I
heard yesterday that he was sick again, and it has worried me a good
deal. He's pretty feeble now, and I don't know how long he'll last."
He flicked the ashes from his cigar, nursing his knee with the other
hand. The leg must have pained him, for I noticed that he lifted it
carefully and moved it on one side, as if for greater relief.
"Rheumatism?" I ventured, sympathetically.
"No; just _gets_ that way sometimes," he replied, carelessly. "But
Aleck's got it bad; can hardly walk. Last time I saw him he was about
bent double."
Again he relapsed into silence, smoking quietly.
"And you tell me," I said, "that this old slave was loyal to your family
after his freedom?"
He hadn't told me anything of the kind; but I had found his key-hole
now, and was determined to get inside his door, even if I picked the
lock with a skeleton-key.
"Aleck!" he cried, rousing himself with a laugh; "well, I should say so!
Anybody would be loyal who'd been treated as my father treated Aleck.
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