A cheap,
little, ugly glass, which you would have turned from in disgust, saying
that it made your nose awry, and your chin protrude and your eyes
squint, and was altogether horrid; but, held before Mart's glowing face,
what a secret did it reveal! Mart looked, and was silent, too; and went
home in a hushed frame of mind to wait for Dirk. Home was deserted. The
mother had dragged her wearied body out for a day of "light" work. The
time had gone by when she was able to do any that people called heavy.
Where the father was, none of the family knew, and their chief hope
concerning him was that he would stay away as long as possible.
I find myself longing to give you an idea of what that elegant,
brilliantly lighted hall, with its brilliant audience, was to this girl,
and being unable to do it.
When people live so far below us that our every-day experiences are to
them like a day at the World's Fair, it is very hard indeed to describe
how our special treats affect them.
It is a treat to everybody to hear Gough. How then can I tell you what
it was to this girl and her brother? Dirk listened; he must have
listened well, for long afterward he was able to repeat entire
paragraphs, and to imitate the manner of the great orator with
remarkable skill;--yet at the time he would have seemed to a close
watcher to have been absorbed in another way.
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