"I have told you all this, Arthur, that I may warn you, my son. May God bless you and keep you."
Could Arthur forget this scene? Was not the memory of this crushed, wasted life sufficient to help him to keep his resolve?
* * * * * *
When they returned home from the Zoological Gardens that evening, Arthur was very silent.
Frank rallied him several times on his moroseness, but somehow felt it was a different sort of quiet from any of his previous fits of depression.
When tea was done, Arthur sought for his mother, and found her resting on the sofa in her room.
"May I come in and have a little talk with you, mother?"
"Oh yes, dear!"
Arthur sat down by her side and was silent.
"Well, my dear?" she said at last.