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“And do you kno old I am?”

“Yes’m I heard Twenty-four”

“Twenty-four”

“I’ll be twenty-four in ten years,” he said

“But unfortunately you’re not twenty-four now”

“No, but sometimes I feel twenty-four”

“Yes, and sometimes you act it”

“Do I, really?”

“Now sit still there; we’ve

a lot to discuss It’s very i, isn’t it?”

“Yes, I guess so”

“FIRST, LET’S adreatest and best friends in the world Let’s admit that I have never had a student like you, nor have I had as much affection for any boy I’ve ever known And let me speak for you, you’ve found me to be the nicest of all the teachers you’ve ever known”

“Oh, more than that,” he said

“Perhaps more than that, but there are facts to be faced and an entire way of life to be examined, and a town and its people and you and I to be considered I’ve thought this over for a good many days, Bob Don’t think I’ve been unaware of s in the matter Under some circumstances our friendship would be odd indeed But then you are no ordinary boy I know myself pretty well, I think, and I know that I’m not sick, either ard for your character But that is not e consider in this world, Bob, except in a ht”

“It’s all right,” he said “It’s just that if I were ten years older, and about fifteen inches taller it’d o by how tall a person is”