human
I dare say ye have friends here?
gpt
Well, answered Maso,
human
Hum! And where are your relatives?
gpt
I don't know as we've got any. Yes, there's one, pursued Maso, remembering Reuben John.
human
But he's in America.
gpt
How old are you?
human
I'm going on fourteen.
gpt
Never should have supposed ye to be more than eleven. As there appears to be no one else, I must speak to you. Your mother must not stay in this house a day longer; she must have a better place--better air and better food.
human
Is she--is she very ill?
gpt
Not yet. But she is in a bad way; she coughs. She ought to leave Italy, for a while; stay out of it for at least four months. If she doesn't care to go far, Aix-les-Bains would do. Speak to her about it. I fancy ye can arrange it--hey? American boys have their own way, I hear. This was meant as a joke; but as the grim face did not smile, the jocular intention failed to make itself apparent. The speaker nodded, and went down the street. The idea that Mrs. Roscoe might not have money enough to indulge herself with a journey to Aix-les-Bains, or to anywhere else, would never have occurred to him. He had seen her in Pisa off and on for years, one of the prettiest women there, and perhaps the most perfectly equipped as regarded what he called