"Oh, don't, Dick," pleaded the woman, who was fond of children, though she had never been a mother.
"I'll give the brat something to cry for," said her husband, and he pinched him again.
"Oh, Dick, how can you torture the poor child?" said his wife, braver in the little boy's defence than in her own.
"What business has it to cry, then? I'd like to choke it. If you don't hush I'll serve you the same way."
Jasper had listened to this brutality as long as he could, but his indignation became too hot to be repressed. Thoughtless of consequences, he burst open the closet door and strode into the presence of the astonished ruffian, his fists involuntarily clenched, and his eyes kindling with indignation.
A STRANGE COMMISSION.
The man whom we have called Dick stopped short and gazed in astonishment at the boy who had so fearlessly stepped upon the scene.
"Where did you come from?" he demanded, frowning.
"From that closet," answered Jasper.