with what he counted the very flower of a
brutal worldly cynicism.

Thus it was that when Arthur had found his uncle and had stated his
case, Mr. Shrimplin instantly summoned to his aid all his redoubtable
powers of speech and fell to cursing the recreant husband and father.
Having eased himself in this manner, and not wishing Arthur to be
entirely unmindful of his vast superiority, he called the boy's
attention to the undeniable fact that he, Shrimplin, could have been
kicked out of doors and Joe Montgomery would not have lifted a hand to
save him. Yet all this while the little lamplighter, with the boy at his
heels, was moving rapidly across the flats.

From the town end of the bridge, youthful eyes had descried his coming
and the word was quickly passed that the uncle of all the little
Montgomerys was approaching, presumably with philanthropic intent. This
rumor instantly stimulated an interest on the part of the adult
population, an interest which had somewhat languished owing to the
incapacity of human nature to sustain an emotional climax for any
considerable length of time. Untidy women and idle-looking men with the
rust of inaction consuming them, quickly appeared on the scene, and when
the little lamplighter descended from the railway tracks it was to be
greeted with something like an ovation at the hands of his
sister-in-law's neighbors.

His ears caught the murmur of approval that passed from lip to lip and
out of the very tail of his bleached eyes he noted the expression of
satisfaction that was on every face. Even the previously obdurate
landlord met him with words of apology and conciliation. It was a happy
moment for Mr. Shrimplin, but not by so much as the flicker of an
eyelash did he betray that this was so. He had considered himself such a
public character since the night of the McBride murder that he now
deemed it incumbent to preserve a stoic manner; the admiration of his
fellows could win nothing from the sternness of his nature, so he
ignored the neighbors, while he was barely civil to the landlord. The
big roll of bills which, with something of a flourish, he produced from
the pocket of his greasy overalls, settled the rent, and the neighbors
noted with bated breath that the size of this roll was not perceptibly
diminished by the transaction.

Presently Mr. Shrimplin found himself standing alone with Nellie; the
landlord had departed with his money, while the neighbors, having
devoted the gr