"I—attempted to act in a similar capacity. . . . She was difficult to teach—very, very difficult to govern. . . . I am afraid I did not do my best with her."
"Why did you leave her to come here?" he asked.
She made no reply.
"Where is she now?"
She looked out into the cinders of the West, making no answer.
He gazed at her in silence for a long time; then:
"Is she really lame?"
"Yes."
"Very?"
"It is hip disease."