en repay what is done for them only with sneaking, unworthy
conduct and utter ingratitude. Dick may not have been born into
prosperity but he is a thoroughbred at heart and it shows in his
actions. He is every inch a gentleman."

At the words Stephen's blood tingled.

What would his father think of him if he knew what a mean-spirited
coward he was? Well, it was impossible to tell him now. It would upset
the whole Thanksgiving party.

CHAPTER XVII

MORE STEAMBOATING

The night before Thanksgiving Mr. Ackerman and Dick arrived at Coventry
and it was difficult to believe the change wrought in the New York boy.
Not only was his face round, rosy and radiant with happiness but along
with a new manliness had stolen a gentler bearing and a courtesy that
had not been there when he had set forth to school.

"Why, you must have put on ten pounds, Dick!" cried Mr. Tolman, shaking
hands with his young guest after greeting the steamboat magnate.

"It is eleven pounds, sir," laughed Dick. "We have bully eats at school
and all you want of them."

The final phrase had a reminiscent ring as if it harked back to a time
when three ample meals were a mirage of the imagination.

"Well, I am glad to hear you have done justice to them and encouraged
the cook," was Mr. Tolman's jocular reply. "Now while you stay here you
must cheer on our cook in the same fashion. If you don't we shall think
you like New Haven better."

"I guess there is no danger of that," put in Mr. Ackerman. "Dick seems
hollow down to his ankles. There is no filling him up; is there, boy?"

"I couldn't eat that third ice-cream you offered me yesterday," was the
humorous retort.

"I hope you've saved some room for to-morrow's dinner," Mrs. Tolman
interrupted, "for there will be mince pie and plum pudding and I don't
know what not. And then there is the turkey--we ordered an extra large
one on purpose."

Dick and Steve exchanged a sheepish grin.

"Well, it is jolly to see you good people," Mr. Tolman declared, as he
ushered the visitors into the living room, where a bright fire burned on
the hearth. "Our boys have done well, haven't they, Ackerman? I don't
know which is to win the scholarship race--the steamboats or the
railroads."

"We could compare marks," Stephen suggested.

"That would hardly be fair," Mr. Ackerman objected quickly, "for the
steamboats did not start even with the railroads in this contest. Dick
has had to put in a lot of hours