sat silent for a few
moments, gazing at the flickering light through a crack in the stove
door, while Jimmy sat expectant, gazing into Skipper Ed's face. At last
he began:

"Once there were two boys who lived in a fine big house, for their
father was rich. The house was in a town, and it had a great many rooms.
In front of it was a beautiful green lawn, over which were scattered
trees and bushes that bore flowers, and behind the house was a large
garden where delicious fruits and vegetables grew, and where there were
beautiful beds of bright flowers. Under the shady trees of this garden
was a favorite playground of the boys."

"What were the names of the boys?" interrupted Jimmy.

"We'll call them Tom and Bill, though these may not have been their real
names," explained Skipper Ed. "Tom and Bill are easy names to remember,
though, don't you think so?"

"Yes, Partner, they're fine names, and easy to remember."

"Tom was two years older than Bill, and they were great chums. They not
only played together but they got into mischief together, and went to
school together, until Tom went to college. When they got into mischief
together Tom, somehow, usually managed to escape punishment, for he was
a much keener lad than Bill, and Bill, on his part, seldom failed to
receive his full share of punishment."

"That weren't fair!" broke in Jimmy. "'Tweren't honest for Tom to let
Bill get all the punishment!"

"He didn't mean to be dishonest, I'm sure," said Skipper Ed.

"But 'tweren't honest," insisted Jimmy.

"As I was saying," continued Skipper Ed, "Tom went to college and made
new friends, and when Bill followed him to college two years later the
lads saw little of each other. Tom was a brilliant fellow, and everyone
liked him. He had a host of friends among the students. Bill, on the
other hand, was not in the least brilliant, and he had to work hard to
get his lessons, and they went with different crowds of fellows.

"Their father, as I told you, was rich, and he was also indulgent. He
gave the boys a larger allowance of spending money than was good for
them. There was never a month, however, that Tom did not go to Bill and
borrow some of his, and even then Tom was always in debt. Bill knew it
was the gay company Tom kept, and warned him against it, but Tom would
laugh it off and say that a fellow in the upper classes had to keep up
his end, as Bill would learn later.

"What Bill did learn later was that Tom had b