n," added his mother, who had no taste for the grandiloquent.

"He called me a puppy--called _me_ a puppy!"

"You shouldn't bark so loud, then. I don't know that any but puppies
interrupt people who are busy in conversation. When will you learn to
keep still, Fitz?"

"When! When justice and humanity no longer require me to speak in tones
of thunder against oppression! Mother, we have struck the enemy a fatal
blow! Didn't you see him cringe?"

"No, I didn't see him cringe. I am only sorry that I consented to have
this suit brought against Mr. Checkynshaw."

"O, mother! After all, you are only a woman!"

"Stop your nonsensical talk, Fitz! Why don't you go out and try to find
a place to work?"

"A place to work!" sneered Fitz. "In a few weeks--be it a few months,
if you please--we shall be in possession of that block of stores, with
fifty thousand dollars in the bank. What need have I of a place?
Besides, I have this trial to look out for."

"I think your father can attend to that better without you than with
you."

"Father means well, and I trust he will do well," added the hopeful
son, patronizingly. "But father's infirmity has weakened him. He is
only the ghost of what he was."

"Are you not ashamed of yourself to speak of your father in that way,
Fitz? Don't you make another such remark as that; if you do, you shall
not stay in the house with him. Your father has more knowledge and
experience in one hair of his head than you have in the whole of your
silly brain."

"Was I not right about this affair? Have I not persisted, from the
beginning, that the child was dead?"

"That remains to be proved."

"I think I understand this business better than any other man; and if
you are beaten in the suit, it will only be because father does not
take my advice. I have studied the case. I have given my whole, my
undivided attention to the matter for several weeks."

"It would have been better if you had given your undivided attention to
something else."

"Mother, I see that you are bound to follow after foolishness rather
than wisdom. But I cannot forget that I am your son, and that you are
my mother. I shall not willingly permit your interests to be
sacrificed. I advised father to retain Choate. He has not seen fit to
do so. This shows that he don't understand the matter; that he does not
comprehend the difficulty in fighting a man like Checkynshaw, who is
both wealthy and influential. Choate can carry the case.