His mother had only the day before returned from Marysville, where she had been looking up a seminary for the little tad.

She would be delighted to see the two boys; besides, Vanamee must see how the little tad had grown since he last set eyes on her; wouldn't know her for the same little girl; and the beer had been on ice since morning.

Presley and Vanamee could not well refuse.
They climbed into the wagon and jolted over the uneven ground through the bare forest of hop-poles to the house.

Inside they found Mrs.
Dyke, an old lady with a very gentle face, who wore a cap and a very old-fashioned gown with hoop skirts, dusting the what-not in a corner of the parlor.

The two men were presented and the beer was had from off the ice.
"Mother," said Dyke, as he wiped the froth from his great blond beard, "ain't Sid anywheres about?
I want Mr.Vanamee to see how she has grown.
Smartest little tad in Tulare County, boys.