“Dick! in the name of Heaven, what is the matter?” she exclaimed.
“Matter? Nothing,” answered Mr. Hammond, telling unscrupulously, and almost unconsciously, the regulation lie in such cases made and provided.
“Dick! when a man says there is nothing the matter, with such a look as that on his face, it is a sign there is so much the matter that he dares not confess it. Now, Dick, I will know,” she said, going to him, laying her hands upon his shoulders and gazing steadfastly into his face.
“Well, Anna, what do you see?” he inquired, a little sadly, as he met her eyes.
“I see that you are quite sober, at least, poor soul; but oh, Dick! you unfortunate fellow, where have you been since we left you!”
“About town, Anna.”
“About town! Oh, yes, exactly! About town! I know too well what that means. Oh, Dick! Dick! we ought never to bring you within sight of a town! We ought to keep you in the woods all the time. Now make a clean breast of it, Dick. Whom have you been with?”
“I happened to meet with an old friend down town,” answered Dick, solemnly and a little maliciously.
“An old friend down town! Oh, precisely! I know what that means also! Dick! Dick! that proverb, ‘Save me from my friends,’ must have been written for you. Now out with it at once! How much has your friend, or set of friends, robbed you of this time?”
“Robbed me of, Anna?”