The Hickory Limb

and then let fly in the general direction of the allied forces two slimy handfuls of mud. In the excitement of the game the boys had clean forgot the immodesty of bare shoulders, and had even broken away from their original close grouping until, to all appearances, Margery was one of them. So it happened that, when Freddy Larkin dodged aside, one handful of the watery mud caught Margery square on the head and splattered down over her face and ears.

"Aw, see what you done, Eddie Grote!" Tommy Grayson shouted indignantly. "You went and throwed mud on Margery's hair ribbon! Ain't you got no sense?"

In the pause that followed, four little boys reviled the fifth with various forms of, "Aw, what'd you do that for?" And the fifth stood still in awkward consternation, the mud still dripping from his guilty hand.

For a moment Margery, too, was concerned, but only for a moment. When, under any circumstances, one's world is coming to an end within a few hours at furthest, a hair ribbon more or less