It is the more to your credit that you have been able to raise yourself up among us--and so very young! You are not more than forty, are you ?" "Thirty-four," said Craig surlily.

He began to feel like a cur that is getting a beating from a hand beyond the reach of its fangs.

"I've had a hard life--" "So I should judge," thrust the old lady with gentle sympathy.

It is not necessary to jab violently with a red-hot iron in order to make a deep burn.
"But I am the better for it," continued Craig, eyes flashing and orator lips in action.

"And you and your kind--your granddaughter Margaret--would be the better for having faced--for having to face--the realities of life instead of being pampered in luxury and uselessness." "Then why be resentful ?" inquired she.