Finally he came to a decision.

He communicated this decision to his sister.

It would have commended itself more logically to her had she been able to follow step by step the considerations that had led her brother to it.

As the event turned, she was forced to accept it blindly.

She knew that her brother intended going West, but as to his hopes and plans she was in ignorance.
A little sympathy, a little mutual understanding would have meant a great deal to her, for a girl whose mother she but dimly remembers, turns naturally to her next of kin.