"Pain! No," replied Mrs. Hale, her cheek flushing. "Yet it is pain to think that perhaps I may never see my darling boy again. Or else he did right, Margaret. They may say what they like, but I have his own letters to show, and I'll believe him, though he is my son, sooner than any court-martial on earth. Go to my little japan cabinet, dear, and in the second left-hand drawer you will find a packet of letters."
Margaret went. There were the yellow, sea-stained letters, with the peculiar fragrance which ocean letters have. Margaret carried them back to her mother, who untied the silken string with trembling fingers, and, examining their dates, she gave them to Margaret to read, making her hurried, anxious remarks on their contents, almost before her daughter could have understood what they were.

'Pain! No,' replied Mrs. Hale, flushing. 'He did right, Margaret. They may say what they like, but I'll believe my son sooner than any court-martial on earth. Go to my little japan cabinet, dear, and in the second left-hand drawer you will find a packet of letters.'
Margaret went. There were the yellow, sea-stained letters, with the peculiar fragrance which ocean letters have. She carried them back to her mother, who untied the silken string with trembling fingers, and gave them to Margaret to read, making hurried, anxious remarks on their contents, almost before her daughter could have understood what they were.
