I liked his nose . It was so straight and finished-looking . Mr. Grinnell had the worst-looking nose you ever saw . Jill and I used to make poetry about it in church to keep from falling asleep when he preached such awful long sermons . Dick preached great sermons . They were so nice and short . It was such fun to hear him thump the pulpit when he got excited ; and when he got more excited still he would lean over the pulpit , his face all white , and talk so low and solemn that it would just send the most gorgeous thrills through you . Dick came to Owlwood -- that 's our place ; I hate these explanations -- quite a lot , even before Aunt Tommy came . He and Father were chums ; they had been in college together and Father said Dick was the best football player he ever knew . Jill and I soon got acquainted with him and this was another uncanny thing . We had never thought it possible to get acquainted with a minister . Jill said she did n't think it proper for a real live minister to be so chummy . But then Jill was a little jealous because Dick and I , being both men ; were better friends than he and she could be . He taught me to skate that winter and fence with canes and do long division . I could never understand long division before Dick came , although I was away on in fractions . Jill has just been in and says I ought to explain that Dick 's name was n't Dick . I do wish Jill would mind her own business . Of course it was n't . His real name was the Reverend Stephen Richmond , but Jill and I always called him Dick behind his back ; it seemed so jolly and venturesome , somehow , to speak of a minister like that . Only we had to be careful not to let Father and Mother hear us .
XXXXX would n't even let Father call Dick `` Stephen '' ; she said it would set a bad example of familiarity to the children .
Dick Father Grinnell Jill Mother Owlwood Richmond Tommy canes chums