ned style and saying all I had to say, which
was nothing. After a while Pa Rearick glared over at me again in a most
belligerent manner.

"Is he well?" he asked.

"Finer'n silk," I answered, most disrespectfully.

"Humph!" said he; which, being freely translated, seemed to mean: "If I
had an impudent, lazy, immoral, shiftless, unlicked cub like you, I'd
grind him up for hen feed."

Much more silence. I lit another cigarette.

"Does he get enough to eat?"

"When he has time," I said. "He's generally pretty busy."

"Playing the mandolin, I suppose."

"Most of the time," said I. "He runs the college in his odd moments."

"He wouldn't have run the Siwash I went to," said Pa Rearick grimly.

"No," said I, "you egregious timber-head, he'd have spent his time
limping after Homer." But as I said it only to myself, no one was
insulted.

"Has he learned anything?" said old Hostilities, after some more
silence.

"Took the Sophomore Greek prize this year," I said, blowing one of the
most perfect smoke rings I had ever achieved.

"I don't believe it," said Pa Rearick deliberately.

I blew another ring that was very fair, but it lacked the perfect double
whirl of the first one. And presently the neatest spider phaeton that
was owned by a Jonesville livery stable drew up before the house and Keg
jumped out, telling a delicious chiffon vision to hold old Bucephalus
until he got his topcoat. Keg was a good dresser, but I never saw him
quite as letter-perfect and wholly immaculate as he was just then. He
hurried up the steps, took one look, and yelled "Dad," then made a rush;
and I went inside to see if I couldn't beat that smoke ring where there
was not so much atmospheric disturbance.

* * * * *

Pa Rearick stayed the rest of the week, and after he had interviewed
certain professors the next day he moved over to the house and stayed
with us. Mrs. Rearick came down, too, and on this account we didn't see
quite as much of Keg as we had hoped to. The girl in chiffon didn't,
either, but that's neither here nor there. She was only a passing fancy,
anyway. By successive degrees Keg's father viewed the rest of us with
disapproval, suspicion, tolerance, benevolence, interest and
friendliness. But I am convinced that it was only on Keg's account. He
gave us credit for exercising unexpected good taste in liking him. And
maybe it wasn't interesting to see him thaw and melt and struggle with a
st