he plied him with questions and hung on his words too intent to attend to his own eating unless admonished thereto by his sister.

“If you don’t eat, son, I’ll send you back to mother,” she threatened.

“I won’t go,” he rebelled joyously. “I’ll jes’ set here ‘longside brothah David.”

“No, you won’t, young man. You’ll do whatever sister says. That’s what I do.” He put his hand on the boy’s tousled head and turned him about to his plate, well filled with food still untouched, but he noticed that the child ate listlessly, more as an act of obedience than from a normal desire. He glanced up at his wife and saw that she also noticed Hoyle’s languor. They finished the meal in a silence only broken by Hoyle’s