He drove off slowly, evidently doing a lot of hard thinking.
"Poor old man!" muttered Tom sympathetically.
"He looks a bit slow-witted," Prescott suggested.

"I'm afraid he has always been going through life wondering at the doings of others, and especially at the success of unprincipled men he has had to deal with." "Do you know," remarked Reade, gazing after the bent, huddled little figure, "I've a notion that there has been a lot in that poor fellow's life that has been downright tragic." Tragic?
Without doubt! Moreover, though Dick could not guess it, he and his friends were soon to be mixed up in the tragic side of Peddler Hinman's life..