The Heart's Kingdom by Maria Thompson Daviess
page 45 of 248 (18%)
page 45 of 248 (18%)
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After a few whirls of the gray wheels we paused a moment at the Morgan
gate. "Heavens, yes, and thank you," called Nell in response to our demand for her small daughter's company. "If I had another one clean, I'd give it to you." "Better go on quick, for Jimmy can wash in a piece of a minute if he wants to," warned Charlotte, and in a second the parson had sent the gray car flying out toward Old Harpeth, though I saw him glance back with a trace of distress in his eyes at the fading vision of a small boy running, howling, to the front gate of the Morgan residence. "Now mother'll whip him for crying if she does as she says she would, but she won't," observed the tender big sister, as she rose to her feet and waved a maddening farewell to the distressed urchin being left behind. "Is she totally depraved?" I asked of the young Charlotte's spiritual adviser at my side. "No; perfectly honest," he answered me with a glint in his eyes that was a laughing challenge. "There is something awful about honesty," I answered, without appearing to notice the glint. "There wouldn't be if it were a universal custom," was the answer I got as we whirled by a farmer's wood lot and began to climb the first foothill of Old Harpeth. |
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