"
"Good to you, is she?" enquired Mr. Ravenslee.
"Good t' me!" cried Spike, "good? Well, say--when I think about it I--I
gets watery in me lamps, kinder sloppy in me talk, an' all mushy inside!
Good t' me? Well, you can just bet on that!"
"And," enquired Mr. Ravenslee sleepily, "are you as good to her?"
Hereupon Spike turned his cap inside out and looked at it thoughtfully.
"I--I dunno, mister."
"Ah! perhaps you--make her cry, sometimes?"
Hereupon Spike began to pick at the lining of his cap and finally
answered: "Sometimes, I guess."
"Would she cry if she could see you now, I wonder?"
Hereupon Spike began to wring and twist his cap in nervous hands ere he
answered: "I--I guess she might, perhaps."
"She must love you a good deal."
At this, Spike twisted his cap into a ball but spoke nothing; seeing
which Mr. Ravenslee proceeded.
"You are luckier than I; there isn't a soul in the world to do as much
for me."
Spike gulped audibly and, thereafter, sniffed.
"Now suppose," said Mr. Ravenslee, "let us suppose she found out that
the brother she loved so much was a--thief?"
Hereupon Spike unrolled his cap and proceeded to rub his eyes with it,
and, when at last he spoke, it was in a voice broken by great sobs.
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