“No.”
“Did they sneer when they talked to their elders and betters?”
“No; but we are only Miriam's elders, mind—not her betters.”
“Could they smile without looking supercilious, and could they open their mouths without showing their superiority?”
“Of course they could.”
“There you are then! One more question—about Mr. Oliver this time. When you left the old country he hadn't the position he has now, had he?”
“No, no; very far from it. He was just beginning business, and in a small way, too. Now he is a very wealthy man.”
“Then he hadn't got as good an education as he's been able to give his children, I reckon?”
“No, you're right. We went to school together, he and I,” said Mr. Teesdale simply.
“Then don't you see?” cried his son, jumping up from the sofa where he had been sitting, while the old man still walked up and down the room. “Don't you see, father? Mr. Oliver was warning you against what he himself had suffered from. You bet that Miss Miriam picks him up, and snubs him and sneers at him, just as she does with us!”