“What do you know of that Scum?”
“Oh, my!” said Aunt Judy, shocked at the speech, “I don’t know much, to be sure, but you mustn’t speak like that! He’s a holy man!”
“Holy caterpillar!” Pete snorted. “He’s a first-class fake. I don’t say there aren’t true and sincere theosophists, but I never happened to meet any. And, take it from me, this Lal person isn’t one of them. Who is he?”
“Why, I don’t know,” Aunt Judy spoke helplessly. “He’s a friend of the Penns—”
“Mrs. Penn, or both?”
“Mostly Polly’s friend, I guess. But Jim likes him, too.”
“And Emily likes him?”
“Oh, they’re all crazy about him. He has made a hit in the place, and he’s invited everywhere and all the best people go to his meetings and lectures.”
“Of course they do! Well, he’s no Swami, to begin with, and I doubt if he’
