Anderson put his father in one on the ground floor, then shut the door on him and went back to the woman of the house.

She stood looking at him, flushed, in a bewildered silence.
But she and her husband owed various kindnesses to Anderson, and he quickly made up his mind.
In a very few words he quietly told her the real facts, confiding them both to her self-interest and her humanity.

McEwen was to be her only lodger till the next step could be determined.

She was to wait on him, to keep drink from him, to get him clothes.

Her husband was to go out with him, if he should insist on going out; but Anderson thought his injury would keep him quiet for a day or two.