'For shame o' yourself, John If you can't talk better sense than
that, don't talk at all. He don't mean it, Sidney. He's half drove
off his head with trouble.'

'If he does think it,' said Kirkwood, speaking sternly but with
self-command, 'let him say what he likes. He can't say worse than I
should deserve.'

There was an instant of silence. Hewett's head hung with more than
the usual doggedness. Then he addressed Sidney, sullenly, but in a
tone which admitted his error.

'What have you got to say? Never mind me. I'm only the girl's
father, an' there's not much heed paid to fathers nowadays. What
have you got to say about Clara? If you've changed your mind about
her goin' there, just tell me why.'

Sidney could not bring himself to speak at once, but an appealing
look from Mrs. Hewett decided him.

'Look here, Mr. Hewett,' he began, with blunt earnestness. If any
harm came to Clara I should feel it every bit as much as you, and
that you ought to know by this time. All the same, what I've got to
say is this: Let her go to Mrs. Tubbs for a month's trial. If you
persist in refusing her, mark my words, you'll be sorry. I've
thought it all over, and I know what I'm talking about. The girl
can't put up with the work. room any longer. It's ruining her
health, for one thing, anybody can see that, and it's making her so
discontented, she'll soon get reckless. I understand your feeling
well enough, but I understand her as well; at all events, I believe