MY SECOND PERIL We always thank God for men like Purvis: we never thank them.

They are without honor in their own time, but how they brighten the pages of memory! How they stimulated the cheerfulness of the old countryside and broke up its natural reticence! Mr.Franklin Purvis was our hired man--an undersized bachelor.

He had a Roman nose, a face so slim that it would command interest and attention in any company, and a serious look enhanced by a bristling mustache and a retreating chin.

At first and on account of his size I had no very high opinion of Mr.Purvis.That first evening after his arrival I sat with him on the porch surveying him inside and out.
"You don't look very stout," I said.
"I ain't as big as some, but I'm all gristle from my head to my heels, inside an' out," he answered.
I surveyed him again as he sat looking at the ledges.

He was not more than a head taller than I, but if he were "all gristle" he might be entitled to respect and I was glad to learn of his hidden resources--glad and a bit apprehensive as they began to develop.
"I'm as full o' gristle as a goose's leg," he went on.