Page:Confessions of a Thug.djvu/145

 "'I am here, my mother,' said I; and she turned to me.

"'Thou here! thou alive! Coward! hast thou come to me to see thy father a bloody corpse in his own house? Where wert thou that thou diedst not with him? Did I not caution thee never to leave the headstrong old man, who would persist in disregarding all advice, and in exposing himself at night?'

"'I cannot answer thee now, my mother,' said I, 'but I was with him; see here, I fell also: though I did not die then, I feel that I shall do so soon.' I opened my vest and showed her the hole the ball had made, out of which a drop or two of black blood every now and then oozed; she looked at it, and threw herself at my feet.

"'Thou art no coward!' she sobbed out, 'thou art no coward! thou hast bled in thy father's defence, and I can say nothing but that it is the will of Alla, and his fate. Who can avoid his destiny? But it is hard to lose both. Husband and son, husband and son, and I an old woman!'

"And she went from me, and resumed her place at the side of the body.

"One by one the neighbours left us; the