human
How much money have we got, mother?
gpt
Precious little.
human
Mayn't I see how much it is?
gpt
No; don't bother.
human
Mother, won't you please take that money, even if it's little, and go straight off north somewhere? To Aix-les-Bains.
gpt
What are you talking about? Aix-les-Bains? What do you know of Aix-les-Bains?
human
Well, I've heard about it. Say, mother, do go. And Mr. Tiber and me'll stay here. We'll have lots of fun,
gpt
Is that all you care about me? demanded his mother. Then seeing his face change,
human
Come here, you silly child, she said. She made him sit down on the rug beside her sofa.
gpt
We must sink or swim together, Maso (dear me! we're not much in the swim now); we can't go anywhere, either of us; we can only just manage to live as we're living now. And there won't be any more money until November.
human
You will mail these three letters immediately,
gpt
Si, signore,
human
Now, Tommaso, I must be off; long drive. Sorry it has happened so. Crazy idea her coming at all, as she has enjoyed bad health for years, poor old thing! She may be dead at this moment, and probably, in fact, she is dead; but I shall have to go, all the same, in spite of the great expense; she ought to have thought of that. I have explained everything to your mother in that letter; the money is at her own bank in Pisa, and I have sent her the receipt. You have fifty francs with you?
gpt
Yes, sir.
human
Fifty francs--that is ten dollars. More than enough, much more; be careful of it, Tommaso. You will hear from your mother in two days, or sooner, if she telegraphs; in the meanwhile you will stay quietly where you are.
gpt
Yes, sir.
human
He was very tall, with a face that resembled a damaged portrait of Emerson, and he had been engaged for many years in writing a great work, a Life of Christopher Columbus, which was to supersede all other Lives. As his purse was a light one, he occasionally took pupils, and it was in this way that he had taken Maso, or, as he called him (giving him all the syllables of the Italian Thomas), Tommaso. Only three weeks, however, of his tutorship had passed when he had received a letter announcing that his sister, his only remaining relative, despairing of his return, was coming abroad to see him, in spite of her age and infirmities; she was the