"It’s his wife; she wants five thousand dollars damages."

Aunt Mary’s lips tightened.

"Five thousand dollars!" she said, with a bitter patience. "I can see that
this is goin’ to be an awful business. Five thousand dollars! Dear, dear!
I must say that that wife sets a pretty high price on her husband—at
least, a’cordin’ to my order of thinkin’, she does. From what I’ve seen of
cabmen, I’d undertake to get her another just as good for a tenth of the
money, any day."

Arethusa was silent, staring thoughtfully at the newspaper cuts of a great
Tammany leader and a noted pugilist, which had been labeled as the
principals in the family tragedy.

Aunt Mary turned over another of the many papers received, and scanned its
sensational columns afresh.

"Arethusa," she exclaimed suddenly, "do you know, I bet anythin’ I know
what this editor means to insinuate? It just strikes me that he’s tryin’
to give the impression that our boy’s been drinkin’."

"Perhaps so," Arethusa screamed.

"Well, I don’t believe it," said Aunt Mary firmly, "and I ain’t goin’ to
believe it. And I ain’t goin’ to pay no five thousand dollars for no
cabman’s brains, neither. You write to Mr. Stebbins to compromise on two
or maybe three."

She stopped and bit her lips and shook her head. "I don’t see why Jack