Squire Dixon was a rich man. He was paid by the town for his services as overseer, yet he was not above accepting five dollars a month from the man he had installed in office. He had never distinctly asked for it, but he had hinted in a manner not to be mistaken that it would be politic for Mr. Fogson to allow him a percentage on their salary and profits. They got the money back, and more, for in auditing their accounts he did not scrutinize too closely the prices they claimed to have paid for supplies. It was an arrangement mutually advantageous, which had never occurred to Mr. and Mrs. Avery, who in their scrupulous honesty were altogether behind the times, according to the squire's thinking.
"And how many paupers have you in the house at present, Mrs. Fogson?" asked the overseer.
"Nineteen, squire. Would you like to look at them?"
"Well, perhaps in my official capacity it would be as well."
"Come in here, then," and Mrs. Fogson led the way into a large room where sat the paupers, a forlorn, unhappy-looking company. Two of the old ladies were knitting; one young woman, who had lost her child, and with it her mind, was fondling a rag baby; two were braiding a rag carpet, and others were sitting with vacant faces, looking as if life had no attraction for them.
"Will you address them, squire?" asked Mrs. Fogson.
"Ahem!" said the squire, straightening up and looking around him with the air of a benignant father. "I will say a few words."
"Attention all!" exclaimed Mrs. Fogson in a sharp voice. "Squire Dixon has consented to make a few remarks. I hope you will appreciate your privilege in hearing him."
CHAPTER III.
THE SCRANTON POORHOUSE
"Ahem!" began Squire Dixon, clearing his throat; "the announcement of my friend Mrs. Fogson furnishes me with a text. I hope you all appreciate your privileges in sharing this comfortable home at the expense of the town. Here all your material wants are cared for, and though you are without means, you need have no anxiety. A well-filled board is spread for you three times a day, and you enjoy the maternal care of Mrs. Fogson."
Here there was a shrill laugh from one of the old women.
Squire Dixon frowned, and Mrs. Fogson looked anything but maternal as she scowled at the offending "boarder."
"I am surprised at this unseemly interruption," said Squire Dixon severely. "I am constrained to believe that there is at least one person present who does not appreciate the privileges of this happy home. You are probably all aware that I am the Overseer of the Poor, and that it was through my agency that the services of Mr. and Mrs. Fogson were obtained."
Here it would have been in order for some one to propose "Three cheers for Mr. and Mrs. Fogson," but instead all looked gloomy and depressed.
"I don't know that I have any more to say," concluded Squire Dixon after a pause. "I will only exhort you to do your duty in the position in which Providence has placed you, and to give as little trouble as possible to your good friends Mr. and Mrs. Fogson."
Here there was another cackling laugh, which caused Mrs. Fogson to look angry.
"I'm on to you, Sally Stokes," she said sharply. "You'll have to go without your supper to-night."
The poor, half-witted creature immediately burst into tears, and rocked to and fro in a dismal manner.
"You have done perfectly right in rebuking such unseemly behavior, Mrs. Fogson," said Squire Dixon.
"I didn't mind the insult to myself, squire," returned Mrs. Fogson meekly. "It made me angry to have you insulted while you were making your interesting remarks. The paupers are very ill-behaved; I give you my word that I slave for them from morning till night, and you see how I am repaid."
"Mrs. Fogson, virtue is its own reward," observed the squire solemnly.
"It has to be in my case," said Mrs. Fogson; "but it comforts me to think that you at least appreciate my efforts."
"I do; I do, indeed! You can always rely upon me to—to—in a word, to back you up."
Here a diversion was made by the appearance of Mr. Fogson and the two boys.
"Oh, Simeon!" exclaimed Mrs. Fogson impulsively. "You don't know what you have lost."
Mr. Fogson mechanically glanced at his vest to see whether his watch-chain and the watch appended were gone.
"What have I lost?" he demanded.
"Squire Dixon's interesting speech to the paupers. It was truly eloquent."
"My dear Mrs. Fogson," said the squire, looking modest, "you quite overrate my simple words."
"They were simple, but they were to the point," said the lady of the poorhouse, "and I hope—I do hope that the paupers will lay them to heart."
There was an amused smile on the face of Jed, who was sharp enough to see through the shallow humbug which was being enacted before him. He understood very well the interested motives of Mrs. Fogson, and why she saw fit to flatter the town official from whom she and her husband had received their appointment.
"I wish you had heard the squire, too, Jed!" said Mrs. Fogson, detecting the smile on the boy's face.
"Perhaps, ma'am, you can tell me what he said," returned Jed demurely.
Mrs. Fogson was a little taken aback, but she accepted the invitation.
"He said you ought to consider yourself very lucky to have such a comfortable home."
"I do," said Jed with a comical look.
"I am glad to hear it," said Mrs. Fogson, suspiciously, "though it hasn't always looked that way, I am bound to say."
"Are you going to stay much longer, father?" asked Percy, who was getting tired.
"Perhaps we had better go," said Squire Dixon. "We have staid quite a while."
"When do you have dinner?" asked Percy, turning to Jed.
"In about an hour. I have no doubt Mrs. Fogson will invite you, if you would like to stay."
"Me—eat with paupers?" retorted Percy with fine scorn.
"I don't think you would like it," said Jed. "I don't."
"Why, you are a pauper yourself."
"I don't think so. I earn my living, such as it is. I work from morning till night."
"What do they give you for dinner?" asked Percy, moved by curiosity.
"Mrs. Fogson puts a bone in the boiler and makes bone soup," answered Jed gravely. "You can't tell how good it is till you try it."
"Is there anything else?"
"A few soggy potatoes, and some stale bread without butter."
"Don't you have tea?"
"Once on Sundays. It don't do to pamper us, you know."
"Do you have puddings or pies?"
"No; the town can't afford it," returned Jed without a smile. "What do you think of our bill of fare?"
"Pretty mean, I think. Do Mr. and Mrs. Fogson eat with you?"
"No; they eat later, in the small room adjoining."
"Do they have the same dinner as you?"
"Sometimes they have roast chicken, and the other day when I went into the room there was a plum pudding on the table."
Percy laughed.
"Just what I thought. The old man and old woman aren't going to get left."
"I don't know about that."
"What do you mean?"
"I'll explain another time," said Jed, nodding. "I wish I was Overseer of the Poor."
"What would you do?"
"I'd turn out the Fogsons and put back Mr. and Mrs. Avery."
"Father says they spoiled the paupers."
"At