For a minute he sat and stared at me just as Aunt Jane had done; then he lifted his head and threw back his shoulders as if he was throwing off a heavy weight.
"Come, come, Mary," he said sternly. "I am not a patient man, and my temper has reached the breaking point. You will go back to school and you will go now. I mean that, Mary."
"But, Father, I can't " I choked again; and I guess there was something in my face this time that made even him see. For again he just stared for a minute, and then said:
"Mary, what in the world does this mean? Why can't you go back? Have you been—expelled?"
"Oh, no, sir."
"Then you mean you won't go back."
"I mean I can't —on account of Mother."
I wouldn't have said it if I hadn't had to. I didn't want to tell him, but I knew f
