me a bad name in the county. It would be against me when I settle
down to live here. I think quarrelling is the most foolish thing a
man can do,--especially with his own relations."

"I can only say this, John;--let me know if he is coming, so that I
may not be called upon to meet him. I will not eat at table with
Reginald Morton." So saying the old lady, in a stately fashion,
stalked out of the room.



CHAPTER IX

The Old Kennels


On the next morning Mrs. Morton asked her grandson what he meant to
do with reference to his suggested invitation to Reginald. "As you
will not meet him of course I have given up the idea," he said. The
"of course" had been far from true. He had debated the matter very
much with himself. He was an obstinate man, with something of
independence in his spirit. He liked money, but he liked having his
own way too. The old lady looked as though she might live to be a
hundred,--and though she might last only for ten years longer, was
it worth his while to be a slave for that time? And he was by no
means sure of her money, though he should be a slave. He almost
made up his mind that he would ask Reginald Morton. But then the
old lady would be in her tantrums, and there would be the
disagreeable necessity of making an explanation to that
inquisitive gentleman Mr. Elias Gotobed.