it, mamma," Jane looked up to say. "I was just thinkin' a
minute. I want to tell you about somep'm."

"Finish your prayers first, Jane."

Jane obeyed with a swiftness in which there was no intentional
irreverence. Then she jumped into bed and began a fresh revelation.

"It's about papa's clo'es, mamma."

"What clothes of papa's? What do you mean, Jane?" asked Mrs. Baxter,
puzzled.

"The ones you couldn't find. The ones you been lookin' for 'most every
day."

"You mean papa's evening clothes?"

"Yes'm," said Jane. "Willie's got 'em on."

"What!"

"Yes, he has!" Jane assured her with emphasis. "I bet you he's had 'em
on every single evening since Miss Pratt came to visit the Parchers!
Anyway, he's got 'em on now, 'cause I saw 'em."

Mrs. Baxter bit her lip and frowned. "Are you sure, Jane?"

"Yes'm. I saw him in 'em."

"How?"

"Well, I was in my bare feet after I got undressed--before you came
up-stairs--mamma, an' I was kind of walkin' around in the hall--"

"You shouldn't do that, Jane."

"No'm. An' I heard Willie say somep'm kind of to himself, or like
deckamation. He was inside his room, but the door wasn't quite shut. He
started out once, but he went back for somep'm an' forgot to, I guess.
Anyway, I thought I better look an' see what was goin' on, mamma. So I
just kind of peeked in--"

"But you shouldn't do that, dear," Mrs. Baxter said, musingly. "It isn't
really quite honorable."

"No'm. Well, what you think he was doin'?" (Here Jane's voice betrayed
excitement and so did her eyes.) "He was standin' up there in papa's
clo'es before the lookin'-glass, an' first he'd lean his head over on
one side, an' then he'd lean it over on the other side, an' then he'd
bark, mamma."

"He'd what?"

"Yes'm!" said Jane. "He'd give a little, teeny BARK, mamma--kind of like
a puppy, mamma."

"What?" cried Mrs. Baxter.

"Yes'm, he did!" Jane asserted. "He did it four or five times. First
he'd lean his head way over on his shoulder like this--look, mamma!--an'
then he'd lean it way over the other shoulder, an' every time he'd do it
he'd bark. 'Berp-werp!' he'd say, mamma, just like that, only not loud
at all. He said, 'Berp-werp! BERP-WERP-WERP!' You could tell he meant
it for barkin', but it wasn't very good, mamma. What you think he meant,
mamma?"

"Heaven knows!" murmured the astonished mother.

"An' then," Jane continued, "he quit barkin' all of a sudden, an' didn't
lean his head over any more, an'