"I don't, ma'am."
"Then, if I take the pledge, will you?" Mrs. Fowler inquired eagerly.
"Yes," Josiah answered, "I don't see that I can say 'no' to that."
An hour later, Mrs. Fowler entered the drawing-room at Greystone, where her little daughter was seated alone near the fire, reading. Margaret put down her book, whilst her mother, who had removed her walking garments, sank rather wearily into an easy-chair.
"I have been talking to your father, my dear," Mrs. Fowler said with a smile. "I suppose, like him, you want to hear about Salome first of all," and she proceeded to give an account of her interview with the lame girl, and to explain the arrangement that had been made for her to remain with the Moyles for the present.
"And did her father really set the cottage on fire?" Margaret inquired.
"Yes. He was intoxicated, and pulled off the lamp in clutching at the table-cloth. It is fortunate neither he nor Salome was burnt. My dear, I have a piece of news for you."
"Yes?" Margaret said, interrogatively, as Mrs. Fowler paused.
"Josiah Petherick has consented to take the pledge, and I am going to take the pledge too!"
"Mother!"