TALES OF GRAMP 139 



of iodoform, witch-hazel and New England rum. 

 I sat on the edge of the bed, and they both said 

 they had fought the best men in England and 

 America and had never run up against any one 

 who could hold a candle to me. They wanted 

 to train me for the ring to beat the best man in 

 England, but I told them I was thinking of study- 

 ing for the ministry, and I could n't give that up. 

 "That's all, Dickie, my boy; but when you 

 hear people talking of the modern game of 

 football and a few dinky collar-bones broken, just 

 tell them of the way we played in '42 and '43, 

 when men were killed and crippled for life, 

 won't you ?" 



"Gee!" said Dick, "that was a game." 

 "Gee!" chimed in the students, "I guess we 

 must be going " ; and they stole off on tiptoe, w r hile 

 Gramp winked at Daniel and filled his pipe 

 afresh. 



On another occasion Gramp had been holding 

 forth to a select crowd on a favorite hobby of his. 

 Gramp always maintained that if he had a few 

 acres of land and one thousand hens he could 

 readily make at least one thousand dollars per 

 year, or an average of one dollar per biddy. With 

 care of an extraordinary nature fifteen hundred 

 dollars would be not unreasonable. 



Various opinions were advanced, and finally 



