"
"My dear," interrupted Mrs. Burrell, "she thinks you are Mr. Blatchford."
"And are you not?" asked Esther, with some surprise.
"Oh, no; I'm an intimate friend of his, and was present this morning when
the affair happened." "Oh, indeed," responded Esther.
"Yes; and he came home and related it all to me,--the whole affair,"
interrupted Mrs. Burrell. "I was dreadfully provoked; I assure you, I
sympathized with him very much. I became deeply interested in the whole
affair; I was looking at my little boy,--for I have a little boy," said
she, with matronly dignity,--"and I thought, suppose it was my little boy
being treated so, how should I like it? So bringing the matter home to
myself in that way made me feel all the more strongly about it; and I just
told George Burrell he must take him, as he is an engraver; and I and the
baby gave him no rest until he consented to do so. He will take him on the
same terms offered by Mr. Blatchford; and then we came down to tell you;
and--and," said she, quite out of breath, "that is all about it."
Esther took the little woman's plump hand in both her own, and, for a
moment, seemed incapable of even thanking her. At last she said, in a husky
voice, "You can't think what a relief this is to us.
Pages:
415
416
417
418
419
420
421
422
423
424
425
426
427
428
429
430
431
432
433
434
435
436
437
438
439