t a nice teacher?"

"Oh, yes, she's fine!" exclaimed Bert "There's nothing the matter at
all."

"Yes there is," insisted Nan. "I can tell by your face. It's that
Danny Rugg; I'm sure. Oh, Bert, is he bothering you again?"

"Well, he said he was going to."

"Then why don't you go straight and tell Mr. Tetlow? He'll make Danny
behave. I'll go tell him myself!"

"Don't you dare, Nan!" cried Bert. "All the fellows would call me
'sissy,' if I let you do that. Never mind, I can look out for my self.
I'm not afraid of Danny."

"Oh, Bert, I hope you don't get into fight."

"I won't, Nan--if I can help it. At least I won't hit first, but if he
hits me--"

Bert looked as though he knew what he would do in that case.

"Oh dear!" cried Nan, "aren't you boys just awful!"

However, she made up her mind that if Danny got too bad she would speak
to the principal about him, whether her brother wanted her to or not.

"He won't know it," thought Nan.

She had no trouble in getting permission from her teacher for herself
and her two friends to sit together, and soon they had moved their
books and other things to one of the long desks that had room for three
pupils.

Meanwhile Flossie and Freddie got along very well in the kindergarten.
At first, just as the others did, they gave very little attention to
what the teacher wanted them to learn, but she was very patient, and
soon all the class was gathered about the sand table, in the little low
chairs, making fairy cities, caves, and even makebelieve seashore
places.

"This is like the one where we were this Summer," said Flossie, as she
made a hole in her sand pile to take the place of the ocean. "If I had
water and a piece of wood I could show you where there was a
shipwreck," she said to the girl next to her.

"That isn't the way it was," spoke Freddie, from the other side of the
room. "There was more sand at the seashore than on this whole
table--yes, on ten tables like this."

"There was not!" cried Flossie.

"There was too!" insisted her brother.

"Children--children!" called the teacher. "You must not argue like
that--ever--in school, or out of it. Now we will sing our worksong,
and after that we will march with the flags," and she went to the piano
to play. All the little ones liked this, and the dispute of Flossie
and Freddie was soon forgotten.

Bert kept thinking of what might happen between himself and Danny Rugg
when school was out, and when