parts carefully copied, and can be learning them, but I need the
book to prompt you."

CHAPTER IV

AN ENTERTAINMENT

Reginald knew that the ball had been on his desk when he had left the
schoolroom, and he could not think how it could have disappeared unless
some one had helped it to do so.

Again he searched in his desk, but the ball was not there. He put away
the books which he had taken out, and closed his desk, looking up just
in time to see that Arabella was closely watching him. How queer she
looked! She was not laughing, but she seemed to be amused.

"I b'lieve I know where my ball is," he whispered; "I just know Arabella
took it, and p'r'aps that was what she dropped over the wall."

"What are you saying?" whispered Arabella, but Reginald only shook his
head. "I guess I won't tell her," he thought, "but right after school
I'll look."

When school was out he lingered, hoping that the girls would hurry off,
and thus leave him free to search behind the wall where he believed
Arabella had hidden his ball.

It was useless to wait. The girls sat upon the wall talking until
Reginald was out of patience, and when at last they started for home,
Katie insisted that he must go with her.

"You know mamma said that we were to hurry home from school," she said.

"You weren't hurrying when you were sitting on this wall," said
Reginald.

"But I forgot, so I'm hurrying now," Katie replied, and grasping his
hand, she commenced to run very fast, laughing because he looked so
unwilling.

That night there was a heavy shower that drenched the trees and left
clear little puddles in the road.

Reginald reached the cottage just in time to avoid being late.

The lessons went smoothly until the readers were opened. It was a
charming story, but there were many long words which puzzled the pupils.

"The water nymphs paused in the moonlight to watch the fountain spray,"
was the opening sentence of the paragraph which Reginald was to read,
but the letters were spaced so that the s and p were not close together
in "spray." Reginald read it as it appeared:

"'The water nymphs paused in the moonlight to watch the fountains
pray.'"

"Why, how could they?" he asked, "how could fountains _pray_?"

The class was amused, but Arabella laughed long and loudly, and Aunt
Charlotte was obliged to speak forcibly to her to check her merriment.
The small boy was angry.

"I'll get even with her; see 'f I don't," he thought.