Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER II WHERE BLOOD IS THICKER THAN WATER The train stopped; more people got on. The name of the city seemed to remind the lawyer of something he wished to tell his client regarding the case. He suddenly pulled up the woman and child and led them out before the train started to proceed. He led them down the steps, stood Ronile on the pavement and, wiping his brow, said, "I am going to take you to get evidence for your case, such evidence as you will need to win your case in this state." They mounted a car which brought them to the factory site of the town, and stopped before a row of small frame buildings. The doors of the houses were open. He inquired for a person with a Slavic sounding name, and the woman addressed, with many gestures and broad smiles, pointed to the second house. Mr. Levir took Ronile by the hand and begged Mrs. Delien to follow. They mounted a staircase, its plain boards scmbbed white, coming to the door of the upper chamber which was also ajar. In a room which looked like a kitchen and dining room together sat a young mother holding a flaxen-haired baby in her arms and humming a weird Slavic melody. At the sight of the gentleman and Ronile, the young mother stopped short, caught up her baby and with nervous fingers tried to button her waist, failing which she put the baby on the bare floor and looked aghast at her former mistress who stood bracing herself against the wall, her hand gripping her heart. The lawyer was the first to speak. He asked the young mother who the child's father was. She answered in a stammering, husky voice, "George Mikosh." "What," he thundered, "you know better!" She turned her face, looking down in shame. Then the lawyer asked her, "Where is Mr. Mikosh 1" She replied with a frightened glance at her former ...