Then he led the way toward the kitchen.
That stay at the Briskows' turned out to be less irksome than the visitor had anticipated, for the afternoon was spent with Buddy examining the Briskow wells and others near by.

It was an interesting experience, and Gray obtained a deal of first-hand information that he believed would come in handy.

Buddy's first mistrust was not long in passing, and, once Gray had penetrated his guard, the boy was won completely, the pendulum swung to the opposite extreme, and erelong suspicion changed to liking, then to approval, and at last to open, extravagant admiration.
And Gray liked the youthful giant, too, once the latter had dropped his hostility and had become his natural self, for Ozark was a lad with temper and with temperament.

They got along together swimmingly; in fact, they grew thicker than thieves in the course of time.

The elder man soon became conscious of the fact that he was being studied, analyzed, even copied--the sincerest form of flattery--and it pleased his vanity.