"No, not at all. But Tom did not stay long.
He left just as Mary and the professor were
drawing a map so the professor could indicate
where he had once made a big discovery."

"I see," murmured Ned. "Well, I suppose
Tom must have been thinking of something else
at the time."

"Very likely," agreed Mr. Nestor. "But Tom
missed a very profitable talk. I was very much
interested myself in what the professor told us,
and so was Mary. She invited Mr. Beecher to
come again. He takes after his father in being
very thorough in what he does.

"Sometimes I think," went on Mr. Nestor, "that
Tom isn't quite steady enough. He's thinking
of so many things, perhaps, that he can't get his
mind down to the commonplace. I remember he
once sent something here in a box labeled
`dynamite.' Though there was no explosive in it,
it gave us a great fright. But Tom is a boy, in
spite of his years. Professor Beecher seems
much older. We all like him very much."

"That's nice," said Ned, as he took his
departure. He had found out what he had come
to learn.