“Ugh huh!” nodded Billy.
Mark was so still that Billy was frightened. When he looked up worried he saw that a great tear had escaped out from under the lashes which were growing nicely now, and had rolled down Mark's cheek. Mark crying!
In consternation Billy knelt beside the bed:
“Aw Gee! Mark, now don't you feel like that. He's gettin' all right now they hope, an' Gee! He was great! You oughtta seen him!”
“Tell me about it,” said Mark huskily.
“He just ran up that there ladder when it was shaking like a leaf, an' the wall beginning to buckle under it, an' he picked you up. Fer a minute there the flames kinda blew back, and we seen ya both, and then the roof caved, an' you all went down. But when we gotcha out he was layin' right atop of ya, 'ith his arms spread out, trying t'cover ya! Gee, it was great! Everybody was just as still, like he was preachin'!”
After a long time Mark said:
“Billy, did you ever hear the words, 'Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friend?'”
“Yep,” said Billy, “That's in the Bible I think, if 'taint in Shakespeare. Miss Lynn said it over last Sunday. She says a lot of things from Shakespeare sometimes, and I kinda get'em mixed.”
But Mark did not talk any more that day. He had a great deal to think about.