The Minister's Charge eBook

“Oh!” responded Sewell.  “Well!  Well!” He shook himself together, and wondered what had become of the impulse he had felt to scold Barker for the idea of getting married.  But such a course now seemed not only far beyond his province,—­he heard himself saying that to Mrs. Sewell in self-defence when she should censure him for not doing it,—­but utterly useless in view of the further complications.  “Well!  This is great news you tell me—­a great surprise.  You’re—­ you’re going to take an important step—­You—­you—­Of course, of course!  You must have a great many demands upon you, under the circumstances.  Yes, yes!  And I’m very glad you came to me.  If your mind is quite made up about——­”

“Yes, I’ve thought it over,” said Lemuel.  “The lady has had to work all her life, and she—­she isn’t used to what I thought—­what I intended—­any other kind of people; and it’s better for us both that I should get some kind of work that won’t take me away from her too much——­” He dropped his head, and Sewell with a flash of intelligence felt a thrill of compassionate admiration for the poor, foolish, generous creature, for so Lemuel complexly appeared to him.

Again he forbore question or comment.

“Well—­well! we must look you up, Mrs. Sewell and I. We must come to see your—­the lady.”  He found himself falling helplessly into Lemuel’s way of describing her.  “Just write me your address here,”—­ he put a scrap of paper before Lemuel on the davenport,—­“and I’ll go and get you the money.”

He brought it back in an envelope which held a very little more than Lemuel had asked for—­Sewell had not dared to add much—­and Lemuel put it in his pocket.

He tried to say something; he could only make a husky noise in his throat.

“Good night!” said Sewell pressing his hand with both of his again, at the door.  “We shall come very soon.”

“Married!” said Mrs. Sewell, when he returned to her; and then she suffered a silence to ensue, in which it seemed to Sewell that his inculpation was visibly accumulating mountains vast and high. “What did you say?”

“Nothing,” he answered almost gaily; the case was so far beyond despair.  “What should you have said?”

XXXIV.

Lemuel got a conductor’s overcoat and cap at half-price from a man who had been discharged, and put by the money saved to return to Sewell when he should come.  He entered upon his duties the next morning, under the instruction of an old conductor, who said, “Hain’t I seen you som’ere’s before?” and he worked all day, taking money and tickets, registering fares, helping ladies on and off the car, and monotonously journeying back and forth over his route.  He went on duty at six o’clock in the morning, after an early breakfast that ’Manda Grier and his mother got him, for Statira was not strong enough yet to do much, and he was to be relieved at eight.  At nightfall, after two half-hour respites for dinner and tea, he was so tired that he could scarcely stand.