ers have got wives?"

"Why ain't your mother his wife? Yes, why? After ten years he'll find
that question as hard to answer as it was before you were born, I
reckon. And the answer to the question is the same as the answer to many
questions about Raymond Ironsyde. And that is, that he is a crooked man
who pretends to be a straight one; in a word, a hypocrite. And you'll
grow up to understand these things and see what should be yours taken
from you and given to other people."

"When I grow up, I'll have it out with him," said Abel.

"No, you won't. Because he's strong and you're weak. You're weak and
poor and nobody, with no father to fight for you and give you a show in
the world. And you'll always be the same, so you'll never stand any
chance against him."

The boy flushed and showed anger.

"I won't be weak and poor always."

"Against him you will. Suppose you went so far as to let him befriend
you, could he ever make up for not marrying your mother? Can he ever
make you anything but a bastard and an outcast? No, he can't; and he
only wants to educate you and give you a bit of money and decent clothes
for the sake of his own conscience. He'll come to you hat in hand some
day--not because he cares a damn for you, but that he may stand well in
the eyes of the world."

Abel now panted with anger, and Mr. Baggs was mildly amused to see how
easily the child could be played upon.

"I'll grow up and then--"

"Don't you worry. You must take life as you find it, and as you haven't
found it a very kind thing, you must put up with it. Most people draw
blanks, and that's why it's better to stop out of the world than in it.
And if we could see into the bottom of every heart, we should very
likely find that all draw blanks, and even what looks like prizes are
not."

Levi laughed after this sweeping announcement. It appeared to put him in
a good temper. He even relaxed in the gravity of his prophecies.

"However, life is on the side of youth," he said, "and you may come to
the front some day, if you've got enough brains. Brains is the only
thing that'll save you. Your mother's clever and your father's crafty,
so perhaps you'll go one better than either. Perhaps, some day, if you
wait long enough, you'll get back on your father, after all."

"I will wait long enough," declared Abel. "I don't care how long I
wait, but I'll best him, Mister Baggs."

"You keep in that righteous spirit and you'll breed a bit of trouble fo