As he bent over to fasten the suitcase again, Etta plucked at his coat sleeve to attract his attention.
“Father,” she murmured, “I just saw two beautiful angels. They came here to see me.”
Inside the closet, Kitty and Doris gripped each others’ hands nervously. They feared that Etta was about to expose them. What Henry would do if he found them hiding there, they dared not think.
However, the man paid scant attention to what the crippled girl was saying. Impatiently he jerked away from her.
“Stop that silly prattling,” he commanded. “I’m sick of it!”
The girls were shocked at this cruel speech, but what followed left them even more stunned.
“You might as well know it now as later,” Henry told Etta viciously. “We’re tired of looking after you night and day. All you’re good for is to eat and make up fancy fairy tales about angels and the like. This is a hard world and it’s time you learned its ways. Cora and I are going to git out of here pretty soon and, when we do, you can shift for yourself!”
Etta stared at her father as though unable to comprehend what he had said. Then as it slowly dawned upon her that she was to be left to a cruel fate, a shudder convulsed her body. With a frightened cry, she caught Henry by the arm.
“Oh, don’t leave me alone,” she begged piteously. “Don’t leave me to die!”
“Let go!” Henry snarled, pushing her back upon the bed as she endeavored to sit up. “I tell you we’re through with you and it won’t do any good to be squawking about it!”