“Oh, am I?” and as Clarence asked the question his face beamed with joy.
“You sure are.”
“I suppose,” continued Clarence, “that you think I am one of those chaps who hasn’t got enough sense to come in out of the rain when it is raining.”
“You’re the dumbdest idiot I ever met,” said the frank butcher’s boy.
“I guess you are right,” assented the lad beamingly. “Lots of people have told me I am an idiot. And I never do come in out of the rain when it is raining. I use a cravenette.”
“Oh, Lord!” cried Abe, all his crude humor stirred to scornful laughter, “what an awful ass you are!”
“Thank you so much,” answered Clarence glowing with delight. “It’s a pleasure to meet a fellow who says just what he thinks.”
“Any more like you at home?”
“I happen to be the only child,” answered Clarence. “I am the light of my mother’s eyes. There are no others like me.”
“I should say not! Say, who let you loose?”