He continued, —
“Yes, I am deaf; but you shall talk to me by gestures, by signs. I have a master who talks with me in that way. And then, I shall very soon know your wish from the movement of your lips, from your look.”
“Well!” she interposed with a smile, “tell me why you saved me.”
He watched her attentively while she was speaking.
“I understand,” he replied. “You ask me why I saved you. You have forgotten a wretch who tried to abduct you one night, a wretch to whom you rendered succor on the following day on their infamous pillory. A drop of water and a little pity, — that is more than I can repay with my life.
You have forgotten that wretch; but he remembers it.”