lind supported by blocks of wood. The first piece was a song by
Sid. He strutted out pompously and began, "How beau--" He stopped. He had
forgotten his bow. Executing this, he started once more, "How beautiful
the cow--"

He was halting again.

"How beautiful the cow--"

He hesitated once more.

"O beautiful cow," sang out the roguish Wort behind the sheet.

"Shut up!" shrieked the infuriated vocalist, rushing to the bed-sheet.
"Don't interrupt me!"

He resumed his recitation:

"How beautiful the cow-slip
Upon the verdant mead,
How diligent the sower
Who drops the tiny seed."

He continued and finished the piece amid great enthusiasm on the part of
the boys behind the sheet, who applauded tumultuously. There was little
movement on the part of the butter-tubs. They opened their eyes and stared
wonderingly. Then they opened their mouths and grinned.

Charlie now appeared, announcing as his selection "Independence Bell," a
subject which he commenced to treat vigorously. The reference was to the
bell at Philadelphia, rung at the Declaration of Independence, and
somebody behind the sheet now began to shake a cowbell, a device which it
was thought would heighten the effect of the performance.

"'Taint time!" called out Charlie, turning in despair to the curtain. Here
Wort's round, beaming face appeared at a rent which was growing larger
every few minutes.

"Tell me when," he whispered.

Charlie resumed his recitation. Soon he whispered, "Go it!" Didn't Wort do
his duty! No bell-ringer in Philadelphia could have been more
enthusiastic, and no cow astray seeking after home ever wagged her bell so
continuously. It was afterward found out that every boy behind the curtain
had a chance to swing that bell, a fact accounting for the popularity of
the piece and for the tumultuous applause following it. The applause came
from brother-performers, but was none the less gratifying to the speaker.

The final piece was by Wort, "The Last Rose of Summer." If given, no one
can say how successful it might have been, but while the subject implied a
compliment to Wort and those preceding him, the adjective "last" was
ominous. There were several boys struggling to look through the curtain,
one through the old rent Wort had used, and the others through new rents
that they had ingeniously made with their fingers. But what curtain could
hold up against the continued pressure of three stout boys? There was
nothing tha