But, on the other hand, if in this pause we turn our back upon the devil, good angels come in his place—they whisper of hope and a new chance in life even for us.
When Effie left George on that miserable2 evening, and when Lawson retired3 presently to his room, the young man found that he had come to such a fearful place of trial as I have just described. He was pulled179 up short, and the devil was tempting4 him. At one side was the devil, at the other he saw the face of his mother. It was impossible for him to lie down and sleep. He fought with the devil all night. In the morning there was neither victory nor defeat, but the young, smooth face looked haggard and gray, and the upright, well-knit figure was bowed.
Lawson came into the sitting room for a moment.
"I am sorry I can't stay with you, George," he said. "I am due at St. Joseph's at nine o'clock. Have you made any plans for yourself?"
"No—at least, yes. I've had an awful night, Lawson, and there seems to be but one end to it."
"What is that?"
"I must give myself up. I'm not the sort of fellow to play the hiding game successfully. I'm safe to be caught sooner or later. I deserve punishment, too—I've been doing badly for months. What I deserve, it seems likely I'll have. In short, I think I'd better make a clean breast of everything, and take my—my punishment like a man."
"Do sit down for a minute," said Lawson. "There's a good deal in what you say, and if you had only yourself to consider, I'd counsel you to do it—I would, truly; but there's your mother to be thought of."
"My mother! Don't you suppose I've been thinking of my mother all night? It is the thought of my mother that maddens me—maddens me, I say. Look here, Lawson, there's only one thing before me: I'll go first to mother and tell her everything straight out, and then I'll give myself up."
"You will?" said Lawson, with a start of sudden admiration5. "Upon my word, George, old chap,180 I didn't think you had the grit6 in you—I didn't, truly."
"Then you approve?"
"It is the only thing to be done; she must hear it, sooner or later, and no one can tell it to her as you can."
"All right; I'll go to her before my courage fails me."
George left the room without even saying good-by to his friend.
When he left the house, he turned round and saw the man whom he had noticed watching him the day before at Waterloo Station.
"I'll be ready for you soon, my friend, but not quite yet," muttered the young man.
He walked quickly—the man followed him at a respectful distance.
George let himself into his mother's house with a latch-key. He ran up to the little sitting room. Agnes was bending with red eyes over a kettle which was boiling on the fire. She was making a cup of tea for her mother, who had just awakened8. Katie was cutting bread and butter, and Phil and Marjory were standing9 by the window. Marjory was saying to Phil, "I 'spect George will be turning the corner and coming home in a minute."
"Hush10!" whispered Phil: "hush, Marjory! George isn't coming back any more."
At this moment the door was opened, and George came in. Marjory gave Phil a scornful glance, and flew to her big brother. Katie flung down the piece of bread she was buttering and Agnes turned from the fire. George put out his hand to ward11 them all off.
"Where's mother?" he asked.
"She's awake, but she has been very ill," began181 Agnes. "Oh, George, George, do be careful; where are you going?"
"To my mother," answered the young man. "Don't let anyone come with me—I want to be alone with her."
He went straight into the bedroom as he spoke12, and shut the door behind him.
Mrs. Staunton was lying propped13 up high by pillows. The powerful opiate had soothed14 her, but the image of George still filled all her horizon. When she saw him come into the room, she smiled, and stretched out her weak arms to clasp him. He came over, knelt by her, and, taking her hot hands, covered his face with them.
"You've come back, my boy!" she said. "I'm not very well to-day, but I'll soon be better. Why, what is it, George? What are you doing? You are wetting my hands. You—you are crying? What is it, George?"
"I have come back to tell you something, mother. I'm not what you think me—I'm a scoundrel, a rascal15. I'm bad, I'm not good. I—I've been deceiving you—I'm a thief."
"Hush!" interrupted Mrs. Staunton. "Come a little closer to me. You're not well, my dear boy—let me put my arm round your neck. You're not well, my own lad; but if you think——"
"I'm as bad as I can be, mother," said George, "but it isn't bodily illness that ails7 me. I said I'd make a clean breast of it. It's the only thing left for me to do."
A frightened look came into Mrs. Staunton's eyes for a moment, but then they filled with satisfaction as they rested on the dark head close to her own.
"Whatever you've done, you are my boy," she said.182
"No, no; a thief isn't your boy," said George. "I tell you I'm a thief," he added fiercely, looking up at her with two bloodshot eyes. "You've got to believe it. I'm a thief. I stole fifty pounds from Gering yesterday—and I was bad before that. I won money at play—I've won and lost, and I've lost and won. Once Lawson gave me two hundred and fifty pounds to invest, and I stole it to pay a gambling16 debt, and Effie got it back for me—she borrowed it for me. My father wouldn't have given you to me if he had known that. I had it on my conscience when I was kneeling by his deathbed, but I couldn't tell him then; and when he gave you to me, I felt that I never could tell. Then we came to London, and I began to deceive you. I told you a false story about that rise of salary—I never had any rise; and I took your fifty pounds two days ago out of the bank, and I stole money to pay it back again. That's your son George, mother—your true son in his real colors. Now you know everything."
