"We would
regret exceedingly to be forced to call upon the authorities in the
case, Mr. Bingle. Of course, you are aware that we can invoke the aid--"
"Oh, goodness no!" cried Mr. Bingle piteously. "You wouldn't think of
taking them from me in that way, would you, Mrs. Force?"
"For your sake and for theirs it may be necessary," said she, and then
wearying of her philanthropic labours, abruptly dismissed him with a
curt: "And now, good day, Mr. Bingle."
Agents from the Society began to visit the little flat; others made a
practice of seeing that the older children went to school every day,
and, if they were absent, to pester Mr. Bingle with inquiries. Once
when Wilberforce had a sore throat, a strange and extremely business-
like doctor called and took a culture, at the same time making a note
of the congested condition of the sleeping quarters.
Then Mrs. Force took to bringing fashionably dressed ladies to the
flat so that they might see for themselves; and docile looking
gentlemen in dark clothes and galoshes came to mutter over the
extraordinary impropriety of allowing boys and girls to live in the
same home together.
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