"Pa, supper's ready!" announced Loammi, opening the door.
"Will you walk out and take supper with us, Seth?"
"Thank you, Ezra. It will be pleasant to sit down with relations. It is many years since I have done so."
Seth Lawton was introduced to Mrs. Little, who greeted him kindly, though, like her husband and son, she looked upon him as a poor relation. She had a better disposition than they, and was not so worldly minded.
Seth Lawton was seated next to Scott on one side of the table. Opposite sat Loammi.
"Put the two poor relations together, ma," he had said to his mother, beforehand. "Pa'll have his hands full if any more come to the city."
"They are not to blame for their poverty," returned Mrs. Little.
"I should hate to be poor," said Loammi, emphatically.
"Your father and I were poor once."
"But you got bravely over it. That's because pa was smart. This old man—Seth Lawton—looks as if he wasn't worth a hundred dollars, and he must be ten years older than pa."