"N-no, not exactly. I want to please them."
"Oh!" said Mr. Devering, "that fatal wish to please. It has slain its millions."
"I love to see boys and girls comfortable in their minds," said Dallas wistfully.
"And if they expect you to know how to do a thing you lie to gratify them—but when they find you out—then they're not happy."
Dallas said nothing and his uncle went on, "When I was a boy there was a weak-minded lad living near us. The children all picked at him. The grown-ups were always after us for it. Do you catch my meaning?"
Dallas hung his head. "Yes, my Uncle. The weak go to the wall. I've read that in history."
"Now my children know you have weak points. They'll play on them. We must stop them. You want to be a decent man, don't you?"
"Oh! yes, I do indeed."
"Well! what are you going to do about it?"