be hard--hard--and I lay a week's wages that he'll get out of his
responsibilities by shovelling 'em on his dead father."

"How can he?" asked Sarah.

"By letting things be as they are. By saying his father knew best."

"Young men never think that," answered she. "'Tis well known that no
young man ever thought his father knew better than himself."

"Then he'll pretend to for his own convenience."

"What about all that talk of changes for the better before Mister
Ironsyde died then?"

"Talk of dead men won't go far. We'll hear no more of that."

Sarah frowned and went her way. At the door, however, she turned.

"I might get to hear something about it next Sunday very like," she
said. "I'm going into Bridport to my Aunt Nelly at 'The Seven Stars';
and she's a great friend of Richard Gurd at 'The Tiger'; and 'tis there
Mister Raymond spends half his time, they say. So Mr. Gurd may have
learned a bit about it."

"No doubt he'll hear a lot of words, and as for Raymond Ironsyde, his
father knew him for a man with a bit of a heart in him and didn't trust
him accordingly. But you can take it from me--"

A bell rang and its note struck Mr. Baggs dumb. He ceased both to speak