THE STEADFAST HEART
monition. He looked with dumb questioning eyes into Dave’s face.
“It’s not so far away—and we—Dave—could come to see you sometimes….”
“Away?… Away from him?” The boy’s face paled, lengthened, his lips parted.
“The school is down in Ohio—not a long ways off.”
“Would he come, too?” Angus was looking at Dave now.
“No, Angus, Dave couldn’t go with you—to stay. But he would come often to see you.”
“Often,” said Dave in a harsh whisper.
Angus continued to look at him, not accusingly but with a depth of woe in his eyes, reflected from a sorely wounded heart. His friend wanted to be rid of him…. It was the same old thing—to be moved on and on, and again on. He clenched his fists and his lip stiffened to prevent its quivering. Dave, suffering himself, read what was passing in the boy’s mind and drew Angus toward him, bent his thin, angular form until his face was on a level with Angus’s face, until his eyes could look into Angus’s eyes. His arm was about Angus’s shoulders in the first caress the boy could remember.
“It’s not that, Angus—never. I want you to stay.” He shook the boy in his eagerness to impress understanding. “You’re my boy. I
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