And as Gregorio
closed the lattice, shutting out the noise of song and laughter, the
room echoed with the mighty sobbing of a woman who was betrayed, and who
repeated hysterically, while kissing the face of her child, "To-morrow,
to-morrow there will be food for you."
And Gregorio slept peacefully, for the danger of starvation was over; he
would yet live to see his son become rich.
And the woman?
He kissed her before he slept, and women always cry.
IV--CONCERNING TWO WOMEN
Gregorio felt a little bit ashamed of himself next morning. The
excitement had passed, and the full meaning of his words came back to
him and made him shudder. The sun, already risen, sent shafts of light
between the lips of the wooden lattice. A faint sound of life and
movement stole upward from the street below. But Xantippe and the boy
still slumbered, though the woman's form shook convulsively at times,
for she sobbed in her sleep.
Gregorio looked at the two for a minute and then raised himself with
an oath. The woman's heavy breathing irritated him, for, after all, he
argued, it was her duty as well as his to sacrifice herself for the lad.
Pages:
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187