had
propped
himself
against a
tree to
avoid
falling,
and he
stood
there as
if
paralyzed
by an
irreparable
disaster.
He sought
to
explain,
but he
could
think of
no answer
for them,
no way to
deny this
horrible
charge
that he
had no
papa. At
last he
shouted at
them quite
recklessly:
“Yes, I
have one.”
“Where is
he?”
demanded
the boy.
Simon was
silent, he
did not
know. The
children
shrieked,
tremendously
excited.
These sons
of toil,
