"And so I have, aunt," replied the young man, using a very broad "a." "I
have been in this country only a few months. England is the only place
in the world for me, you know. I can't bear America."

Hippy Wingate gave himself an angry shake, which made all the ornaments
on the mantelpiece rattle ominously.

"You must let me introduce you to my young friends, Tom," said Mrs.
Gray, changing the subject quickly.

The introductions having been accomplished, she took his arm and led the
way back to dinner.

"Do you think we can stand him for a week?" whispered David to Grace, as
they followed down the hall.

"We'll have to," replied Grace, "or hurt Mrs. Gray's feelings. But isn't
he the limit?"

"Asinine dandy!" hissed Hippy.

"I knew he'd be a Miss Nancy," exclaimed Reddy.

The girls did not express their disappointment, but as the meal
progressed the conversation was strained and stupid.

"How did you leave your cousins in England, Tom?" asked Mrs. Gray,
trying to keep the ball rolling and inwardly wishing she had never asked
her nephew down.

"Quite well, thank you, aunt," replied Thomas Gray. "I expect to leave
this beastly country and join them very soon."

"Indeed?" answered Mrs. Gray, flushing and with difficulty keeping back
the tears of disappointment. To think a nephew of hers could have turned
out like this!

"Do you play football?" demanded Hippy abruptly.

"Really, I don't care for the game," answered Thomas. "It's awfully
rough, don't you know."

"Perhaps you prefer baseball?" suggested Grace.

"No," continued the young man, "I can't say I do. The truth is, I don't
like outdoor games at all."

"What do you like, then?" demanded Nora, giving him a glance of
ineffable scorn.

"I like afternoon tea," he answered, "and bridge."

Reddy almost groaned aloud, but he remembered his manners and choked his
outburst of disgust.

"It is a pity," said Tom's aunt, turning her nearsighted blue eyes on
him in amazement and displeasure. "Our Oakdale boys are all athletes.
Even David here, the scholar and inventor, I'll venture to say, knows
football and baseball as well as his friends."

"I'm not much of an inventor, Mrs. Gray," protested David. "You know my
airship tumbled down before it got half way across the gym. But I shall
never lose hope."

"Ah, airships?" exclaimed Thomas Gray, and deliberately taking a monocle
from his pocket, he stuck it in his eye and stared at David, who choked
and s