There was a pause. Benjamin Wright was reminding himself that in handling a boy, one must be careful not to Say the wrong thing; one must express one's self with reserve and delicacy; one must weigh one's words--boys were such jackasses. "Well;" he said, "got over your fool falling in love with a female old enough to be your mother?" Sam looked at him. "I hope your trip has put sense into you on that subject, anyhow?" "I love Mrs. Richie as much as I ever did, if that's what you mean, sir," Sam said listlessly. Upon which his grandfather flew into instant rage. "As much in love as ever! Gad-a-mercy! Well; I give you up, sir, I give you up. I spend my money to get you out of this place, away from this female, old enough to be your grandmother, and you come back and say you are as much in love with her as ever. I swear, I don't believe you have a drop of my blood in you!" He flung his cigar away, and plunged his hand down into the ginger-jar on the bench beside him; "A little boy like you, just in breeches! Why, your mother ought to put you over her knee, and--" he stopped. "You have no sense, Sam," he added with startling mildness. But Sam's face was as red as his grandfather's. "She is only ten years older than I. That is nothing. Nothing at all. If she will overlook my comparative youth and marry me, I--" "Damnation!" his grandfather screamed.. "_She_ overlook? _She_?" "I am younger," the boy said; "but love isn't a matter of age. It's a matter of the soul." "A matter of the soul!" said Benjamin Wright; "a matter of--of a sugar-tit for a toothless baby! Which is just about what you are. That female, I tell you could have dandled you on her knee ten years ago." Sam got up; he was trembling all over. "You needn't insult me," he said. Instantly his grandfather was calm. He stopped chewing orange-skin, and looked hard at his ridgy finger-nails. "I shall ask her again," Sam said. "I said I wouldn't, but I will. I must. That was why I came back. And as for my age, that's her business and mine." "You've drunk too much," said his grandfather, "Sit down. I've something to say to you. You can't marry that woman. Do you understand me?" "You mean she doesn't care for me?" Sam laughed noisily. "I'll make her. Old--young--what does it matter? She must!" He flung up his arms, and then sank down and hid his face in his hands. "Sammy," said the old man, and stopped. "Sam, it can't be. Don't you understand me? She isn't fit to marry." The young man gaped at him, blankly. "She's--bad," Benjamin Wright said, in a low voice. "How dare you!" cried the other, his frowning bewilderment changing slowly to fury; "how dare you? If she had a relative here to protect her, you would never dare! If her brother was here, he would shoot you; but she has me, and I--" "Her _brother_!" said Benjamin Wright; "Sam, my boy, he isn't her brother."