now, I will. I ain't mean. Glad you
wrote.

"R.O.W."

"Hurrah!" cried Jill, waving the letter over her head in great triumph.
"Call everybody and read it out," she added, as Frank snatched it, and
ran for his mother, seeing at a glance that the news was good. Jill
was so afraid she should tell before the others came that she burst out
singing "Pretty Bobby Shafto" at the top of her voice, to Jack's great
disgust, for he considered the song very personal, as he _was_ rather
fond of "combing down his yellow hair," and Jill often plagued him by
singing it when he came in with the golden quirls very smooth and nice
to hide the scar on his forehead.

In about five minutes the door flew open and in came Mamma, making
straight for bewildered Jack, who thought the family had gone crazy when
his parent caught him in her arms, saying tenderly,--

"My good, generous boy! I knew he was right all the time!" while Frank
worked his hand up and down like a pump-handle, exclaiming heartily,--

"You're a trump, sir, and I'm proud of you!" Jill meantime calling out,
in wild delight,--

"I told you so! I told you so! I did find out; ha, ha, I did!"

"Come, I say! What's the matter? I'm all right. Don't squeeze the breath
out of me, please," expostulated Jack, looking so startled and innocent,
as he struggled feebly, that they all laughed, and this plaintive
protest caused him to be released. But the next proceeding did not
enlighten him much, for Frank kept waving a very inky paper before him
and ordering him to read it, while Mamma made a charge at Jill, as if it
was absolutely necessary to hug somebody.

"Hullo!" said Jack, when he got the letter into his own hand and
read it. "Now who put Bob up to this? Nobody had any business to
interfere--but it's mighty good of him, anyway," he added, as the
anxious lines in his round face smoothed themselves away, while a smile
of relief told how hard it had been for him to keep his word.

"I did!" cried Jill, clapping her hands, and looking so happy that he
could not have scolded her if he had wanted to.

"Who told you he was in the scrape?" demanded Jack, in a hurry to know
all about it now the seal was taken off his own lips.

"You did;" and Jill's face twinkled with naughty satisfaction, for this
was the best fun of all.

"I didn't! When? Where? It's a joke!"

"You did," cried Jill, pointing to the rug. "You went to sleep there
after the long walk, and talked in your sleep about