"Poor Pa!" said Caddy to me on the night before the great day, when we really had got things a little to rights. "It seems unkind to leave him, Esther. But what could I do if I stayed! Since I first knew you, I have tidied and tidied over and over again, but it's useless. Ma and Africa, together, upset the whole house directly. We never have a servant who don't drink. Ma's ruinous to everything."
Mr. Jellyby could not hear what she said, but he seemed very low indeed and shed tears, I thought.

"Poor Pa!" said Caddy to me on the night before the great day. "It seems unkind to leave him, Esther. But what could I do if I stayed? I have tidied over and over again, but it's useless. Ma and Africa, together, upset the whole house directly. Ma's ruinous to everything."
Mr. Jellyby could not hear what she said, but he shed tears, I thought.
