"My dear daughter," he said, "I invariably gauge the length of my speech by the importance of the occasion. The occasion to which you refer was an important one, as will be the occasion of the presentation of this flag. It will be necessary for me, therefore, to address the pupils and the assembled guests at sufficient length to impress upon them the desirability, you may say the necessity, of having a patriotic emblem, such as is the American flag, constantly before the eyes of our youth." His daughter laughed a little. She was never awed by his stately manner of speech. "All the same," she replied; "I shall get a seat in the front row, and if you exceed fifteen minutes--fifteen minutes to a minute, mind you--I shall hold up a warning finger; and if you still trespass, I shall go up and drag you off the platform by your coat tails; and then you'd look pretty, wouldn't you?" Apparently he did not find it profitable to prolong the argument with her on this occasion, for he laughed and turned again to Pen. "By the way, Penfield," he said, "I missed you at the train the day I left home. I suppose something of major importance detained you?" Pen blushed a little, but he replied frankly: "I was awfully sorry, grandfather; I meant to have written you about it. I didn't exactly forget; but I was coasting on Drake's Hill, and there was an accident, and I was very much excited, and it got train-time before I knew it. Then I ran as fast as I could, but it wasn't any use." "I see. I trust that no one was seriously injured?" "No, sir. I bruised my shin a little, and Elmer scraped his knee, and the bobs were wrecked; that's about all." Colonel Butler adjusted his glasses and leaned back in his chair; a habit he had when about to deliver himself of an opinion which he deemed important. "Penfield," he said, "a gentleman should never permit anything to interfere with the keeping of his engagements. If the matter in hand is of sufficient importance to call for an engagement, it is of sufficient importance to keep the engagement so made. It is an elementary principle of good conduct that a gentleman should always keep his word. Otherwise the relations of men with each other would become chaotic." "Yes, sir," replied Pen. Colonel Butler removed his glasses and again applied himself to the disposal of his food which had been cut into convenient portions by his devoted daughter. But his mind soon recurred to the subject of the flag. "A--Penfield," he inquired, "do you chance to know whether any person has been chosen to make a formal response to my speech of presentation?" Pen felt that the conversation was approaching an embarrassing stage, but there was no hesitancy in his manner as he replied: "Yes, sir. The boy that got your offer, Aleck Sands, will make the response."