An instinct
had awakened in him of which he knew absolutely nothing; his
companions had taught him what it meant, and he had followed their
lead. And then had come the horror and the shame--and some vile,
ignorant wretch to trade upon it, and cast the boy off when he was
penniless. So he had come home again, with his gnawing secret; I
pictured him wandering about, trying to make up his mind to confide
in me, wavering between that and the horrible deed he did."
I stopped, because even to this day I cannot tell the story without
tears. I cannot keep a picture of the boy in my room, because of the
self-reproaches that haunt me. "You can understand," I said to
Sylvia, "I never could forget such a lesson. I swore a vow over the
poor lad's body, that I would never let a boy or girl that I could
reach go out in ignorance into the world. I read up on the subject,
and for a while I was a sort of fanatic--I made people talk, young
people and old people. I broke down the taboos wherever I went, and
while I shocked a good many, I knew that I helped a good many more."
All that was, of course, inconceivable to Sylvia. How curious was
the contrast of her one experience in the matter of venereal
disease.
Pages:
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93