ing his mother, and was just wringing himself out
when Ben came up, breathless but good-natured, for he felt that he had
made an excellent bargain for himself and friends.

"Better wash your face; it's as speckled as a tiger-lily. Here's my
handkerchief if yours is wet," he said, pulling out a dingy article
which had evidently already done service as a towel.

"Don't want it," muttered Sam, gruffly, as he poured the water out of
his muddy shoes.

"_I_ was taught to say 'Thanky' when folks got _me_ out of scrapes. But
_you_ never had much bringing up, though you do 'live in a house with a
gambrel roof,'" retorted Ben, sarcastically quoting Sam's frequent
boast; then he walked off, much disgusted with the ingratitude of man.

Sam forgot his manners, but he remembered his promise, and kept it so
well that all the school wondered. No one could guess the secret of
Ben's power over him, though it was evident that he had gained it in
some sudden way, for at the least sign of Sam's former tricks Ben would
crook his little finger and wag it warningly, or call out "Bulrushes!"
and Sam subsided with reluctant submission, to the great amazement of
his mates. When asked what it meant, Sam turned sulky; but Ben had much
fun out of it, assuring the other boys that those were the signs and
pass-word of a secret society to which he and Sam belonged, and promised
to tell them all about it if Sam would give him leave, which, of course,
he would not.

This mystery, and the vain endeavors to find it out, caused a lull in
the war of the wood-pile, and before any new game was invented something
happened which gave the children plenty to talk about for a time.

A week after the secret alliance was formed, Ben ran in one evening with
a letter for Miss Celia. He found her enjoying the cheery blaze of the
pine-cones the little girls had picked up for her, and Bab and Betty sat
in the small chairs rocking luxuriously as they took turns to throw on
the pretty fuel. Miss Celia turned quickly to receive the expected
letter, glanced at the writing, post-mark and stamp, with an air of
delighted surprise, then clasped it close in both hands, saying, as she
hurried out of the room:

"He has come! he has come! Now you may tell them, Thorny."

"Tell us what?" asked Bab, pricking up her ears at once.

"Oh, it's only that George has come, and I suppose we shall go and get
married right away," answered Thorny, rubbing his hands as if he enjoyed
the