George stepped a pace or two away from the bed as he spoke. He folded his arms.
Mrs. Staunton was looking at him with a piteous, frightened expression on her face. Suddenly she broke into a feeble and yet terrible laugh.
"My son George," she said. "That explains everything. My son still—still my son!" She laughed again.
There came a knock at the outer door.
"Don't go, George!" said his mother.
"George, you're wanted," said Agnes. "Effie is here, and Mr. Gering—they want to see you. Come at once."
"Mr. Gering!" exclaimed the mother. "He was the man you took the money from. He's coming to—punish183 you, to—George, you're not to go. Stay here with me. I'll hide you. You're not to go, George—I won't let you, I won't let you!"
"Dear mother! dear, dearest mother! you must let me—I must take the punishment. I've deserved it and I'm determined17 to go through with it. Just say a wonderful thing to me before I go, and I'll be strong enough to bear it—and to—to come back to you when it's over. Say you love me still, mother."
"Love you!" exclaimed Mrs. Staunton.
"Yes, mother, although I'm a thief."
"Bless the boy! that has nothing to do with it. You're my boy, whatever you are."
"Then you do still love me?"
"Yes, yes, yes! Of course I love the lad!"
George went straight to the door and opened it. He walked straight into the other room.
"I'm ready to take the punishment, sir," he said, going straight up to Mr. Gering.
His manner and the look on his face amazed his late employer.
"Eh—eh—well, young sir," he said, backing a step or two. "And so you confess that you robbed me?"
"I do."
"And you know what lies before you?"
"Yes."
"Have you been deceiving that mother of yours again?"
"No; I've been telling her the truth at last."
"Effie, Effie!" called Mrs. Staunton from the bedroom.
Effie ran to her mother.
"Do you know, young man," said Mr. Gering, "that you have got a very remarkable18 sister?"184
"Do you mean Effie? Oh, I always knew she was a girl in a thousand."
"A girl in ten thousand, more like. Do you know, young rascal, that she has been pleading with me for you, and—'pon my word, it's true—melting my old heart till I don't know what I'm doing? In short, I've made her a promise."
"A promise! Oh, sir, what?"
"A promise that I'll let you off—all but the moral punishment. That, of course, you'll have to bear."
"Mr. Gering, is this true?"
"Yes, it's true. I'm doing it all on account of your sister. You may come back to the office to-morrow, and consider that you've got a fresh start. Now, for goodness' sake, don't keep me any longer. Open the door, one of you children, can't you? I must hurry back to my work."
That is the story, for George really did learn his lesson, and in his case the new leaf was turned. He will carry the scars, however, of that time of sin and suffering to his grave.
Effie kept her promise, and went as governess to little Freda Harvey for a time, but only for a time. When money affairs were straight again, she gladly returned to the life which she really loved, and is now superintendent19 of one of the wards20 at St. Joseph's.
It is true that there are whispers afloat with regard to her and Lawson—whispers which always give a feeling of consternation21 in the ward which she manages so skillfully—but only Effie herself can tell if there is truth in them or not.
The End
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1
rend
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| vt.把…撕开，割裂；把…揪下来，强行夺取 | |
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miserable
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| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
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retired
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| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
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tempting
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| a.诱人的, 吸引人的 | |
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admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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grit
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| n.沙粒，决心，勇气；v.下定决心，咬紧牙关 | |
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7
ails
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| v.生病( ail的第三人称单数 )；感到不舒服；处境困难；境况不佳 | |
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awakened
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| v.（使）醒( awaken的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）觉醒；弄醒；（使）意识到 | |
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standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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10
hush
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| int.嘘，别出声；n.沉默，静寂；v.使安静 | |
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ward
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| n.守卫，监护，病房，行政区，由监护人或法院保护的人（尤指儿童）；vt.守护，躲开 | |
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12
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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propped
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| 支撑，支持，维持( prop的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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soothed
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| v.安慰( soothe的过去式和过去分词 )；抚慰；使舒服；减轻痛苦 | |
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rascal
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| n.流氓；不诚实的人 | |
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gambling
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| n.赌博；投机 | |
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determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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superintendent
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| n.监督人，主管，总监；(英国)警务长 | |
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wards
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| 区( ward的名词复数 )； 病房； 受监护的未成年者； 被人照顾或控制的状态 | |
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consternation
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| n.大为吃惊，惊骇 | |
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