She bought
so little that I said to her once that she need not go elsewhere
to buy; that I' d sell to her as cheap as any one: that I believed
you'd come back all right, and if you didn't she could pay me when
she could. What do you think she did? Why, she burst out crying,
and said, 'God bless you, sir, for saying my husband will come
back! So many have discouraged me.' I declare to you her feeling
was so right down genuine that I had to mop my own eyes. But she
wouldn't take any more credit, and she bought so little that I've
been troubled. I'd have sent her something, but your wife somehow
ain't one of them kind that you can give things to, and--"
Marlow interrupted the good-hearted, garrulous shopman by saying
significantly, "Come with me to your back-office"; for the soldier
feared that some one might enter who would recognize him and carry
the tidings to his home prematurely.
"Mr. Wilkins," he said rapidly, "I wanted to find out if you too
had thriftily shut down on a soldier's wife. You shall not regret
your kindness.
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