days' journey they made in a wagon. They have been two months on the
road, and showed the bear in the country places they passed through.
They avoided the large towns."

"Think what a Christmas he must have had!" exclaimed Miss Allison.

"Christmas! I doubt if he ever heard the word. His speech is something
shocking; nothing but the slang of the streets, and so ungrammatical
that I could scarcely understand him at times. No, I am very sure that
neither Sydney nor Elise would want the boys to be with him."

"But he is so little, mother, and so sick and pitiful looking," pleaded
Miss Allison. "Surely he cannot know so very much badness or hurt the
boys if they go down to cheer him up for a little while."

Notwithstanding Mrs. Maclntyre's fears, she consented to the boys
visiting Jonesy that afternoon. She could not resist the professor's
second appeal or the boys' own urging.

They took the bear with them, which Jonesy welcomed like a lost friend.
They spent an interesting hour among the professor's collections,
listening to his explanations in his funny broken English. Then they
explored his cottage, much amused by his queer housekeeping, cracked
nuts on the hearth, and roasted apples on a string in front of the fire.

Jonesy did not seem to be cheered up by the visit as much as the
professor had expected. Presently the old man left the room and Keith
sat down on the side of the bed.

"What makes you so still, Jonesy?" he asked. "You haven't said a word