The Sins of the Father

d failed to do her work properly, but precisely because she was doing it so well. She had apparen

rangement of the chairs, the neat piles of exchanges laid on a table she had placed beside his desk, and the vase of fresh

ncounter her there. She had always managed, however, to linger over her morning tasks until his arrival, and never failed to greet him pleasantly and ask if ther

pt that she was trying to prove her value as a servant. Gradually, however, he began to notice that her dresses were cut with remarkable neatn

of hanging about his desk when finishing her tasks

s of strange songs. He sought for an excuse to discharge her and could find none. She had the instincts of a perfect servant-intelligent, careful and loyal. She never blundered over th

the Governor and his allies. He dismissed the idea as preposterous. She never associated with negroes if she could help it and apparen

and continuously, as deeply somet

h

her? She did her work promptly and efficiently, and for the first tim

that she had paused in her task near his desk, he slowly lifted his eyes from the paper he was reading and, before she realized it, caught the look on her face when off guard. The girl was

was the man of his class who lowered himself to vulgar association with such girls. The fact that, at this time in the history o

determined to dismiss her at onc

laugh, so soft, low and full of innocent s

red me! I thought you had a fit. Did a

e mantel laughing, he

l pose of her young figure, his ear caught the soft not

er?" she asked,

thi

de an awful f

t of somethi

to bite my head off and th

sic, her smile contagious, and, by a subtle mental telepathy, she knew that the man before her felt it, and her heart was singing a savage song of triumph. She

man she had marked her own from the moment she had first laid eyes on his serious, aristocratic face-for back of every hysterical cry that came from her lips t

the doorway an

d ni

ss and the bold eyes laughed a d

flushed, turned pale and an

night,

; the Beast that had been bred in the bone and sinew of generations of ancestors, wilful, cruel, courageous conquerors of the world. Before its ravenous demands the words of mother, teacher, pri

dership, the restraints of home and religion might be the guarantee of safety under such temptations. He didn't propose to risk it. He understood now why he was so nervous and distracted in her presence. The mere physical p

must not come again she was not surprised, but

tenderness sh

sor

t write while you are puttering around, and I'm

udent, good-natured, ridiculous laugh,

. Don't worry, I can wait. You'll come to me. And if not, I'll find you-f

ood framed in its white woodwork,

the night before, saw him flush and pale beneath it, she knew it must come at once, and was prepare

d already found

kindly words she only smiled in the friendliest possible w

ed me. I'll do anything on ea

e and friendly personal relations with the black folks who were servants in the house. Yet the moment he touched her hand, felt

l young animal that purred at his side. He started

sped in hers for a mo

anything wrong

N

mad at me f

ertain

you won't let

ly, with an impudence that left little doubt in his mind that she

withdrew his hand an

't work when you'r

ght, go

he was out of his sight and out of his life forever.

his mind now on his f