"Yes, ma'am, I know him."
"Have you known him long?"
"As far back as I can remember."
"Did you live in the same town?"
"Yes, ma'am."
"Where?"
"Scranton."
"You must pardon my curiosity, but my brother—Chester's father—engaged this boy without apparently knowing much about him, except that he had been on the stage."
"He wasn't on the stage long."
"Perhaps not, but probably he didn't get any good from it. What is your opinion of him. Though, as you are his friend——"