"William Trupp!" she said, "I believe you're a Socialist."
"My dear," he answered, "I've been told that before."
"Bess and I don't want to hear your viewy views," continued the lady. "We want to talk about flesh-and-blood Ernie and how to help him."
"Hear! hear!" said Bess.
"My dears," replied the annoying man, "it's just Ernie I'm talking about. He's growing again. My old friend Necessity's at work on him once more."
CHAPTER XLIX
ALF MARKS TIME
The scene outside the parish-church in Old Town, when Mrs. Lewknor challenged the Archdeacon, marked the turn in Ernie's material fortunes.
The Reverend Spink handed on his version of the affair to Mr. Pigott at the Relief Committee that evening.
"He was laying on his face in the road dead drunk opposite the church-door when his brother picked him up," he reported, round-eyed and spectacled. "His poor, poor people!"