The man listened stolidly.
"And you tell me your government orders you to take ladies' jackets from them. It seems incredible!"
'Tilda Jane curiously scanned the garment under discussion. It certainly was very handsome.
"It is incredible, madam. The government does not wish to deprive ladies of their sealskin coats. It merely requires its custom officials, of whom I am one, to enforce the law which has been made to prevent the importation of sealskin coats free of duty."
"And have you taken many jackets?" sneered the woman.
The official gazed at her in frigid silence.
"I'll go right back to Toronto, where I live," she said, indignantly. "I was going to buy my daughter's trousseau in New York, but I'll spend every cent at home. That's the way we will make New York suffer on account of your government being so hateful!" and she flounced from the room. The man behind the table cast a leisurely glance over the remaining occupants of the room. Then he addressed the dejected boy and girl.
"Hello, you!—what's your name?"
"Thaddeus and Mary Lee," said the boy, mournfully.