Then Ida thought that the time for her carefully-led-up-to coup had arrived. “I try to,” said she, meekly.
“You do.”
Ida began to speak, then she hesitated, with timid eyes on her husband's face.
“What is it, dear?” asked he.
“Well, I have been thinking a good deal lately about Maria and her associates in school here.”
“Why, what is the matter with them?” Harry asked, uneasily.
“Oh, I don't know that there is anything very serious the matter with them, but Maria is at an age when she is very impressible, and there are many who are not exactly desirable. There is Gladys Mann, for instance. I saw Maria walking down the street with her the other day. Now, Harry, you know that Gladys Mann is not exactly the kind of girl whom Maria's own mother would have chosen for an intimate friend for her.”
“You are right,” Harry said, frowning.
“Well, I have been thinking over the number of pupils of both sexes in the school who can be called degenerates, either in mind or morals, and I must say I was alarmed.”
“Well, what is to be done?” asked Harry, moodily. “Maria must go to school, of course.”