children some time, and our training hasn't proved
such a brilliant success. Oh, I do want him to grow up a nice boy. But
boys seem an awful risk now-a-days. I never knew so many youthful
criminals."

"I'd like to know who that woman was who recognized Jack in the
store. That mortifies me awfully."

"And it will get told all over, I know," returned Aunt Florence.

"Well, children do out grow a good many of these disagreeable
capers."

The next night Mr. Borden brought home something in a paper bag and
Jack begged the bag "to bust," watching his father as he shook out a
leather strap cut in thongs and said--

"Now, Jack, every time you do any naughty, ugly thing, I am going to
punish you with this strap. You must not pinch Marilla or the babies,
not kick any one nor tell what isn't true. We want you to be a pretty
good boy, otherwise you will have to be sent to the reform school."

"I'd like to go to the 'form school."

"Not much," was the comment.

"Why, I'd run away."

"There's a high fence all around, and you couldn't climb it."

"Then I'd holler like fury."

"And be put in a dark dungeon."

"There was a man in a story who dug his way out. That's what I'd do."

Arguing was useless. He was such a little fellow, but fertile in
expedients.

"I don't want ever to use this strap on my little boy. I hope he will
be good."

"What is good and what is bad."

"Come to bed, Jack. You're getting silly."

On Monday morning Jack went to Kindergarten. The house was like
another place. And Jack was very much entertained. He soon learned
what a "punch below the belt" meant, and a "biff in the eye" and
several other fighting terms.

"And they're a set of gumps," he declared. "They can't read right off,
they've got to write it, and I can read most anything and spell words,
too. But they make pictures and lovely things, and sing. Yes, I like
to go."

CHAPTER III

PLAYING HOOKEY

Marilla thought she had lovely times with Jack in school, but she did
have to run up and down so much that some nights her little legs
fairly ached. But now she took the babies out to the big park where
she could sit and watch the merry children at play and the beds of
flowers coming out, and there were the funny pussy willows and the
long tails of yellow forsythia and some squirrels running around, and
birds calling to each other. Then there were pretty children playing
about and some nurse girls that she talked to. She felt