"Where you going, Dave?"
"To Sunday-school."
The gruff voice of a man asked the question, and the meek voice of a little child replied.
"Nonsense! Take off your good clothes," said the gruff voice.
The child, a boy about nine years old, stood still, looking on the ground, while his fingers pulled at the buttons of his jacket.
The man was stretched upon the bed with his boots on and a slouched hat partly concealing his face. From beneath this hat he watched the boy intently, and seeing he made no progress called out in the same tones: "Take it off, I say, and stay home."
By the stove, with her feet in the oven, sat a slovenly-looking woman with a pipe in her mouth. She seemed to have been dozing, but her husband's words aroused her; and looking at the boy, she said, "Where's the use? He'll only keep us awake singin' and kickin' around. Go 'long, Dave."