Patterson, indignantly.
"Children get queer little notions in their queer little heads
sometimes," said Miss Drayton. "I confess, brother, I think you've done
wrong. And I've done wrong. We could have given this orphan child a home
and care--and we did not."
Her brother-in-law replied that orphan asylums were established to
relieve such cases.
Miss Drayton did not argue the question. She said softly: "We failed in
the trust that Emily left us--our duty to her little adopted daughter."
Mr. Patterson was silent. He opened and read Mr. Mayo's letter. Then he
folded it carefully and handed it back. "I will go to-morrow and get
this child from the asylum," he said.
"Suppose you let me go--with Pat," suggested Miss Drayton. "And,
brother, talk to him. Explain matters."
But he shook his head. "There is nothing for me to explain. You and I
misunderstood things. I am sorry we did not know all this at first. Then
we would have acted differently. But it is not for Pat to judge my
course. I refuse to defend myself to a young cub."
CHAPTER XX
"What are you smiling at, Pat?" Miss Drayton asked her nephew sitting
beside her in the parlor car.
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