s stained with ambeer. His trousers, which were much too
large for him, bagged at the knees, and his boots were run down at the
heels. Though he was temperate to the last degree, he had the appearance
of a man who is the victim of some artificial stimulant.

"What put that idea in your head, Mrs. Goodlett?" he asked, after
looking long and searchingly at Mrs. Absalom.

"Well, I allowed that when you was countin' out your cash, a thrip or
two mought have slipped through the cracks in the floor," she replied;
"sech things have happened before now."

He wiped his thin lips with his lean forefinger, and stood hesitating,
whereupon Mrs. Absalom remarked: "It sha'n't cost you a cent ef you'll
come in. Ab'll be here purty soon ef somebody ain't been fool enough to
give him his dinner. His health'll fail him long before his appetite
does. Show Mr. Tomlin in the parlour, Gabriel, an' I'll see about Ab's
dinner; I don't want it to burn to a cracklin' before he gits it."

Silas Tomlin went into the parlour and sat down, while Gabriel stood
hesitating, not knowing what to do or say. He was embarrassed, and Silas
Tomlin saw it. "Oh, take a seat," he said, with a show of impatience.
"What are you doing for yourself, Tolliver? You're a big boy now, and
you ought to be making good money. We'll all have to work now: we'll
have to buckle right down to it. The way I look at it, the man who is
doing nothing is throwing money away; yes, sir, throwing it away. What
does Adam Smith say? Why, he says----"

Gabriel never found out what particular statement of Adam Smith was to
be thrown at his head, for at that moment, Mr. Goodlett called out from
the dining-room: "Si Tomlin in there, Gabriel? Well, fetch him out here
whar I live at. I ain't got no parlours for company." By the time that
Gabriel had led Mr. Silas Tomlin into the dining-room, Mr. Goodlett had
a plate of victuals carrying it to the kitchen; and he remarked as he
went along, "I got nuther parlours nor dinin'-rooms: fetch him out here
to the kitchen whar we both b'long at."

If Silas Tomlin objected to this arrangement, he gave no sign; he
followed without a word, Mr. Goodlett placed his plate on the table
where the dishes were washed, and dropped his hat on the floor beside
him, and began to attack his dinner most vigorously. Believing,
evidently, that ordinary politeness would be wasted here, Silas entered
at once on the business that had brought him to Dorringtons'.

"Sor