that he was a harmless creature. His foot was sprained.

Robert carried a backless chair and set it before the fire, and on
this the limping man was placed. Grandma Padgett emptied her coals on
the hearth and surveyed him. He had a red face and bashful eyes, and
while the top of his head was quite bald, he had a half-circle of
fuzz extending around his face from ear to ear. He wore a roundabout
and trousers, and shoes with copper toes. His hands were fat and
dimpled as well as freckled. Altogether, he had the appearance of a
hugely overgrown boy, ducking his head shyly while Grandma Padgett
looked at him.

"For pity sake!" said Grandma Padgett. "What ails the creature?
What's your name, and who are you?"

At that the man chanted off in a nasal sing-song, as if he were
accustomed to repeating his rhyme:

J. D. Matthews is my name,
Ohio-r is my nation,
Mud Creek is my dwellin' place,
And glory is my expectation.

"Yes," said Grandma Padgett, removing her glasses, as she did when
very much puzzled.

Corinne, in a distant corner of the lighted room, began to laugh
aloud, and after looking towards her, the man laughed also, as if
they two were enjoying a joke upon the mother.