"What mischief has delayed ye this time?" asked the oldest of the men, and one whose bloated visage suggested reckless dissipation.
"I only stopped, pop, to stone the parson," the boy coolly answered.
"Ye might have been in better business," growled his father.
"Yes, such as gettin' drunk and beatin' the ole woman," Ray, in perfect mimicry of his father's tones, replied.
A low oath was the only answer.
"What did the parson do?" one of the women at the table, a sister of the lad, asked curiously.
"Picked up his hat, put it on his head, and asked me to knock it off again," replied the lad, while he still ate greedily.
"I don't believe it," said another sister.
"He certainly did, and I as certainly knocked it off again," affirmed Ray.
"Then what did he do?" asked one of his brothers, moving back from the table.