anger; and then they drew long breaths and shuddered,
thinking how he might have pitched headlong to the ground and been
crushed by the weight of the chimney.

"But my little son," asked Mrs. Dunlee presently, when the child was
once more respectably clad, and was walking down to dinner between
herself and Aunt Vi, "but my little son, what could have possessed you
to climb a roof? Was that a nice thing to do?"

"No, mamma, of course not. But 'twas all Nate Pollard's fault. Nate
stumped me to it and I took the stump."

"What _do_ you mean?"

"Why, he said, 'You won't dare follow me,' and I said, 'Yes, I would.'
And I never mistrusted where he was going. Who'd have thought of his
climbing top of a house?"

"Why, Jamie Dunlee, you did not follow Nate without knowing where he
was going?"

"Yes, mamma; if I _had_ known I wouldn't have followed. But you see he
had stumped me and I'd taken the stump, so I was _obliged_ to go!"

"Obliged to go!" repeated Aunt Vi, laughing, "Isn't that characteristic
of Jimmy?"

The little fellow felt guiltier than ever. When Aunt Vi used that word
of five syllables it always meant that people had done very wrong, so he
thought.

"Jamie," said his mother very seriously, "I am surprised that you should
have promised to follow Nate without knowing where he was going! And you
never even asked him where he was going! Is that the way you play, you
boys?"

"No, mamma, it isn't. Nate makes you play his way because he's the
oldest. He's just as mean! But I couldn't back out after I was
stumped."

"Oh, fie! Backing out is exactly the thing to do when a boy is trying to
lead you into mischief! But we'll talk more of this by and by."

As they entered the dining-room, Jimmy squared his shoulders and would
not look toward Nate's table; and Nate, who had been severely reproved
by his parents, never once raised his eyes from his plate. No one felt
very happy. Jimmy's new suit was ruined; and Mr. Dunlee had already
learned that it would cost ten dollars to restore the tile chimney. Nor
was this all. While Jimmy was trying to console himself with ice-cream
he suddenly thought of his father's watch! It must have dropped out of
his pocket when he slid down the roof; but where, oh, where was it now?
Was it still on the ground, or had some one picked it up? Joe Rolfe had
been there, so had Chicken Little and a dozen others. He must go and
look for that watch, he must go this minute.

"Mamma," he mu