Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER III. THE JOY OF PROBLEMS "A Most remarkable man!" commented Mrs. Sardley. " Think of the time he wastes on foolish problems and absurd ideas," said Mr. Sardley, and Leonard had to smile, for a hammock and a cigar claimed nine-tenths of all Sardley's time, which surely was not putting it to profitable use. " Have you told him we are going? " asked Mrs. Sardley. " Yes," replied Sardley. " He said he understood we had engaged the rooms for the summer, but I told him recent happenings made the associations a little too gloomy for us." "Did he object?" " No; but I could see he didn't like it very well." " I'm sorry for him," remarked Mrs. Sardley, " but I don't see why we should spoil our summer on his account. Are you going to stay, Miss Winton?" " Oh, yes; now that it's all over and they've gone," replied Miss Winton. " If they were coming back, it would be different." " From what is known of his affairs in the city," put in Mr. Sardley, " I don't believe he left money enough to enable them to come back, and I don't understand that the sister has anything." Before anything could be added to the gossip, Daniel Dodd came around the corner of the house. " Dodd," exclaimed Sardley, with patronizing geniality, " we were just talking about you, and I made a wager that, with your penchant for figures, you had already discovered the dimensions of that big maple that's the pride of your place." Dodd gave the tree thoughtful and speculative scrutiny, while Sardley winked at the others. The tree was a magnificent specimen, and it was well known that Dodd took great pride in it. " It seems to me," said Dodd at last, as if trying desperately to recall something, " it seems to me that some boy that was up here about ten years ago did measure it, bu...