ee if
they were soft enough to steal, "I suppose you have let up on the old
man, haven't you?"

"O, no. We keep it right up. The minister of the church that Pa has
joined says while Pa is on probation it is perfectly proper for us to do
everything to try him, and make him fall from grace. The minister says
if Pa comes out of his six months probation without falling by the
wayside he has got the elements to make the boss christian, and Ma and
me are doing all we can."

"What was the doctor at your house for this morning?" asked the
groceryman, "Is your Ma sick?"

"No, Ma is worth two in the bush. It's Pa that ain't well. He is having
some trouble with his digestion. You see he went to the exposition
with me as guide, and that is enough to ruin any man's digestion. Pa is
near-sighted, and he said he wanted me to go along and show him things.
Well, I never had so much fun since Pa fell out of the boat. First
we went in by the fountain, and Pa never had been in the exposition
building before. Last year he was in Yourip, and he was astonished at
the magnitude of everything. First I made him jump clear across the
aisle there, where the stuffed tigers are, by the fur place. I told him
the keeper was just coming along with some meat to feed the animals,
and when they smelled the meat they just clawed things. He run against a
show-case, and then wanted to go away.

"He said he traveled with a circus when he was young, and nobody knew the
dangers of fooling around wild animals better than he did. He said once
he fought with seven tigers and two Nubian lions for five hours, with
Mabee's old show. I asked him if that was afore he got religin, and he
said never you mind. He is an old liar, even if he is converted. Ma says
he never was with a circus, and she has known him ever since he wore
short dresses. Wall, you would a dide to see Pa there by the furniture
place, where they have got beautiful beds and chairs. There was one blue
chair under a glass case, all velvet, and a sign was over it, telling
people to keep their hands off. Pa asked me what the sign was, and I
told him it said ladies and gentlemen are requested to sit in the chairs
and try them. Pa climbed over the railing and was just going to sit
down on the glass show case over the chair, when one of the walk-around
fellows, with imitation police hats, took him by the collar and yanked
him back over the railing, and was going to kick Pa's pants. Pa was mad
to have his