Of all her children her
boy was her favorite.
"But for you, sir, little Timmie might have been left at the
roadside to die," she would exclaim over and over. "We'll never
forget it--never--neither I nor the children!"
It was thus that Van became the hero of the McGrew household, and
the warmth and genuineness of the welcome he unfailingly received
there aroused in him an answering friendliness. Many a time when he
saw things either new or interesting he would find himself
instinctively saying:
"I must tell Tim about that," or "I must take that to Tim."
But with his enthronement as the sovereign of Tim's universe there
came to Van a very disquieting experience. Tim thought his big
friend knew everything, and in consequence whenever he became
puzzled about facts that were being read to him or that he heard he
would instantly appeal to Van, whom he was sure could right every
sort of dilemma that might arise. But too often the unlucky Van was
forced to blush and falter that he would have to look it up; and
when he did so he frequently learned something himself. For Tim
never forgot. No sooner would Van be inside the gate than the shrill
little voice would pipe: "And did you find out how far away Mars is,
Mr. Blake?"
Poor Van, it kept him scrambling to satisfy Tim McGrew's
intellectual curiosity, yet there was a tang in the game that
rendered it very interesting. He found, too, ample reward in seeing
the wee invalid's face brighten when the query was answered.
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