e of
good-humor in the deeply-sunk gray eyes.

"I was hoping to before, sir," he answered, "and I'm hoping to, even
more now."

"That's the way to talk, never lose a chance for a happy phrase," was
the reply. "Well, Dr. Crafts here seems willing to go bail for
you--although I understand he never saw you before to-day--and I think
we could get along all right, so if you're satisfied, I guess we'll call
it a deal. There's one difficulty, though."

"What's that, sir?" asked the boy.

"I shall probably need to go to Florida as well, and I should like to
have my assistant stay with me clear through."

"So much the better," the boy responded.

"But I understand you're going to start your freshman year in college?"

"Yes, sir," the boy answered, "I'm going to Brown."

"That's what I thought. But you see I don't expect to get back much
before the tenth of October, and college will have started by then. I
don't want," he continued, his eyes twinkling with fun, "to rob the
other fellows of the fun of hazing you."

"I don't think there's much hazing at Brown, sir, and perhaps I shall
miss some of the fun of the opening of the year," Colin replied, after
thinking for a minute or two; "but I'd much rather take the trip with
you, sir, and I can soon catch up with my class in any subject the first
few lectures of which I may have missed."

"But aren't you supposed to be in attendance on a certain day?"

"Yes, Mr. Collier," the boy replied, "I believe I should be. But Father
can fix that all right."

"You think your father can arrange anything, Colin," said the Deputy
Commissioner, smiling.

"Well, he always has!" the boy declared.

"If the Florida trip is no barrier," the curator said, "I think that we
can call the matter settled. Dr. Crafts told you that you would have to
pay your own passage?"

"Yes, sir."

"You'll like Bermuda, I think. Everything there's so much worth while."

"There you go again, Robert," said the Deputy Commissioner; "always in
superlatives."

"Of course! Who would want to be otherwise?" said the curator. He turned
to Colin. "Come and take dinner with me to-night, and we'll talk over
the details. Here's my card," and he penciled his address on the
pasteboard. "I'll give you some seaweed pudding, carrageen, you know."

Colin didn't know, but he thanked his host heartily, and then turned to
the Deputy Commissioner.

"What is it, Colin?" he was asked.

"Please, sir," the boy replied, "yo