not broad, it is true, but the ground was thoroughly tilled.
But a difference arose in the board of supervisors. And it was decided
that I was not idiomatic enough in my treatment of our mother tongue.
They argued that English is progressive. I did not doubt that, but I
said that slang was not true progress. They cited an extract from a
speech delivered by the president of an Eastern grove of learning, in
which he said that the purist was as dead as stagnant water. I was
pleased to be called a purist, sir. I had striven to maintain that
position; but it did not compensate me for the loss of my living. After
that, I taught in a common school, but they said I was wanting in
discipline. Then I drifted about, and now here I am, bookkeeper at a
planing-mill. But I have a hope that it will all come right, and I
could exist fairly, but my wife and my daughter do not share my hope. I
trust I do not shock you when I affirm that a woman has a contempt for
the hope of a man. She is a materialist; she wants immediate results,
and all that keeps her from being a gambler is the fear of losing. I
trust I have not shocked you."

He stroked his thin beard to a point, and twisted it. He cocked his
head, and looked at Milford as if he expected a weighty decision
concerning an important matter. His clothes were well-kept relics, but
his dignity came out fresh, as if it had been newly dusted. What a
tenderfoot he would have been in a mining camp; what a guy at a variety
show! Milford agreed that his views were no doubt correct. The man was
an unconscious joke, and argument would spoil him.

"I thank you," said the Professor. "Such ready and cheerful agreement is
rarely found, except between two intelligent men, and the admission of a
third man of equal intelligence would greatly lessen the chances. And
now I may tell you that my wife and daughter objected to my calling,
affirming, as they had a right to do, that it was your place to call on
me, as I was the newer comer. And I said, 'Madam, there are no women in
this case, so, therefore, we have no need to be finical and unnatural.'"
He cleared his throat, and cocked his head. The sharp face of his host
looked serious, but there was a titter in his breast.

"Of course," said the Professor, "one may have ever so hairy an ear, and
yet the gossip of the neighborhood will force its way in. I have heard
much concerning you. I heard that they did not understand you, and then
I said to myself tha