her.'

But he listened with a dull, glazed look in his eyes, and a grunt now
and then, while she read extracts aloud, until by-and-by, in spite of
his efforts to repress it, a kind of hard grin of satisfaction began
to widen his mouth.

'Where's this precious book to be got?' he said at last.

'Are you so sure he's disgraced you, _now_, Uncle?' demanded Trixie
triumphantly.

'Men's praise is of little value,' said Mrs. Ashburn, harshly. 'Your
uncle and we look at what Mark has done from the Christian's
standpoint.'

'Well, look here, y' know. Suppose we go into the matter now; let's
talk it out a bit,' said Uncle Solomon, coming out of a second brown
study. 'What 'ave you got against Mark?'

'What have I got against him, Solomon?' echoed his sister in supreme
amazement.

'Yes; what's he done to set you all shaking your heads at?'

'Why, surely there's no need to tell you? Well, first there's his
ingratitude to _you_, after all you've done for him!'

'Put me out of the question!' said Mr. Lightowler, with a magnanimous
sweep of his hand, 'I can take care of myself, I should 'ope. What _I_
want to get at is what he's done to _you_. What do _you_ accuse the
boy of doing, Matthew, eh?'

Poor little Mr. Ashburn seemed completely overwhelmed by this sudden
demand on him. 'I? oh, I--well, Jane has strong views, you know,
Solomon, decided opinions on these subjects, and--and so have I!' he
concluded feebly.

'Um,' said Mr. Lightowler, half to himself, 'shouldn't a' thought that
was what's the matter with _you_! Well, Jane, then I come back to you.
What's he done? Come, he hasn't robbed a church, or forged a cheque,
has he?'

'If you wish me to tell you what you know perfectly well already, he
has, in defiance of what he knows I feel on this subject, connected
himself with a thing I strongly disapprove of--a light-minded
fiction.'

'Now you know, Jane, that's all your confounded--I'm speaking to you
as a brother, you know--your confounded narrer-minded nonsense!
Supposing he has written a "light-minded fiction," as you call it,
where's the harm of it?'

'With the early training you received together with me, Solomon, I
wonder you can ask! You know very well what would have been thought of
reading, to say nothing of writing, a novel in our young days. And it
cuts me to the heart to think that a son of mine should place another
stumbling-block in the hands of youth.'

'Stumbling grandmother!' cried Mr. Lighto