Some called him a "prig" and declared that he was "stuck up" and conceited.

Others said he was a "namby-pamby" without brains or wit.

But there were a few who had occasionally talked with the boy, who understood him better, and hinted that he might develop into "quite a man" in time.
Kenneth surprised himself this morning by greeting several of his neighbors with unusual cordiality.

He even stopped a man who was driving along the highway to inquire about his horse, which he perceived was very lame.

The boy knew something about horses and suggested a method of treatment that he thought would help the nag; a suggestion the farmer received with real gratitude.
This simple incident cheered Kenneth more than you might suppose, and he was actually whistling as he rode through the glen, where the country road wound its way beside the noisy, rushing stream.
Pausing in front of the picturesque "table rock" that he had come to inspect, the boy uttered an exclamation of chagrin and disappointment.
Painted broadly upon the face of the rock, in great white letters, was the advertisement of a patent medicine.