Having won the confidence of Mrs. Dodge, Sir Donald bluntly says:
"Do not be alarmed. I know your name and something of your past, but I am a real friend of the family, and can be trusted. Tell me just as much or little as you please, but let me know all about present troubles. You are not to blame, and your children must be cared for."
Seeing that she still wavered, Sir Donald gently says:
"You need not tell me about anything, but what can I do for you?"
Before time for reply, the sick child feebly said:
"Mamma, isn't papa gone a long time?"
The mother looked frightened, and quickly stepped to the cot, as if to caution the invalid.
"Yes; but, mamma, he has been gone so long, and does not write! Is Bombay a great way off, mamma?"
Moved by impulse to caution the child, motherly instinct toward uttering comforting assurance and wifely loyalty to her husband's safety, the poor woman, stammering incoherently, looked helplessly at Sir Donald.
"But, mamma, the old gentleman said last night that papa might come any time, with lots of money."