Stover."

Dink rose slowly, put the book on his desk, tightened his belt,
buttoned his coat and took up the prosy records of Caesar. Pebble Stone
showed him the place. He straightened up and, glancing at the first
line, saw:

"_Ubi eo ventum est, Caesar initio orationis_ ..."

"Caesar," began Dink in a firm voice.

"Excellent!" said The Roman.

"Caesar, wherever the wind blew him, initiated the orators ..." Dink
continued smoothly, after a rapid glance.

The Roman, from a listless attitude, gripped the desk, pivoted clear
on one leg of his chair, staring at the familiar text as though it had
suddenly taken on life and begun to crawl about the page.

Dink, resolved not to be bested, gravely and fluently continued to
glide on, without pause or hitch, turning syllables into words,
building sentences wherever he met an acquaintance. On and on he went,
glib and eloquent, weaving out of the tangled text a picture that
gradually, freeing itself from the early restraints, painted in vivid
detail a spirited conference between Caesar and the German envoys. The
class, amazed, resorted to their books; many of the unprepared, quite
convinced, stared at him as though a new rival to the high markers had
suddenly appeared.

The Roman, fascinated, never quitted the text, marveling as the tale
ran on, leaping adverbs and conjunctions, avoiding whole phrases,
undismayed by the rise of sudden, hostile nouns, impressing into
service whatever suited it, corrupting or beating down all obstacles.

Once or twice he twitched spasmodically, twice he switched the leg of
his chair, murmuring all the while to himself. Finally he rose and,
slowly approaching to where Stover stood, glanced incredulously at his
book.

"Shall I stop, sir?" said Stover.

"Heaven forbid!"

Stover completed the page with a graphic, rushing account of the
athletic exercises of the ancient Germans, and sat down without a
smile.

The Roman, back at his post, wiped his eyes with his handkerchief and
spoke:

"Very well run, indeed, Stover; excellently well run. Take your
breath. Very fluent, very vivid, very persuasive--a trifle free, a
trifle--but, on the whole, a very creditable performance. Very! I was
sure, whatever you did, Stover, you wouldn't bore us. Now, let us see
how the same passage will appeal to a more prosaic, less
richly-endowed mind."

Then Red Dog rose and, unfeelingly, brought the scene back to Rome and
the deliberations of the Senate.