"I know if my Joe made a mistake what I should do," she said. "What then?" sharply. "Forgive him," replied the other. Mrs. Caspar flared up. "You wouldn't, not if your Joe's father----" She pulled up short. Loyalty to her husband was the soul of Anne Caspar. On her way home the Doctor's wife met Mr. Pigott. The sanguine little man stopped short. "You've heard?" said Mrs. Trupp. The other nodded, surly as a baited bear. "Ern was round at my place first thing Sunday to tell me. He kept nothing back." Mr. Pigott dropped his voice like a stage-conspirator. "That young Alf's at the bottom of this, I'll lay." Mrs. Trupp was shocked. "Did Ernie say so?" "No," fiercely. "He wouldn't give his brother away--not he. But I know." He came closer. "I tell you the Devil's in that boy. I can see him leering at me from behind the mask of Alf's face. There is no Alf Caspar. He's only a blind. But there is a Devil!" "O, Mr. Pigott!" murmured the lady. "Yes, you may O Mr. Pigott me!" cried the wrathful man. "But I've watched. I know. He's the cuckoo kind, Alf is. He wants the place to himself. It's me and mum all the time. His father don't count; and Ern's to be jostled out of the nest. Then there'll be room for him to grow. I curse the day Mr. Trupp saved his miserable little life." "Hush! hush! hush!" said the lady. "Yes, I know Alf's one of Mr. Trupp's darlings," continued the other. "And I know why. You know my old bicycle they all laugh at. I bought it for ten shillings from a pedlar and patched it up myself. It's the worst bike in Old Town, but I saved it from the scrap-heap, so I think the world of it. Same with Mr. Trupp and young Alf." Mrs. Trupp reported to her husband that Mr. Pigott had become almost blasphemous over Alf. "I know," grunted the Doctor. "He's not fair to the boy. Alf's stunted; of course he's stunted. He's grown up all wrong. The wonder is he's grown up at all. He's a standing witness to the power of Nature to make the most of a bad job." It was next day that Mrs. Caspar came round, as appointed, to see the Doctor, who was much more to her than a physician. Mr. Trupp had now come to a decision as to the best course to be taken. "You must send him right away," he said. "That's his best chance." "Dad won't hear of the Colonies," the other replied. "Says it's so far and he'll never see the boy again once he gets out there. Stood up and fought me fairly!" And it was clear from the way she said it that the resistance encountered from her husband had been as rare as it was astonishing. "I didn't mean the Colonies," the other replied. "What then?" "The Army." Mrs. Caspar's face fell. She was momentarily shocked: for she belonged to a sect that had for generations been despitefully used by the powers that be. And the weapon of the powers that be is always in the last resort the Army. "Discipline is what the boy wants," said Mr. Trupp. "It's what we all want."