"Well, Dan, I'll stop now that you are at home. You want some supper."
"Let me get it, mother."
"No, Dan, it will be a relief to me to stir around a little, as I have been sitting so long."
"Oh, I nearly forgot, mother—here's a nice pear I bought for you."
"It does look nice," said Mrs. Mordaunt. "I don't feel hungry, but I can eat that. But where is yours, Dan?"
"Oh, I've eaten mine," answered Dan, hastily.
It was not true, but God will forgive such falsehoods.
"You'd better eat half of this."
"No; I'll be——flummuxed if I do," said Dan, pausing a little for an unobjectionable word.
Mrs. Mordaunt set the little table for two. On it she spread a neat cloth, and laid the plain supper—a plate of bread, ditto of butter, and a few slices of cold meat. Soon the tea was steeped, and mother and son sat down for the evening meal.