"Gee!" says I. "Ain't you a little late gettin' into college?"

Waldo sighs weary.

"If I must explain," says he, "I prefer to continue improving my mind
rather than idle away my days. I've never been to college or to any
sort of school. I've been tutored at home ever since I can remember.
I did give it up for a time shortly after the death of my father. I
thought that the management of the estate would keep me occupied. But
I have no taste for business--none at all. And I found that by leaving
my father's investments precisely as they came to me my affairs could
be simplified. But one must do something. So I engaged Mr. Tidman.
What if I am nearly thirty? Is that any reason why I should give up
being tutored? There is so much to learn! And to-day's period is
especially interesting. We were just about getting to Thorwald the
Bitter."

"Did you say Biter or Batter?" says I.

"I said Thorwald the Bitter," repeats Pettigrew. "One of the old Norse
Vikings, you know."

"Go on, shoot it," says I. "What's the joke?"

"But there's no joke about it," he insists. "Surely you have heard of
the Norse Vikings?"

"Not yet," says I. "I got my ear stretched, though."

"Fancy!" remarks T. Waldo, turnin' to Tidman.