Under Sealed Orders | Page 8

for you."
"All right, Dick," was her reply. "I shall be down in a few minutes.
Why did you wait for me? You had better go to dinner at once, if you
are so hungry."
It took Lois but a short time upstairs, and when she came down she
found the three men in the dining-room. Her father was in one of his
surly moods, and this she could tell at the first glance. He was a short
man, somewhat stout, and pompous both in appearance and manner.
Fortunate it was that his only daughter had inherited none of his
qualities, but was more like her mother, whose memory she cherished
with undying affection. Since her death home had been more of a
prison to her than anything else. Neither her father nor her only brother
had understood her, and she was forced to depend more and more upon
her own reliant self.
"What kept you so late, Lois?" her father asked as soon as she had
taken her place at the table. "You know very well that I do not like to
wait for dinner."

"I am very sorry, father," was the reply, "but I became so greatly
interested in an old man and a girl out on the river that I had no idea
how time was passing."
"Who were they, Lois?" her brother enquired.
"What new creatures have you picked up now? You haven't run out of
homeless cats and dogs, have you?"
The colour mounted to Lois' temples at these words, for it was not the
first time she had 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. "He'll be as
interesting as your other protégé, I assure you. By the way, I saw him
this afternoon, and he looked his part all right, ho, ho," and Dick
laughed as he gulped down his tea.
"Who's that, Dick?" Mr. Sinclair inquired.
"Oh, Lois knows," was the reply. "She can tell you all about 'Spuds' as
well as I can, and maybe better."
"Why should I know?" his sister asked, somewhat sharply. "I only met
him once, and that was years ago."
"But you always take his