He sat down in his
chair and shook all over with his head in his hands until I saw tears
creep through his fingers. I had calmed down so suddenly that I was
about to begin to cry in good earnest when he wiped his eyes and said
with a low laugh in his throat:
"The case is yours, Molly, settled out of court, and the
'possession-nine-points-of-the-law clause' works in some cases for a
woman against a man. Generally speaking, anyway, the pup belongs to the
man who can whistle him down and you can whistle Bill from me any day.
I'm just his father and what I think or want doesn't matter. You had
better take him and keep him!"
"I intend to." I answered haughtily, uncertain as to whether I had
better give in and be agreeable or stay prepared to cry in case there
was further argument. But suddenly a strange diffidence came into his
eyes and he looked away from me as he said in queer hesitating words:
"You see, Mrs. Molly, I thought from now on your life wouldn't have
exactly a place for Bill. Have you considered that you have trained him
to demand you all the time and all of you? How would you manage
Bill--and--and other claims?"
And if there is a contagious thing in this world it is embarrassment.
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