e rose and said in a whisper he must be going.

After he was gone, Frank told, as if he had just thought of it, about the
boy that had fooled them so, at Pawpaw Bottom; and he was surprised at the
way his mother and his Uncle Henry questioned him up about it.

"Well, now," she said, "I'm glad poor Mrs. Fogle wasn't here, or--" She
stopped, and her brother-in-law rose, with the hand of his sleepy little
son in his own.

"I think Pony had better say good-night now, while he can. Frank, you've
had a remarkable Fourth. Good-night, all. I wish I had spent the day at
Pawpaw Bottom myself."

Before they slept that night, Pony's mother said: "Well, I'd just as soon
you'd kept that story to yourself till morning, Henry. I shall keep
thinking about it, and not sleep a wink. How in the world do you account
for it?"

"I don't account for it," said Pony's father.

"Now, that won't do! What do you think?"

"Well, if it was _one_ boy that saw the fourth boy it might be a simple
case of lying."

"Frank Baker never told a lie in his life. He couldn't."

"Perhaps Jake could, or Dave. But as they all three saw the boy at
different times, why, it's--"

"What?"

"It's another thing."

"Now, you can't get out of it that way, Henry. Do you believe that the
child longed so to be back here that--"

"Ah, who knows? There's something very strange about all that. But we
can't find our way out, except by the short-cut of supposing that nothing
of the kind happened."

"You can't suppose that, though, if all three of the boys say it did."

"I can suppose that they think it happened, or made each other think so."

Pony's mother drew a long sigh. "Well, I know what _I_ shall always
think," she said.

VIII

HOW PONY BAKER CAME PRETTY NEAR
RUNNING OFF WITH A CIRCUS

Just before the circus came, about the end of July, something happened
that made Pony mean to run off more than anything that ever was. His
father and mother were coming home from a walk, in the evening; it was so
hot nobody could stay in the house, and just as they were coming to the
front steps Pony stole up behind them and tossed a snowball which he had
got out of the garden at his mother, just for fun. The flower struck her
very softly on her hair, for she had no bonnet on, and she gave a jump and
a hollo that made Pony laugh; and then she caught him by the arm and boxed
his ears.

"Oh, my goodness! It was you, was it, you good-for-nothing boy? I thought