I wiped his eyes with his frock, told him he was all right, and
called Sancho to pacify him. He was just putting his little hand
on the dog's neck and beginning to smile through his tears,
when I heard, behind me, a click of the iron gate and a rustle
of female garments, and lo! Mrs. Graham darted upon me,—
her neck uncovered, her black locks streaming in the wind.
'Give me the child!' she said in a voice scarce louder than a
whisper, but with a tone of startling vehemence, and, seizing
the boy, she snatched him from me, as if some dire contamination were in my touch, and then stood with one hand firmly
clasping his, the other on his shoulder, fixing upon me her
large, luminous, dark eyes—pale, breathless, quivering with
agitation.
