embarrassment. His stubby blond hair rose straight from a high, broad
forehead, and grew down in square patches in front of his ears. His
eyes, small and steady, surveyed the world with profound indifference.

When Miss Lady disappeared the Colonel turned upon him suddenly:

"What about this rich young fellow over at your house? Who is he
anyhow?"

"Morley?" Noah crossed his knees deliberately. "Why, he's a brother-
in-law of Mr. Sequin."

"Not Basil Sequin, the president of the People's Bank! You don't say!"
The Colonel paused for a moment to digest this fact, then he went on:
"Hell-bent on farming I hear; wants your father to look around for a
place."

This not being in the form of a question, Noah conserved his energies.

"Don't amount to a hill of beans, I'll warrant," continued the
Colonel, with a watchful eye on Noah for denial or confirmation, but
Noah was noncommittal. "When a fellow gets to be twenty-three years
old and can't find anything better to do than to run around the
country spending his money, and playing with the girls, there's a
screw loose somewhere. What does he know about stock-farming?"

"Says he's been reading up."

"Fiddlesticks!" roared the Colonel. "You can't learn farming out of a
book! What does he know about horses?"