It was her way, the professor noticed, to state facts, not to
explain them.

"Then he has what I call an 'inside spell,'" she went on. "That is
when he does most of his writing. He does some quite good things,
you know. And a few of them get published."

"Scientific articles?" asked Spence.

"Well--articles. You might not call them scientific. Science is very
exact, isn't it? Father would rather be interesting than exact any
day."

Her hearer found no difficulty in believing this.

"His folk-lore stories are the best--and the least exact," continued
she, heedless of the shock inflicted upon the professorial mind. "He
knows exactly the kind of things Indians tell, and tells it very
much better,"

"You mean he--he fakes it?"

"Well--he calls it 'editing.'"

"But, my dear girl, you can't edit folk-lore!"

"Father can."

"But--but it isn't done! Such material loses all value if not
authentic."