'Get up, Sal. I thought you ought to know,' he said.
She lifted her face to his, and the tears were streaming down her half-black cheeks.
'You have been more mother to Willie than his own,' he said.
With the quick motion always noticeable in the black races, she rose to her feet. She went to the door.
He watched her with wondering eyes.
She came back, caught him by the arm and peered into his face.
'You have a bad friend,' she said.
'Only one,' said Jim, with a smile, as he patted her on the head much as he would a dog.
She glanced to the right and then to the left.
'Do you know his name?' she said.