"Yes, they've got a little boy, an' he's a chip of the old block. His
father brought him here one day and he pulled the cloth of'n that
table there and broke a chiny vase that I paid fifty cents for, and
his father never said a word about buyin' me another."

"I hope that Mr. Strout and Hiram get along together well," said
Quincy.

"Hiram's a good feller. Mandy did well when she got him, but she has
you to thank for it, Mr. Sawyer. If you hadn't set him up in that
grocery store I'm afraid he'd be chorin' now. You remember Mrs.
Crowley? She jes' loves them children, but Mandy's afeerd she's going
to lose her. She's got a beau--a feller named Dan Sweeney, and his
hair is so red you could light a match by techin' it. He works for
your brother 'Zeke. He's a good enuf feller, but he and Strout don't
hitch horses. You see he was in the same regiment with the Perfesser
an' he knows all about him, same as you found out, and Strout don't
talk big afore him. The fact is, the Perfesser hain't many friends.
There was Abner Stiles. They two used to be as thick as molasses, but
since Strout wouldn't give him the job in the grocery that he'd
promised him, Abner's gone back on him."

"Does Uncle Ike board with Mandy now?" Alice knew that he did, but
wished Mrs. Hawkins' view of the strange doings of her uncle.

"Yes, he's there--goin' on eighty-two and chipper as a squirrel. He's
got religion Mandy says, and so many kinds that she don't know which
one he's got the most of."

Quincy looked at his watch. "Mrs. Hawkins, we're going up to