How Captain Jack Won His Epauplets.'"

"Won his--_what_?" asked grandma, holding her ball suspended.

"His epauplets. He was just a plain, every-day soldier, you know, to
start with."

"Oh! won his epaulets, you mean," said grandma, gravely.

"Won his--oh, of course! how stupid of me!" looking more closely at the
word. "Now I've always thought that word was epauplets, grandma, truly I
did."

"Go on and begin," said Eunice; "how did he win them?"

The reading proceeded quietly for a time. Eunice held the wool, grandma
wound it off, and Zaidee and Helen played tonka on the piazza steps.
Tonka was a little Japanese game on the order of jackstones, only,
instead of hard, nobby stones, that spoil the dimpled knuckles, tiny
bags of soft, gay silk, half full of rice, are used. Six little bags
are made with the ends gathered, and one more, the tonka, is made flat
and square of some different coloured silk, to distinguish it, as the
gay little bags fly up and down. It was a very favourite amusement with
all the children. Eliza was with Kenneth, and auntie was lying down, for
the poor baby had been wakeful and in much pain the night before, and
auntie had had little sleep.

Nearly an hour slipped by, when suddenly grandma stopped Cricket.

"How quiet the children are. Are they there still?" turning to see.
Eunice looked up also.

"Dear me, I haven't thought of them for a long time. They've slipped
off. I suppose I ought to go and see what Zaidee's doing, and tell her
she mustn't," and Eunice lay down her work. She had had to have much
care of the younger ones these last few days.

"I'll go, too," said Cricket, getting up gladly. "'Scuse us, please,
grandma, for leaving you all alone."

Cricket had scarcely ever been ill a day in her life, not even with
children's diseases, which she had always escaped, and, in all her
adventures, she was very rarely hurt. Therefore, pain was a very
dreadful thing to her. She bore it bravely, but it was strange to see
her looking so pale and heavy-eyed. But these few days of suffering were
teaching her many things.

Eunice and Cricket heard the sound of the children's voices as they
turned the corner of the house.

"Oh, they're all right," said Eunice, relieved.

Just back of the house, in a tiny little shed, built especially for it,
stood a big barrel of kerosene. It was kept outside, because grandma was
very much afraid of the possibility of fire. Once, in an unlucky moment,
th