"Can you not think of any possible reason for his present condition? He was not always so."
"Indeed he was not. John Lewis was considered one of the likeliest young men in Munroe County when I married him. I wish we had always stayed there. But he thought he could better his fortune by emigrating to Boone Lick."
"How long did you live there?"
"Three years. You were a baby when we came away."
"Didn't father do as well as he had expected?"
"No; and, besides, he got into trouble with a family by the name of Raggles, and——"
"What was the first name of that man, mother?" asked Little Snap, showing excitement.
"I never knew exactly, but I think it was Nick. I know there was a big family."
"Did you ever hear of an Absalom Raggles?"
"I have heard your father speak the name. I think he was a cousin of the others."