ce sniffed suspiciously. "What are you going to do to him?" she
demanded.

"We won't hurt him," grinned Carol impishly. "We had intended to tie
him to a stake and burn him alive. But since you have interceded on
his behalf, we'll let him off with a simple scalping."

"Maybe he's afraid to come," said Lark, "for there are two of us, and
we are mighty men of valor."

"That's all right," Prudence answered defensively. "I'd sooner face a
tribe of wild Indians any day than you twins when you are
mischief-bent."

"Oh, we just want to use him a few minutes," said Carol impatiently.
"Upon our honor, as Christian gentlemen, we promise not to hurt a hair
of his head."

"Oh, come along, and cut out the comedy," Jerry broke in, laughing.
"I'll be back in two minutes, Prue. They probably want me to shoo a
chicken out of their way. Or maybe the cat has been chasing them."

Once safely around the corner, the twins changed their tactics.

"We knew you weren't afraid," said Lark artistically, "we were just
teasing Prudence. We know we couldn't hurt you."

"Of course," emphasized Carol. "We want to ask a favor of you, that's
all. It's something we can't do ourselves, but we knew you could do
it, all right."

Jerry perceived the drift of this argument. "I see! I'm paid in
advance for my service. What's the job?"

Then the twins led him to the woodshed. This woodshed stood about
twenty feet from the back door of the parsonage, and was nine feet high
in front, the roof sloping down at the back. Close beside the shed
grew a tall and luxuriant maple. The lower limbs had been chopped off,
and the trunk rose clear to a height of nearly twelve feet before the
massive limbs branched out. The twins had discovered that by climbing
gingerly on the rotten roof of the woodshed, followed by almost
superhuman scrambling and scratching, they could get up into the leafy
secrecy of the grand old maple. More than this, up high in the tree
they found a delightful arrangement of branches that seemed positively
made for them. These branches must be utilized, and it was in the act
of utilizing them that they called upon their sister's friend for help.

"Do you see this board?" began Lark, exhibiting with some pride a solid
board about two feet in length.

"My eyesight is quite unimpaired," answered Jerry, for he knew his
twins.

"Well, we found this over by the Avery barn. They have a big scrap
pile out there. We couldn't fi