"Tell us the story, Robert," said the Professor, who had recovered his
self-complacency; "we're dyin' to hear it."
"Well," continued Robert Wood, "Abel had been shinglin' a house, and I
told him there wuz a place where he'd left off a shingle. Abel laughed
and, sez he, 'If I hadn't better eyesight than you've got I'd carry a
telescope 'round with me.' 'Well,' sez I, thinkin' I'd fool him, 'let's
see which one of us has got the best eyesight.' I pointed up to the
ridgepole of the house, which was 'bout a hundred feet off from where we
stood, and sez I to Abel, 'Can you see that fly walkin' along on the
ridgepole near the chimney? I ken.' Abel put his hand up back of his
ear, and sez he, 'No, I can't see him, but I can hear him walkin'
'round.'"
As Robert concluded, a loud shout of laughter went up from the table.
Quincy had no desire to be considered "stuck up," so he joined in the
laugh, although he had heard the story in a different form before.
So had the Professor, and he never allowed an old story to be told in
his presence without working in two lines of doggerel which he had
composed, and of which he was very proud.
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