"Call him up. Look at them yourself," said Stover, tendering the
neckwear. "I think they're rather tasty myself."

Before such absolute serenity frivolity died of starvation. They made
no further attempt at sarcasm, but sat awed until Stover had departed
to carry the glad news of his increased weight to Captain Flash
Condit.

"Why he's older than The Roman," said the Tennessee Shad, the first to
recover.

"He's in love," said Dennis, who had intuitions.

"No, be-loved," said the Gutter Pup with a sigh, who was suffering
from the first case, but not from the second.

The amazement of rolling, old Sir John Falstaff at the transformation
of Prince Hal was nothing to the consternation of the Kennedy House at
the sudden conversion of Dink Stover, the fount of mischief, into a
complete disciplinarian.

Now the cardinal principle of House government is the division of the
flock by the establishing of an age line. The control of the
youngsters is almost always vigorously enforced, and though the
logical principles involved are sometimes rather dubious they are
adequate from the fact that they are never open to argument.
Occasionally, however, under the leadership of some president either
too indolent or incapable of leadership, this strict surveillance over
the habits and conduct of youth is relaxed, with disastrous results to
the orderly reputation of the House.

Stover, having been the arch rebel and fomenter of mischief, had the
most determined ideas as to the discipline he intended to enforce and
the respect he should exact.

The first clash came with the initial House Meeting, over which he
presided. Now in the past these occasions had offered Dennis de Brian
de Boru Finnegan and his attendant imps unlimited amusement, as King
Lentz had been almost totally ignorant of the laws of parliamentary
procedure.

Of a consequence, no sooner was a meeting fairly under way, than some
young scamp would rise and solemnly move the previous question, which
never failed to bring down a storm of hoots at the complete
mystification of the perplexed chairman, who never to his last day was
able to solve this knotty point of procedure.

Now, Dennis, while he had been impressed by Stover's new majesty,
retained still a feeling of resistance. So the moment the gavel
declared the meeting open he bobbed up with a wicked gleam and shrilly
announced:

"Mr. Chairman, I move the previous question."

"Mr. Finnegan will come to orde