'Oh, papa! he really is a man you will not dislike—if you won't be shocked to begin with.'
'But, Margaret, to bring a drunken man home—and your mother so ill!'
Margaret's countenance fell. 'I am sorry, papa. He is very quiet—he is not tipsy at all. He was only rather strange at first, but that might be the shock of poor Bessy's death.' Margaret's eyes filled with tears. Mr. Hale took hold of her sweet pleading face in both his hands, and kissed her forehead.
'It is all right, dear. I'll go and make him as comfortable as I can, and do you attend to your mother. Only, if you can come in and make a third in the study, I shall be glad.'
'Oh, yes—thank you.' But as Mr. Hale was leaving the room, she ran after him:
'Papa—you must not wonder at what he says: he's an—— I mean he does not beli
