r lie down, then."

"Can't; I 'm fidgety, and want to be 'amoosed' as Pug says."

"Just wait till I finish my chapter, and then I 'll come," said pitiful
Polly.

"All right," returned the perjured boy, who had discovered that a broken
head was sometimes more useful than a whole one, and exulting in his
base stratagem, he roved about the room, till Fan's bureau arrested him.
It was covered with all sorts of finery, for she had dressed in a hurry,
and left everything topsy-turvy. A well-conducted boy would have let
things alone, or a moral brother would have put things to rights; being
neither, Tom rummaged to his hearts content, till Fan's drawers looked
as if some one had been making hay in them. He tried the effect of
ear-rings, ribbons, and collars; wound up the watch, though it was n't
time; burnt his inquisitive nose with smelling-salts; deluged his grimy
handkerchief with Fan's best cologne; anointed his curly crop with her
hair-oil; powdered his face with her violet-powder; and finished off
by pinning on a bunch of false ringlets, which Fanny tried, to keep a
profound secret. The ravages committed by this bad boy are beyond
the power of language to describe, as he revelled in the interesting
drawers, boxes, and cases, which held his sister's treasures.

When the curls had been put on, with much pricking of fingers, and a
blue ribbon added, la Fan, he surveyed himself with satisfaction, and
considered the effect so fine, that he was inspired to try a still
greater metamorphosis. The dress Fan had taken off lay on a chair,
and into it got Tom, chuckling with suppressed laughter, for Polly
was absorbed, and the bed-curtains hid his iniquity. Fan's best velvet
jacket and hat, ermine muff, and a sofa-pillow for pannier, finished off
the costume, and tripping along with elbows out, Tom appeared before
the amazed Polly just as the chapter ended. She enjoyed the joke so
heartily, that Tom forgot consequences, and proposed going down into the
parlor to surprise, the girls.

"Goodness, no! Fanny never would forgive us if you showed her curls and
things to those people. There are gentlemen among them, and it would n't
be proper," said Polly, alarmed at the idea.

"All the more fun. Fan has n't treated you well, and it will serve her
right if you introduce me as your dear friend, Miss Shaw. Come on, it
will be a jolly lark."

"I would n't for the world; it would be so mean. Take 'em off, Tom, and
I 'll play anything e