Someway I have been up against tough
luck ever since I got back. I think the climate over there must have
locoed me; anyhow the liquor did. Tonight the pendulum is swinging the
other way."
"Why do you think that?"
"I have met you, have I not?"
There was no brightening of her eyes, no acknowledgment of the words.
"To have the misery of another added to your own requires no
congratulations," she said gravely. "But I am glad you told me. I
know there are many who return home like that. I can understand why
much better now than I could once. I have had experience also. It is
so easy to drift wrong, when there is no one to help you go right. I
used to believe this world was just a beautiful playground. I never
dreamed what it really means to be hungry and homeless, to be alone
among strangers. I had read of such things, but they never seemed
real, or possible. But I know it all now; all the utter loneliness of
a great city. Why it is easier to fall than to stand, and, oh! I was
so desperate tonight. I--I actually believe I had come to the very end
of the struggle. Whatever happens--whatever possibly can happen to me
hereafter--I shall never again be the same thoughtless creature, never
again become uncharitable to others in misery.
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