ng younger, but William
Dear he took it hard and serious, and it made bumps all over his head,
and he was kind o' pale and spindly. Every time that kid cut his finger
he jest natcherally bled scientifics. One day I says to Miss Estelle,
says I:

"It looks to me like William Dear is kind of peaked." She looks worried
and she looks mad fur me lipping in, and then she says mebby it is true,
but she don't see why, because he is being brung up like he orter be in
every way and no expense nor trouble spared.

"Well," says I, "what a kid about that size wants to do is to get out
and roll around in the dirt some, and yell and holler."

She sniffs like I wasn't worth taking no notice of. But it kind o'
soaked in, too. She and the perfessor must of talked it over. Fur the
next day I seen her spreading a oilcloth on the hall floor. And then
James comes a buttling in with a lot of sand what the perfessor has
baked and made all scientific down in his labertory. James, he pours all
that nice, clean dirt onto the oilcloth and then Miss Estelle sends fur
William Dear.

"William Dear," she says, "we have decided, your papa and I, that what
you need is more romping around and playing along with your studies. You
ought to get closer to the soil and to nature, as is more healthy for
a youth of your age. So for an hour each day, between your studies, you
will romp and play in this sand. You may begin to frolic now, William
Dear, and then James will sweep up the dirt again for to-morrow's
frolic."

But William didn't frolic none. He jest looked at that dirt in a sad
kind o' way, and he says very serious but very decided:

"Aunt Estelle, I shall NOT frolic." And they had to let it go at that,
fur he never would frolic none, neither. And all that nice clean dirt
was throwed out in the back yard along with the unscientific dirt.

CHAPTER XI

One night when I've been there more'n a week, and am getting kind o'
tired staying in one place so long, I don't want to go to bed after I
eats, and I gets a-holt of some of the perfessor's cigars and goes
into the lib'ary to see if he's got anything fit to read. Setting there
thinking of the awful remarkable people they is in this world I must of
went to sleep. Purty soon, in my sleep, I hearn two voices. Then I waked
up sudden, and still hearn 'em, low and quicklike, in the room that
opens right off of the lib'ary with a couple of them sliding doors like
is onto a box car. One voice wa