"But look here, Mrs. Houseley, do you really think it makes much
difference to a man, whether he can hold a serious conversation or
not?" asked the doctor.

"I do indeed, all the difference in the world--To me, there is no
greater difference, than between an educated man and an uneducated
man."

"And where does it come in?" asked Kirk.

"But wait a bit, now," said Aaron Sisson. "You take an educated man--
take Pender. What's his education for? What does he scheme for?--What
does he contrive for? What does he talk for?--"

"For all the purposes of his life," replied the landlady.

"Ay, an' what's the purpose of his life?" insisted Aaron Sisson.

"The purpose of his life," repeated the landlady, at a loss. "I should
think he knows that best himself."

"No better than I know it--and you know it," said Aaron.

"Well," said the landlady, "if you know, then speak out. What is it?"

"To make more money for the firm--and so make his own chance of a
rise better."

The landlady was baffled for some moments. Then she said: