"Since you seem to have heard a little about the matter, I feel I must say that my brother deliberately left us at a time when his father had expected him to be of service to him." Ida did not know whether the others could hear what was being said, as there was a strip of lawn between them and where she sat, but she felt that it did not greatly matter.

She had no pity for this man or his daughter, who preferred to malign the absent rather than to admit an unpleasant fact.

She would strip them of any solace they might find in shams, after which there was a little more to be said.
"The difference of opinion was, I believe, decided with a riding-crop," she said.

"Still, that is a side issue, and I will tell you what I meant by good company.

We have quite a few of your graduates out yonder laying railroad ties, as well as lawyers who have got into trouble over trust money, and army men who couldn't meet their turf debts or were a little too smart at cards.