rl, whisking triumphantly away, and the Swede
boy began to count again.

She entered the house, going in at the sitting-room. He followed her
movements as she threaded her way through the dancers toward the empty
granary, and saw her sunbonnet pass the bedroom window and the open
kitchen door. Then once more he sent out the last call. This time there
was no response. So, after a hasty examination of the wagon, he began to
creep about with an impressive show of hunting.

Often he came upon a new calico dress trailing in a dusty place, but
passed its wearer by as if he had not seen her. He surprised the
colonel's son curled up in a box beneath a Jack-o'-lantern, and
distanced him to the wagon. Then he went on searching for a girl, and
the boys, clustered about the wheel, watched him as he sneaked through
the yard. Finally, when he judged that enough time had passed to warrant
it, he made a wider search that brought him close to the granary door.

His courage almost failed him as he passed in front of it, and he was
glad when the delighted squeals of two girls, who were running toward
the goal, gave him an excuse to delay his entrance. But when the girls
had tapped the wheel, he bounded back and, spurring himself on, stepped
within the dark room, where, in a far corner, he caught a faint glint of
white.

He walked toward it timidly. It moved, and he stood still. "Yo there?"
he asked, at last, his throat so dry that he could scarcely find the
words. A subdued giggle answered him. He recalled how kind and
comrade-like she had been to him three months before when they had
caught gophers together, and his spirits rose. "Yo there?" he asked
again.

Suddenly she came from her corner and attempted to pass him. Emboldened
by the darkness, he put out his arms and stopped her, and she laughed
gaily up at him. He laughed shyly back and dropped her arms. She made no
effort to get away. He stood still, awkwardly cracking his knuckles.

"Why don't you fight!" she demanded. He did not reply, but shuffled his
feet and cracked his knuckles harder than ever. The music of a waltz
floated in to them over the babble of the kitchen, and he turned his
head that way as if to listen. As he did so she crept past him, her eyes
sparkling with fun from the depths of the bonnet. When he turned back to
look at her, she was gone.

He followed her out and paid no attention to the jeering inquiries of
the other children. And as the colonel's son be