"The gate was unlocked--" he began.
"That doesn't matter. It might have been wide open, sir,--but that
did not grant you any special privileges."
"I can only ask your pardon, Miss Crown, and depart in disgrace,"
said he, quite humbly. As he started down the path, he paused to
add: "I did not know you had returned. I daresay I should have been
less venturesome had I known you were in the neighbourhood."
The thinly veiled sarcasm did not escape her.
"I suppose you are the young man from New York that every one is
talking about. That may account for your ignorance. In order that
you may not feel called upon to visit this place again to satisfy
your curiosity, I will point out to you the objects of interest.
This pile of rocks marks the grave of my father and mother. The
dates speak for themselves. You may have noticed them when you
scratched your match just above my mother's name. My father was
murdered by my grandfather before I was born. My mother died on
the day I was born. I never saw them. I do not love them, because
I never knew them. But I DO respect and honour them. They were good
people. I have no reason to be ashamed of them. If you will look
out over those trees and across that pasture, you will see the house
in which my mother died and where I was born. Directly in front of
the little porch my father died as the result of a blow delivered
by my grandfather.
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