I stared at the pale boy. I must have been rather pale myself. "You mean--right now?" I gasped.
He nodded shamefacedly.
"Oh, dear. Well, sit down on the davenport there. Don't be nervous. What's your name?"
"Eugene."
"Well, well. And how old are you?"
"Ten."
"Ten? Well. That's a nice age. And what kind of work does your daddy do?"
"He's a salesman. He travels. On'y gets home once in a while."
"And do you have any brothers or sisters?" I asked. It was as though, by stalling and refusing to face what was happening in one of our cabins, I could postpone it, or make it not so. I was coming out of my first condition of shock and realizing that I must call a doctor, and tell Grant what was happening, immediately, when the boy answered my last question.
"Yes, ma'am," he said. "I got six brothers and five sisters. My littlest sister is still a baby. On'y one and a half. My oldest sister is takin care of the kids now while Ma and me was gonna visit Gramma in Frisco. Ma didn't think she'd have this new baby for awhile yit. But I guess she's gonna, though. She's got pains somethin' awful."