"Yes—yes."
"And then at night, when there ought to be a little sort of comfort round the fireside, there ain't none."
"But Johanna, Ben—there is Johanna?"
"Johanna?"
"Yes. Is she not there to see to some of her father's comforts? She loves him—I know she does, Ben!"
Ben placed his finger by the side of his nose, and in an aside to himself, he said—
"Now I'll touch her up a bit—now I'll punish her for all she has done, and it will serve her right." Then, elevating his voice, he added—"Did you mention Johanna?"
"Yes, Ben, I did."
"Then I'm sorry you did. Perhaps you think she's been seeing to the old man's comforts a little—airing his night-cap, and so on—Eh? Is that the idea?"
"Yes, I know that she would do anything gladly for her father. She was always most tenderly attached to him."