"`A lump of flesh with na
vital spark in it,'" he kept repeating. "I dinna but that is the
secret. She is almost numb with misery. All these days when she's
been without hope, and these awful nichts, when she's watched and
feared alone, she has no wished to perpetuate him in children who
might be like him, and so at their coming the `vital spark' is na
in them. Oh, Jimmy, Jimmy, have ye Mary's happiness and those
three little graves to answer for?"
He found Jimmy asleep where he had left him. Dannie shook him
awake. "I want to talk with ye," he said.
Jimmy sat up, and looked into Dannie's face. He had a complaint
on his lips but it died there. He tried to apologize. "I am
almost dead for sleep," he said. "There has been no rest for
anyone here. What do you think?"
"I think she will live," said Dannie dryly. "In spite of your
neglect, and my cowardice, I think she will live to suffer more
frae us."
Jimmy's mouth opened, but for once no sound issued. The drops of
perspiration raised on his forehead.
Dannie sat down, and staring at him Jimmy saw that there were
patches of white hair at his temples that had been brown a week
before; his colorless face was sunken almost to the bone, and
there was a peculiar twist about his mouth. Jimmy's heart weighed
heavily, his tongue stood still, and he was afraid to the marrow
in his bones.
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