“His very-own-exactly-the-same words,” declared Georgina solemnly. “I cross my heart and body they’re just as Uncle Darcy told them to me.”
Rising from the table, Belle walked over to the window and stood with her back to Georgina, looking out into the garden.
“Well, and what next?” she demanded in a queer, breathless sort of way.
“And then Uncle Darcy said that his saying that was the one thing that made him feel willing to keep still a while longer about--you know--what was in the rifle. ’Cause if Danny cared enough about sparing you to give up home and his good name and everything else in life he couldn’t spoil it all by telling now. But Uncle Darcy said he lay awake nearly all last night thinking how he’d love to take that old bell of his and go ringing it through the town till it cracked, calling out to the world, ’My boy is innocent.’
“And when I said something about it’s all coming out all right some day, and that Danny would weather the storms and come into port with all flags flying----” Here Georgina lowered her voice and went on slowly as if she hesitated to speak of what happened next--“he just put his old hat over his face and cried. And I felt so sorry----”
Georgina’s voice choked. There were tears in her eyes as she spoke of the scene.
“_Don’t_!” groaned Belle, her back still turned.
The note of distress in Belle’s voice stilled Georgina’s lively tongue a few seconds, but there was one more thing in her mind to be said, and with the persistence of a mosquito she returned to the subject to give that final stab, quite unconscious of how deeply it would sting. She was only wondering aloud, something which she had often wondered to herself.
“I should think that when anybody had suffered as long as Danny has to spare you, it would make you want to spare him. Doesn’t it? I should think that you’d want to do something to sort of make up to him for it all. Don’t you?”
“Oh, _don’t_!” exclaimed Belle again, sharply this time. Then to Georgina’s utter amazement she buried her face in her apron, stood sobbing by the window a moment, and ran out of the room. She did not come downstairs again until nearly supper time.