"When? Shall we start now? Call the dogs together--they're nosing
in the ditch."

Without taking the trouble to reply, Christopher strode off
briskly along the road, and after waiting a moment to assemble
his scattered puppies, Will caught up with him and broke into a
running pace at his side. As they swung onward the two shadows--
the long one and the short one--stretched straight and black
behind them in the sunlight.

"You're the biggest man about here, aren't you?" the boy asked
suddenly, glancing upward with frank admiration.

"I dare say. What of it?"

"Oh, nothing; and your father was the biggest man of his time,
Sol Peterkin says; and Aunt Mehitable remembers your grandfather,
and he was the tallest man alive in his day. Who'll be the
biggest when you die, I wonder? And, I say, isn't it a pity that
such tall men had to live in such a little old house--I don't see
how they ever got in the doors without stooping. Do you have to
stoop when you go in and out?"

Christopher nodded.

"Well, I shouldn't like that," pursued Will; "and I'm glad I
don't live in such a little place. Now, the doors at the Hall are
so high that I could stand on your shoulders and go in without
bending my head. Let's try it some day. Grandpa wouldn't know."