"What do you think of it?" inquired the Elder, still seeming to take it as a joke.

"Have you ever considered the outcome in case he should get a judgment against you? He accuses you of having alienated the affections of his wife, your daughter."

"Granting that he secured a judgment?"

"And you could not pay it?"

"Certainly, I could not."

"Then he could remand you to jail for six months by paying your keep."

When the Elder, accompanied by Glavis, returned home, both understood Jean Baptiste a little better than they had ever before....


CHAPTER IX

GOSSIP