His stove consisted of a circle of red stones , with a fire kindled in it , and his culinary utensils were an old tin can , hammered out flat , and a fork with only one tine left . Nevertheless , ripping good meals had before now been thus prepared . Jem was the child of the House of Dreams . All the others had been born at Ingleside . He had curly red hair , like his mother 's , and frank hazel eyes , like his father 's ; he had his mother 's fine nose and his father 's steady , humorous mouth . And he was the only one of the family who had ears nice enough to please Susan . But he had a standing feud with Susan because she would not give up calling him Little Jem . It was outrageous , thought thirteen-year-old Jem . Mother had more sense . `` I 'm NOT little any more , Mother , '' he had cried indignantly , on his eighth birthday . `` I 'm AWFUL big . '' Mother had sighed and laughed and sighed again ; and she never called him Little Jem again -- in his hearing at least . He was and always had been a sturdy , reliable little chap . He never broke a promise . He was not a great talker . His teachers did not think him brilliant , but he was a good , all-round student . He never took things on faith ; he always liked to investigate the truth of a statement for himself . Once Susan had told him that if he touched his tongue to a frosty latch all the skin would tear off it . Jem had promptly done it , `` just to see if it was so . '' He found it was `` so , '' at the cost of a very sore tongue for several days .
But Jem did not grudge suffering XXXXX the interests of science .
Ingleside at days for in like of on to with