So she--" He shook his head, and looked at Ellen, dazedly.

She did not say a word, but looked at him with her lips closed tightly.
"It is better for you not to tell me anything," he said; "I don't want to know.

I don't understand, and I never want to, how it all happened, but I do understand that you are a trump.

How old were you ?" Robert's voice took on a tone of tenderness.
"Eight," replied Ellen, faintly.
"Only a baby," said the young man, "and you never told! I would like to know where there is another baby who would do such a thing." He caught her hand and shook it again.

"She was like a mother to me," he said, in a husky voice.