Tradesmen ran to their shop-doors to
see him, and smoking amphibians lounging at street corners broke out into
sunny smiles as he passed. He met these annoyances with a set face and a
cold eye, but his views concerning children were not improved by the
crowd of small creatures which fluttered along the road ahead of him and,
hopeful of developments, clustered round the gate as he passed in.
[Illustration: "He met these annoyances with a set face."]
It is the pride and privilege of most returned wanderers to hold forth
at great length concerning their adventures, but Captain Nugent was
commendably brief. At first he could hardly be induced to speak of them
at all, but the necessity of contradicting stories which Bella had
gleaned for Mrs. Kingdom from friends in town proved too strong for him.
He ground his teeth with suppressed fury as he listened to some of them.
The truth was bad enough, and his daughter, sitting by his side with her
hand in his, was trembling with indignation.
"Poor father," she said, tenderly; "what a time you must have had."
"It won't bear thinking of," said Mrs. Kingdom, not to be outdone in
sympathy.
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