"He was silent even when his benefactor became bankrupt and did not pay him his wages.... He was silent even when his wife ran away and left him with a nursing babe....
"He was silent even fifteen years later when the child grew up, and was strong enough to throw Bontsie out of doors...."
"They mean me, they mean me!" Bontsie says joyfully.
"He was silent," the Advocate begins again with a softer and sadder voice, "when his benefactor resumed business, but did not pay him a cent, and even then, when he ran over him, again riding in a carriage with rubber tires, and horses like lions.
"He was all that time silent! He did not even tell the police who had maimed him so.
* * * * * * * *
"He was silent even in the hospital, where one may cry!
"He was silent even when the doctor would not come to him unless he was paid fifteen kopeks, and the janitor would not change his shirt without five kopeks!
"He was silent during the last moments of his life, he was silent in his death agony....