"It does seem," Mom said, "like it rained fish all week. Nobody knows how they can just all of a sudden appear even in the ruts in the road. Now, Jeffy, don't rush off, you should eat more, you'll probably not come home for lunch again."

"Let the man go and get an early start," Pop grinned, "maybe he'll bring us home a whale."

He got his raincoat and Pop's old rainhat from the closet. The rainhat was way too big and he had to tilt his head way back to see where he was going.

He started to leave and stopped when he saw they were smiling right at him, looking funnylike right at him. But they didn't say anything, so he opened the kitchen door and went out on the porch. He had gone through the porch and opened the porch door and screen when he remembered his boots, so he let the screen slam shut and came back and started putting on his boots when he heard them laughing, and then he heard Pop say, "Gawd in the morning, but he did look funny and different. I don't know what there was that was different about him, but he sure did look funny and different.” "He's growing up," Mom said, "he has really shot up."

"Yes," Pop said, "he's mighty big for his age, and he has really filled out all of a sudden."

Jeffy was frowning as he finished putting his boots on. They sure were funny this morning, all the time looking at him and laughing at him and making him think of himself, and now talking about him.

He soundlessly tiptoed to the door and let himself out and soundlessly eased both the door and screen shut. He was frowning and wondering about it all the way over to the railroad station, but then he crawled under the railroad station platform and brought out his fruit jars with the thirty-five minnows and baby crawdaddy and two turtles and the leech, and then he forgot all about it.

Jeffy was showing Doody Davis the new big minnow he had dammed up in an eddy of the ditch when out of the corner of his eye he saw The Old Rocker standing under the canopy over the town pump, just standing there, looking, with his hands on his cane propped out in front of him, doing that rocking from one foot to the other, like he always did when he wasn't walking. Jeffy knew The Old Rocker would just stand there, looking, until Jeffy was alone.

When Doody Davis finally left, Jeffy just stayed there, playing with the new big minnow, waiting.

"Ho! Ho, boy!"

"Oh. Hi." He just barely glanced up, like always.

"Ho! Fine day, boy, fine day!"

"Yep."

"Fine day, fine day!"

The Old Rocker just stood there, rocking, and Jeffy kept playing with the new big minnow.

After quite a long time, The Old Rocker took one hand down from his cane and put it in his pocket and started clinking the silver dollars, like always. Then when The Old Rocker tried to say something next, he had an awful lot of trouble, like he always did at those times. He'd try to say