"I don't want to be any better than Robert. He's a first-rate fellow."
"He is an impudent cub."
"That is only your opinion."
"I am his step-father, and in the eyes of the law I am as a real father to him. Yet instead of minding me he openly defies me."
"I don't know but what I would do the same," answered Palmer coolly.
"I want to do what is right by him—make something of him—but he won't let me do it."
"He is able to take care of himself."
"No, he is not. Sooner or later he'll be going to the dogs."
"He told me all about how you had treated him. I don't blame him for leaving home, although it may be possible that he would have done better by sticking to his mother."
"Do you mean to insinuate that his mother may need him?"