well before speaking. Then he said: "Did she say whose children?"

"I assumed them to be yours, Cassius."

Smilk grinned. "Well, I guess she's adopted a couple since the last
time I saw her, which was five years ago last Spring. I been married
twice since then. So she wants you to go easy on me, eh?"

"She seems to think that if I intercede for you the judge will let
you off with a suspended sentence, and then you can go to work and
support your family."

"It's time she woke up," snarled Smilk.

"I been at large quite a bit in the last ten years and if she can
prove that I ever supported her,--why, darn her hide, what right has
she got to accuse me of supportin' her when she knows I've never
been guilty of doin' it? She knows as well as anything that she
supported me on three different occasions when I was out for a month
or two at a stretch. I will say this for her, she supported me
better than the other two did,--a lot better. And it's her own fault
her nose is flat. If she'd stood still that time--But I'm not goin'
to discuss family affairs with you, Mr. Yol--"

"Sh! Easy!"

"It's all right. He ain't listenin'."

"What is your brother-in-law's name?" in a whisper.