It was not, however, much fun to be lying there in bed during those fine spring days. From his window he could see the blue waters of the lake between the aisles of straight pines. It was a glorious world if one could only be abroad in it. Even the glimpse he had of it from his bed was beautiful. But to lie still and look out upon this alluring scene was not a satisfying role for an active boy. In spite of the wood-carving, the books, the writing; even despite the time Franz could spare to entertain him the hours dragged pitifully. Furthermore, now that the severed bone had begun to knit he felt restless and uncomfortable. Hence when on the afternoon of the third day he awoke from an uneasy doze to find his father standing beside him it was a joyful surprise. "Father!" he cried. "Right here," came gruffly from the Doctor. "Glad to have your old dad home again?" "Glad? Well, I guess!" "I am glad to see you again too, son. I've thought of you a hundred times. How did you get on?" "All right, sir. Franz took fine care of me, and I found lots of things to do," answered Theo bravely. "But it is much nicer when you are here than when you're not." His father smiled. "You are a plucky youngster," he said huskily. "No matter how silly and childish your accident was you certainly have shown yourself a man since. Look! Here comes Mr. Croyden to see you. He has brought you a fine four-pounder, the record trout of the catch." Theo beamed. During the time the fishermen had been gone he had sadly missed the delicacy of fresh fish. "Eating this trout will be the next best thing to pulling it in, Theo," said Mr. Croyden. "I only wish you might have had that pleasure, too." "I shall be pretty glad to eat the trout, sir," Theo declared promptly. "We shall let Franz get to work cooking it then, right away, so to have it ready for your dinner," Dr. Swift said, passing out with the fish in his hand. After the Doctor had gone Theo looked up into Mr. Croyden's face. "I suppose you are dreadfully tired after your tramp," he remarked. "I? Oh, no," was the instant answer. "Why?" "I--I--don't know," faltered Theo. "I just wondered." "Wondered what?" "Whether after dinner you would be too tired to come in and talk to me a little while?" "No, indeed. I'd be glad to come," responded Mr. Croyden. "I'll come and tell you all about our trip." "If you don't mind I'd rather you'd leave that to Dad, and instead tell me some more about china-making," Theo said naively. Mr. Croyden seemed vastly amused at the remark. "Bless my soul! What a boy you are," he said. "Of course I am perfectly willing to talk to you on anything you like. Would you rather hear about china than anything else?" "Yes, sir, just now I should," came vigorously from Theo. "All righty, china it shall be, then! But I am surprised that you should be so much interested in it. How came you to be so eager to learn about pottery and porcelain?"