"Politics."
"How silly! You know very well he never meddles with politics, thank goodness! He thinks he has something better to do."
"That's just what I want to see him about," said Laurence.
"You mentioned a—a Mr. Hunter." Mary Virginia spoke after a short pause. "This is the first time I've heard of any Mr. Hunter in Appleboro. Who is Mr. Hunter?"
"Inglesby's right-bower, and the king-card of the pack," said Laurence promptly.
"One of them which set up golden images in high places and make all Israel for to sin," said my mother. "That's what Howard Hunter is!"
"Oh, ... Howard Hunter!" said she. "What sort of a person may he be? And what is he doing here in Appleboro?"
We told her according to our lights. Only the Butterfly Man sat silent and imperturbable.
"And you'll meet him everywhere," finished my mother. "He's everything a man should be to the naked eye, and I sincerely hope," she added piously, "that you won't like him at all."
Mary Virginia leaned back in her chair, and glanced thoughtfully down at the slim ringless hands clasped in her white lap.