"He'll be as
interesting as your other protege, I assure you. By the way, I saw him
this afternoon, and he looked his part all right, ho, ho," and Dick
laughed as he gulped down his tea.

"Who's that, Dick?" Mr. Sinclair inquired.

"Oh, Lois knows," was the reply. "She can tell you all about 'Spuds'
as well as I can, and maybe better."

"Why should I know?" his sister asked, somewhat sharply. "I only met
him once, and that was years ago."

"But you always take his part, though, so he seems to be somewhat under
your care."

"And why shouldn't I? He deserves great credit for what he has done,
and it is very unbecoming of you to make fun of him."

"I wish you could have seen him this afternoon, though," and Dick
glanced across the table at Sammie. "We were speeding along in the car
when we saw him hoeing potatoes in a field by the road. His clothes
were all soiled, his sleeves rolled up, and he looked like a regular
bushman. I called out to him as we sped past, and you should have seen
the expression on his face when he saw us. It was like a thunder
cloud. I guess he felt pretty well cut up at being caught at such
work, ha, ha."

"Whom are you talking about, anyway?" Mr. Sinclair demanded. "What's
all this about 'Spuds,' I'd like to know?"

"Oh, it's only that country chap we met several years ago, don't you
remember?" Dick explained. "His real name, I believe, is Jasper
Randall, though we have always called him Spuds, because he was digging
potatoes when we first met him."

"You don't mean that big overgrown boy who helped us to carry Lois home
the day she sprained her ankle at Daltan Creek?"

"The very same, dad. And you remember what fun we had at the way he
sat and drank his tea out of the saucer?"

"But I didn't." Lois spoke sharply, while a flush mantled her cheeks.

"Oh, no, you didn't make fun," Dick laughed. "You were mad through and
through, and gave us a good solid lecture afterwards."

Lois made no reply, so while the men talked, she let her mind dwell
upon that scene of years ago. She saw again the lank awkward lad who
was so concerned about her accident. While helping to carry her home,
he had been much at his ease, and his eyes glowed with a sympathetic
light. But when once in the house, his natural shyness had come upon
him, and he did not know what to do with himself in the presence of
strangers. One thing stood out above everything else, and that was his
look of indigna