`` We have been splendid chums , have n't we ? '' he said , eagerly . Suddenly his face changed . He crept nearer to her , and bowed his head until his lips almost touched the hem of her dress . `` I 'm glad you came down to-day , '' he went on in a low , diffident voice . `` I want to tell you something , and I can tell it better here . I could n't go away without thanking you . I 'll make a mess of it -- I can never explain things . But you 've been so much to me -- you mean so much to me . You 've made me believe in things I never believed in before . You -- you -- I know now that there is such a thing as a good woman , a woman who could make a man better , just because he breathed the same air with her . '' He paused for a moment ; then went on in a still lower tone : `` It 's hard when a fellow ca n't speak of his mother because he ca n't say anything good of her , is n't it ? My mother was n't a good woman . When I was eight years old she went away with a scoundrel . It broke father 's heart . Nobody thought I understood , I was such a little fellow . But I did . I heard them talking . I knew she had brought shame and disgrace on herself and us . And I had loved her so !
Then , somehow , as I grew up , it was my misfortune XXXXX all the women I had to do with were mean and base .
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