mediately noticed about him was his beauti-
ful, crinkly, snow-white beard. I once heard a
missionary say it was like the beard of an
Arabian sheik. His bald crown only made it
more impressive.

Grandfather's eyes were not at all like those
of an old man; they were bright blue, and
had a fresh, frosty sparkle. His teeth were
white and regular -- so sound that he had
never been to a dentist in his life. He had
a delicate skin, easily roughened by sun and
wind. When he was a young man his hair
and beard were red; his eyebrows were still
coppery.

As we sat at the table Otto Fuchs and I kept
stealing covert glances at each other. Grand-
mother had told me while she was getting sup-
per that he was an Austrian who came to this
country a young boy and had led an adven-
turous life in the Far West among mining-
camps and cow outfits. His iron constitution
was somewhat broken by mountain pneu-
monia, and he had drifted back to live in a
milder country for a while. He had relatives
in Bismarck, a German settlement to the
north of us, but for a year now he had been
working for grandfather.

[[13]]

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