"No, no," she said.

"He didn't hear you--it wouldn't have mattered--he doesn't matter anyway." "Oh, POOR Walter!" The mother cried.

"Oh, the POOR boy! Poor, poor Walter! Poor, poor, poor, POOR----" "Hush, dear, hush!" Alice tried to soothe her, but the lament could not be abated, and from the other side of the room a repetition in a different spirit was as continuous.

Adams paced furiously there, pounding his fist into his left palm as he strode.

"The dang boy!" he said.