The screen slammed shut,
throwing the creature on the floor before them. Instantly Mrs. Comstock
crushed it with her foot. Elnora stepped back. Excepting the red mark,
her face was very white.
"That was the last moth I needed," she said, "to complete a collection
worth three hundred dollars. You've ruined it before my eyes!"
"Moth!" cried Mrs. Comstock. "You say that because you are mad. Moths
have big wings. I know a moth!"
"I've kept things from you," said Elnora, "because I didn't dare confide
in you. You had no sympathy with me. But you know I never told you
untruths in all my life."
"It's no moth!" reiterated Mrs. Comstock.
"It is!" cried Elnora. "It's from a case in the ground. Its wings take
two or three hours to expand and harden."
"If I had known it was a moth----" Mrs. Comstock wavered.
"You did know! I told you! I begged you to stop! It meant just three
hundred dollars to me."
"Bah! Three hundred fiddlesticks!"
"They are what have paid for books, tuition, and clothes for the past
four years. They are what I could have started on to college. You've
ruined the very one I needed. You never made any pretence of loving me.
At last I'll be equally frank with you. I hate you! You are a selfish,
wicked woman! I hate you!"
Elnora turned, went through the kitchen and from the back door. She
followed the garden path to the gate and walked toward the swamp a
short distance when reaction overtook her.
Pages:
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218