"By the yard?" queried Uncle Randolph, and then a faint smile
flickered over his face. "Oh, I see! You mean sausage lengths, eh?"

"Not exactly, although that is one way of selling pork by the yard,"
returned Tom. "I was thinking of what happened in our college town.
One of the boys went into a butcher's shop, and asked for a yard of
pork, and the butcher handed out three pig's feet."

"Oh, what a rusty joke, Tom!" exclaimed Sam.

"Well, I didn't ask for the yard of pork; it was Dobson who did that,"
returned Tom, coolly.

Having inspected the various improvements, the boys returned to the
house, and then went upstairs for another short talk with their
father. In the midst of this, the family physician arrived. When he
had waited on the invalid, the boys called the doctor to one side, and
asked him to tell them the truth regarding their parent.

"Oh, I think he'll pull through all right," said the doctor. "But as I
have told your uncle and your aunt, he must be kept quiet. If you talk
business to him, or excite him in any way, it is bound to make matters
worse."

"Then we'll keep him just as quiet as possible," returned Tom. "If
anything unusual occurs in his business, we won't let him know
anything about it."

"That would be best," answered the doctor, gravely; and took his
departure.