we got along; there'll be somethin' to eat here ev'ry day just as long
as I have any money or can get any work. But, Tom, you're pretty well
grown up now; you're almost a man; I s'pose the fellers in town think
you _are_ a man, don't they? An' you think you're one yourself too,
don't you?"

The young man's face brightened, and he engulfed several spoonfuls of
the evening meal before he replied,--

"Well, I guess I am somebody now'days. The time you was in jail, I
thought the family had a mighty slim chance o' countin'; but I tumbled
into base-ball, an' I was pretty strong in my arms an' pretty spry on
my feet, an' little by little I kind o' came to give the family a
standin'."

"I s'pose that's all right," said the father; "but I want you to
understan' one thing, an' understan' it so plain that you can't ever
make any mistake about it afterwards. When I put any money into your
hands to be used for anythin', it don't matter what, you must spend it
for that, or you must get an awful thrashin' when you come back home
again. Do you understan' me?"

The feeding motions of the eldest male of the Kimper collection of
children stopped for an instant, and Master Tom leered at his father as
he said,--

"Who's goin' to give the thrashin'?"

"I am, Tom,--your father is,--an' don't make any mistake about it.
He'll do it good an' brown, too, if he's to die used up right away