As that army group was starting to march on, with this girl turning towards Gadsby, His Honor had to gasp, astonishingly:—
"Why! Mary Antor!!"
"Oh! If it isn't Mayor Gadsby! I don't run across you much, now-a-days. How is Lady Gadsby holding up during this awful war?"
All such family gossip passing quickly, Gadsby said:—
"But this Salvation Army work, Mary? How long——"
Mary and His Honor had to walk along, as that big drum was now pounding a block away. During that walk Gadsby found out all about that vast void in Mary's bungalow following that fatal auto crash; and all about "two old maid aunts" as Mary said, who had all that pantry's liquor thrown down a drain and got out, also, a day or two following; all about living now at Old Lady Flanagan's.
"... for I just couldn't stay in that bungalow, with nobody around, you know." And all about loving companionship in that grand old lady's arms; and of Mary's finding that Flanagan, who got such a "wallop" from Antor's killing, wasn't drinking so much, now; which put it into Mary's mind that many a man would, with kindly coaching, turn from it.
"And I think that my nightly talks against liquor, hit; and hit hard, too; for almost nightly a poor down-and-out will follow along with our band, promising to cut it out and go straight. Oh, why didn't I try to stop Norman's drinking?"
"Probably," said Gadsby, "you did, in your girlish way; but you know boys don't think that small girls know anything. I'd put up any amount that Norman, in that far-away camp, is thinking of you, constantly."
"Oh-h-h-h! If I could only know that!" and a look of almost sanctity, and a big, long-drawn sigh told what a turmoil was going on in this young girl's mind. "But I'm going on, and on and on with this night talking until Norman is back again. Possibly a plan will turn up toward both of us living down our past,——and our sorrow." And Gadsby, slowly plodding along towards his dimly lit mansion, thought of a slight transposition of that scriptural quotation: "And your sins, you adults, shall fall upon your offspring, unto your third and fourth—"