At least, I'm rather
sure of mine; it's difficult to give a tobacco-heart away; it's drugged on
the market. I'm going to bring out the dogs; I'm spending the summer at
home just to give them daily exercise."
This explanation of his continued presence in Rouen struck John as quite
as plausible as Meredith's more seriously alleged reasons for not joining
his mother and sister, at Winter Harbor. (He possessed a mother, and, as
he explained, he had also sisters to satiety, in point of numbers.)
Harkless knew that Tom had stayed to look after him; and he thought there
never was so poor a peg as himself whereon to hang the warm mantle of such
a friendship. He knew that other mantles of affection and kindliness hung
on that self-same peg, for he had been moved by the letters and visits
from Carlow people, and he had heard the story of their descent upon the
hospital, and of the march on the Cross-Roads. Many a good fellow, too,
had come to see him during his better days--from Judge Briscoe, openly
tender and solicitous, to the embarrassed William Todd, who fiddled at
his hat and explained that, being as he was in town on business (a
palpable fiction) he thought he'd look in to see if "they was any word
would wish to be sent down to our city." The good will the sick man had
from every one touched him, and made him feel unworthy, and he could see
nothing he had done to deserve it.
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