"Well," he said, "if you need more when you reach Boston, telegraph me,
and I'll see that you get it at once."
"This relieves me of much anxiety," I said. "And I'm sure I don't know
how to thank you."
He stood up, took my hand, and said:
"Perhaps you won't thank me when you see what a hard-worked little
secretary you are to be."
Then he smiled again in a very fatherly way, patted my hand, and wished
me good-by.
I now felt extremely happy and excited. Assured of a position in
America, I felt stronger and more resolved. I put on my hat and went
over to _The Lantern_ office. After another quarrel with Mr. Campbell,
I emerged triumphant. He released me from my contract.
That evening Verley Marchmont called upon me, and of course I had to
tell him I was leaving Jamaica, a piece of information that greatly
disheartened him. We were on one of the large verandas of the hotel.
The great Caribbean Sea was below us, and above, in that marvelous,
tropical sky, a sublime moon looked down upon us.
"Nora," said Verley, "I think I know what happened to you yesterday in
Government House, and if I were sure that I was right, I'd go straight
out and half kill that black hound."
I said nothing, but I felt the tears running down my face, so sweet
was it to feel that this fine young Englishman cared. He came over and
knelt down beside my chair, like a boy, and he took one of my hands in
his. All the time he talked to me he never let go my hand.
"Did that nigger insult you?" he asked.