Then, as though speaking to himself, as though unaware of her presence, he said softly: "Get away from yourself. Get interested in another life than your own."
"We'll read from 'Around the World'," he said. He led her to a bookcase which contained several volumes on travels and told her to look in the index.
"What shall I look for?" she asked.
"Look in the I's ... for the word India."
Thus he was following his own thoughts. How could he live the life of another? His one thought was of his son. He now wanted to read about the country where his boy lived.
"Tell me what you find," he said.
She read aloud the various headings concerning India. He told her which volume to take. As she was about to take it she stood as though transfixed, gazing at a portrait hanging over the fireplace which her eyes, gradually becoming accustomed to the dim light, had not seen before.
"Why are you silent?" he asked.
"I am looking at the portrait over the mantel shelf," she said, in a trembling voice.
"That was my son when he was twenty," said the old gentleman; "but you can't see it very well. I'll light up."