Page:Anna Chapin--Half a dozen boys.djvu/49

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to her promise, Bess did go often to see her boy. For several weeks it was her habit to spend a part of every afternoon with him; and  the lad’s evident pleasure at her coming made  her feel richly rewarded for the time she gave up  to him. He at once recognized her step in the hall, and she always found him sitting up on the  sofa, eagerly waiting for her to come to him.

Mrs. Allen rarely appeared, and the two had the room to themselves, while Bess  either read aloud, or talked to Fred as she  sewed on some bit of work she had brought  with her. To her mother she confessed that after her usual call her mind was a blank,  for she tried so hard to think of some bright,  interesting conversation for the lonely, sad boy. Her patient was not an easy one to manage, for though Fred rarely complained, during the long  hours he was alone he brooded over his trouble