been sneered at for her tenderness of heart for all
suffering creatures. With difficulty she restrained an angry reply,
and went on calmly with her dinner.

"Come, Lois," Sammie urged, "never mind Dick. He must have his little
joke, don't you know. He was only in fun."

"A joke with a sharp thorn in it isn't much fun," and Lois looked
Sammie full in the eyes. "One might do far worse than take an interest
in such people as I met this afternoon out upon the river. They
appealed to me very much and I am not ashamed to confess it. The man
is a perfect gentleman, while the girl is so pretty, and full of life
and fun."

"What's her name?" Dick asked. "I'm getting quite excited over her."

"She's Betty Bean, so she told me, and the old man is David Findley."

"What, Crazy David, that miserable pauper?" Mr. Sinclair asked. "And
you call such a creature a gentleman?"

"Certainly, and why not? His face is so beautiful, and his whole
manner shows that he has moved much in refined society."

"Ho, ho, that's a good one," and Dick leaned back in his chair and
laughed aloud. "Crazy David a gentleman, with a beautiful face, and
refined manners! Think of that, dad."

"Lois evidently doesn't know that Crazy David is a pauper, the Devil's
Poor, and was sold to Jim Goban to board and lodge for a year. He went
pretty low, so I understand."

At these words an expression of surprise came into Lois' eyes, mingled
with indignation. She looked keenly into her father's face, thinking
that he must be merely joking.

"I can hardly believe that what you say is true," she at length
remarked. "I did not know that such things were carried on in a
Christian community. Is it possible that an old man such as that was
sold like a cow or a horse to the lowest bidder!"

"Well, what else could have been done with him, then?"

"Wasn't there any one in the whole parish, willing to take care of him?"

"H'm, I guess people have all they can do to look after themselves
without being burdened with a half-cracked creature such as that. It
was the best thing they could do. It would not be fair for one person
to have the entire expense of keeping him, so by this method all have a
share in his support."

"But I call it degrading," Lois insisted, "not only to the old man
himself, but to the people living here. He seems such a gentleman,
that I was drawn to him this afternoon."

"Going to take him under your wing, eh?" Dick bantered.