Nicodemus was given this lonely and ghostly den as a bedchamber.
The village smarties recognized a treasure in Nicodemus, right away--a butt to play jokes on.

It was easy to see that he was inconceivably green and confiding.

George Jones had the glory of perpetrating the first joke on him; he gave him a cigar with a firecracker in it and winked to the crowd to come; the thing exploded presently and swept away the bulk of Nicodemus's eyebrows and eyelashes.

He simply said: "I consider them kind of seeg'yars dangersome,"-- and seemed to suspect nothing.

The next evening Nicodemus waylaid George and poured a bucket of ice-water over him.
One day, while Nicodemus was in swimming, Tom McElroy "tied" his clothes.