you've
been making quite a hero of yourself by capturing the monkeys last
night."

Toby's freckled face reddened with pleasure as he heard these words, and
he stammered out, with considerable difficulty, "I didn't do anything;
it was Mr. Stubbs that brought 'em back."

"Mr. Stubbs!" And the skeleton laughed so heartily that Toby was afraid
he would dislocate some of his thinly covered joints. "When you was
tellin' about Mr. Stubbs yesterday I thought you meant someone belonging
to the company. You ought to have seen my wife Lilly shake with laughing
when I told her who Mr. Stubbs was!"

"Yes," said Toby, at a loss to know just what to say, "I should think
she would shake when she laughs."

"She does," replied the skeleton. "If you could see her when something
funny strikes her you'd think she was one of those big plates of jelly
that they have in the bakeshop windows." And Mr. Treat looked proudly at
the gaudy picture which represented his wife in all her monstrosity of
flesh. "She's a great woman, Toby, an' she's got a great head."

Toby nodded his head in assent. He would have liked to say something
nice regarding Mrs. Treat, but he really did not know what to say, so he
simply contented himself and the fond husband by nodding.

"She thinks a good deal of you, Toby," continued the skeleton, as he
moved his chair to a position more favorable for him to elevate his feet
on the edge of the counter, and placed his handkerchief under him as a
cushion; "she's talking of you all the time, and if you wasn't such a
little fellow I should begin to be jealous of you--I should, upon my
word."

"You're--both--very--good," stammered Toby, so weighted down by a sense
of the honor heaped upon him as to be at a loss for words.

"An' she wants to see more of you. She made me come out here now, when
she knew Mr. Lord would be away, to tell you that we're goin' to have a
little kind of a friendly dinner in our tent tomorrow--she's cooked it
all herself, or she's going to--and we want you to come in an' have some
with us."

Toby's eyes glistened at the thought of the unexpected pleasure, and
then his face grew sad as he replied, "I'd like to come first rate, Mr.
Treat, but I don't s'pose Mr. Lord would let me stay away from the shop
long enough."

"Why, you won't have any work to do tomorrow, Toby--it's Sunday."

"So it is!" said the boy, with a pleased smile, as he thought of the
day of rest which was so near. And then he