"Come on, what do you want to see me about? Get it over with and get
out. It can't help my case any if it gets noised around that you
come down here to pay a friendly visit to me. I'm havin' a hard
enough time as it is. It's gettin' so it's almost impossible to get
back into the pen even--"

"See here, Cassius, I've been giving your case a great deal--of
serious thought. I want to help you out of this scrape if there is
any way to do it."

"That's just what I thought you'd be up to," groaned Cassius.
"What's got into you? Have you soured on life, or what is it?"

"Not a bit of it. You do not get my meaning. Your wife came to see
me yesterday afternoon."

"My wife? Which one?"

"A tallish one with a flat nose."

"Yes, I know her. What'd she want?"

"She asked me to be as easy on you as I could, on account of the
children."

"How many children has she got now?"

"Four, she informs me. The youngest is two and a half."

Cassius seemed to be doing a bit of mental arithmetic. He pondered