Bill saw it
and very cavalierly returned my salute. The elder Miss Slade turned on
me like a tigress, and said,
"Mr. Bates, do you know who that man is? Do you know what he is?"
"Yes, I know him very well," I replied.
"Then what do you mean by insulting us by speaking to such a man? I did
not know that you associated with men of his ilk."
In a plain unvarnished way I told them of Bill Bradley's kindness to me,
but it was no go, and as I would not renounce my liking for the man who
had been my benefactor, my room in their house became preferable to my
society and I left.
The next evening I saw Bill in his rooms, and he said,
"Martin, yesterday, when Mrs. Bradley and I drove by you and the Slade
girls, you spoke to me and lifted your hat to Mrs. Bradley. I could do
naught but return the salute. Now my boy, there's no use of my mincing
words with you; I befriended you, probably saved you from ruin, but
young as you are, you know full well that our paths do not lie parallel
with each other. I am a gambler, and although Mrs. Bradley is as good a
woman as ever lived, (and I'd kill the first man that said she wasn't)
we are not recognized by society; no, not even by the riff raff that
live in Hallville.
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