I HAVE LOST MY HUSBAND IN THE WAR.
In the war! And those blue eyes had not opened, surely, till some time after the war was ended! His husband! I was bewildered. I bent my gaze on him sternly, and asked, as severely as I could,—
“Young man, can you read?”
Laura was fumbling away at the unanswered door-bell. The boy looked as if he wanted to run; but I put my hand on his arm.
“Can you read?” I repeated gravely. I think he shook in his shabby boots, for his voice was not quite steady as he answered,—
“Not much.”
“Not much, I should think. Do you know what this thing says that you’ve got round your neck?”
“Does it say I’m blind?” he asked, with a little frightened quaver.
“No, it says—but do you know what a husband is?”
“Yes, he comes home drunk, and beats Mag and me awful.”