t of rabbit skin with a cap to match and outlined a set
of exercises to increase his chest measure before I was half through
with my story.

But Percy did not appear, although we had an idea that he was not far
off in the woods. We could hear a crackling in the undergrowth, but when
we called there was no reply. Tish was eating a frog's leg when the idea
came to her.

"He'll never come out under ordinary circumstances in that--er--costume,"
she said. "Suppose we call for help. He'll probably come bounding.
Help!" she yelled, between bites, as one may say.

"Help! Fire! Police!"

"Help!" cried Aggie. "Percy, help!" It sounded like "Mercy, help!"

It worked like a charm. The faint cracking became louder, nearer, turned
from a suspicion to a certainty and from a certainty to a fact. The
bushes parted and Percy stood before us. All he saw was three elderly
women eating frogs' legs round a fire under a cloud of mosquitoes. He
stopped, dumbfounded, and in that instant we saw that he didn't need the
physical exercises, but that, of course, he did need the rabbit-skin
suit.

"Great Scott!" he panted. "I thought I heard you calling for help."

"So we did," said Tish, "but we didn't need it. Won't you sit down?"

He looked dazed and backed toward the bushes.

"I--I think," he said, "if there's nothing wrong I'd better not--"

"Fiddlesticks!" Tish snapped. "Are you ashamed of the body the Lord
gave you? Don't you suppose we've all got skins? And didn't I thrash my
nephew, Charlie Sands, when he was almost as big as you and had less on,
for bathing in the river? Sit down, man, and don't be a fool."

He edged toward the fire, looking rather silly, and Aggie passed him a
frog's leg on a piece of bark.

"Try this, Percy," she said, smiling.

At the name he looked ready to run. "I guess you've seen the notices,"
he said, "so you'll understand I cannot accept any food or assistance.
I'm very grateful to you, anyhow."

"You may take what food you find, surely," said Aggie. "If you find a
roasted frog's leg on the ground--so--there's nothing to prevent you
eating it, is there?"

"Nothing at all," said Percy, and picked it up. "Unless, of course--"

"It's not a trap, young man," said Tish. "Eat it and enjoy it. There are
lots more where it came from."

He relaxed at that, and on Tish's bringing out a blanket from the tent
to throw over his shoulders he became almost easy. He was much surprised
to learn that we knew his