'Wall, I reckon I shud.'
'Selma is to marry my adopted son. She is as dear to me as your child is to you. Can you do to her, what you would curse me for doing to your child? Look me in the face. Don't flinch—answer me!'
I rose, and stood before him. In a few moments he also rose, and, looking me squarely in the eye—there was a tear in his—he brought his hand down upon mine with a concussion that might have been heard a mile off, and said:
'No, I'm d—d ter h—ef I kin.'
'You are a splendid, noble fellow, Larkin.'
'Ye're 'bout th' fust man thet ever said so, Mr. Kirke. Ye told me suthin' like thet nigh on ter twelve yar ago. I hain't forgot it yit, an' I never shill.'
'You're rough on the outside, Larkin, but sound at the core—sound as a nut. I wish the world had more like you. Leave this wretched work!'
'I'd like ter, but I karn't. What kin a feller do, with neither money nor friends?'
'Get into some honest business. I know you can. I'll help you—Joe will help you. We'll talk things over to-night, and I know Joe will rig out something for you.'
He remained seated for a while, saying nothing; then he rose, and, the moisture dimming his eyes, said: