"And you 'll have your rent, eh, Mrs. Malone?"
"Tom," said Bessie, "do be still. What is the news, Mrs. Malone?"
"You are a couple of gossips," declared Moore, sitting on the table between Bessie and the old woman. "Oh, well, scandal is the spice of life they say."
"Well," began Mrs. Malone, in a tone appropriate to the importance of her story, "it seems that Sweeny, who kapes the grocery next door but two, has been having throuble with his darter."
"My, oh, my!" exclaimed Moore, properly horrified at the unfilial behavior of the young person mentioned.
"Hush, Tom,"
"Why don't he spank the girl?" demanded the poet. "If my daughter--"
"Tom!" said Bessie, giving him a reproving pinch.
"Well, I mean if ever I have a daughter."
"When you have will be time enough to tell about her, won't it, Mrs. Malone."