"Oh, but I have had so much sorrow for so many years!"
"Then in the very nature of things your sorrows must soon be over. Nothing lasts long in this world. But you have had a recent bereavement," said Ishmael gently, and glancing at her black dress; for he thought it was better that she should think of her chastening from the hands of God rather than her wrongs from those of men. But to his surprise, the woman smiled faintly as she also glanced at her dress, and replied:
"Oh, no! I have lost no friend by death since the decease of my parents years ago, far back in my childhood. No, I am not wearing mourning for anyone. I wear this black alpaca because it is cheap and decent and protective."
"Protective?"
"Ah, yes! no one knows how protective the black dress is to a woman, better than I do! There are few who would venture to treat with levity or disrespect a quiet woman in a black dress. And so I, who have no father, brother, or husband to protect me, take a shelter under a black alpaca. It repels dirt, too, as well as disrespect. It is clean as well as safe, and that is a great desideratum to a poor schoolmistress," she said, smiling with an almost childlike candor.
"I am glad to see you smile again; and now, shall we go to business?" said Ishmael.
"Oh, yes, thank you."
"I must ask you to be perfectly candid with me; it is necessary."
"Oh, yes, I know it is, and I will be so; for I can trust you, now."
"Tell me, then, as clearly, as fully, and as calmly as you can, the circumstances of your case."