And, as I made my way, bleeding, with one hand to my lip and the other over my bare head, the company sent a shower of broken eggs and a chorus of jeers after me
It was only a short distance from Abner's Court. When I entered our basement and faced my mother, she stared at me for a moment, as though dumfounded, and then, slapping her hands together, she sobbed: "Woe is me! Darkness is me! What has happened to you?"
When she had heard my story she stood silent awhile, looking aghast, and then left the house.
"I'm going to kill him. I am just going to kill him," she said, in measured accents which still ring in my ears
The bookbinder's wife, the retired soldier, and I ran after her, imploring her not to risk her life on such a foolhardy errand, but she took no heed of us
"Foolish woman! You don't even know who did it," urged the soldier
"I'll find out!" she answered
The bookbinder's wife seized her by an arm, but she shook her off.
I pleaded with her with tears in my eyes
"Go back," she said to me, trying to be gentle while her eyes were lit with an ominous look
These were the last words I ever heard her utter