nt of Ruth's skirt is soaked!"

"Well, we'll build a fire in the library, and hang ourselves up to dry.
Come on, all you Sand boys and girls."

They went in the house, and while they dried their hair and clothes,
Cousin Jack told them funny stories and made no mention of Hester or of
the Sand Club.

"Now we're going to play a game," he announced, after everybody was dry,
and the fire had died away to ashes. "Here are the things to play it
with."

He produced what looked like some rolls of ribbon, and six pairs of
scissors. But it wasn't ribbon, it was the white paper that comes rolled
in with ribbon, when bought by the piece. This paper was about an inch
wide and he had enough to cut six pieces, each about ten feet long.

These pieces he fastened by one end to the wainscoting with thumb tacks,
and giving the other end of each piece to one of the children, he bade
them stand in a row, far enough away to hold their paper strips out
straight across the room.

Then, at his given signal, each one was to begin to cut, with the
scissors, straight through the middle of the paper, lengthwise, the game
being to cut clear to the end without tearing the paper. Of course, if
carefully done, this would divide each paper into two strips of equal
width.

But the game was also to see which reached the end first, and the winner
was promised a prize. If the scissors inadvertently cut off either
strip, the player was "out."

"Go!" cried Cousin Jack, "and strive only for the greatest speed
consistent with safety. If you go too fast, you're very likely to snip
off your strips; and if you go too slow, somebody else will beat you.
Hurry up, Ruth, you're going evenly, but you'll never get there at that
rate! Oh, hold up, Harry! if you go so fast you'll snip it off. You're
terribly close to one edge, now! Ah, there you go! one strip is chopped
right off. Well, never mind, my boy, stand here by me, and watch the
others. What, Tom out, too? Well, well, Tom, the more haste the less
speed! Careful, Midget, you'll be out in a minute. There you go! Out it
is, for Mehitabel! Well, we have three still in the running. Easy does
it, King! You're getting along finely. Hurry up, Ruth. You can go faster
than that, and still be safe. Dick just says nothing and saws wood.
That's it, Dick, slow and sure!"

Those who were "out" watched the others with breathless interest. It
would have been an easy task had there been no competition. To cut a
long pa