as held stiffly in the pocket. "I'm not cross, Tom; it was only
because I can't bear guessing. _Please_ be good to me."

Tom's arm slowly relaxed, and he said, "Well, then, it's a new
fish-line--two new uns--one for you, Maggie, all to yourself. I
wouldn't go halves in the toffee and ginger-bread on purpose to
save the money; Gibson and Spouncer fought with me because I
wouldn't. And here's hooks--see here! I say, _won't_ we go and fish
to-morrow down by Round Pool? And you shall catch your own fish,
Maggie, and put the worms on, and everything--won't it be fun?"

Maggie's answer was to throw her arms around Tom's neck and hug
him, and hold her cheek against his without speaking, while he
slowly unwound some line, saying, after a pause:

"Wasn't I a good brother, now, to buy you a line all to yourself?
You know, I needn't have bought it if I hadn't liked."

"Yes, very, very good. I _do_ love you, Tom."

Tom had put the line back in his pocket, and was looking at the
hooks one by one, before he spoke again.

"And the fellows fought me because I wouldn't give in about the
toffee."

"Oh, dear! I wish they wouldn't fight at your school, Tom. Didn't
it hurt you?"

"Hurt me? no," said Tom, putting up the hooks again, taking out a
large pocket-knife, and slowly opening the largest blade, which he
looked at meditatively as he rubbed his finger along it. Then he
added:

"I gave Spouncer a black eye, I know--that's what he got by wanting
to leather _me_; I wasn't going to go halves because anybody
leathered me."

"Oh, how brave you are, Tom! I think you're like Samson. If there
came a lion roaring at me, I think you'd fight him--wouldn't you,
Tom?"

"How can a lion come roaring at you, you silly thing? There's no
lions only in the shows."

"No; but if we were in the lion countries--I mean, in Africa, where
it's very hot--the lions eat people there. I can show it to you in
the book where I read it."

"Well, I should get a gun and shoot him."

"But if you hadn't got a gun--we might have gone out, you know, not
thinking, just as we go fishing; and then a great lion might run
toward us roaring, and we couldn't get away from him. What should
you do, Tom?"

Tom paused, and at last turned away contemptuously, saying: