and three other girls
accomplished commendable snivels. An embarrassing halt brought down my
handkerchief and hushed audible mourning. The affair was not over. Every
eye was riveted expectantly upon me, and I had forgotten what came next.
Mariposa plucked my cloak and whispered in my ear:--

"Thar oughter be a pra'ar now!"

The propriety of the suggestion was obvious. I had seen pictures of
funerals and knew how the officiating clergyman appeared in committing
"dust to dust, ashes to ashes." But there was the fear aforementioned of
breaking a Commandment by addressing the Almighty in a make-believe
service.

"'Tain't a fun'ral 'thout thars a pra'ar!" Mariposa muttered
insistently.

Nerved by the exigency, I lifted both hands and eyes toward the sky:--

"World without end, Amen and Amen!"

"A-a-_men_!" groaned my faithful lieutenant. Her emphasis assured me
that the inspiration I had obeyed was a felicitous touch. She pressed
still closer to me, mindful of my dignity, and prompted me further, in
an artistic mutter, without using her lips.

"The services o' this solemn 'casion will be close' by er hymn."

I uttered it as if she had not given the cue, and "lined out" the hymn I
had pitched upon as eminently appropriate for the "solemn 'casion."

"When I can read my title clear
To mansions in the skies."

Mariposa raised the tune and carried it, the rest of the band screaming
in her wake.

"I'll bid farewell to every fear
And wipe my weeping eyes,"

I continued in a nasal sing-song.

The chorus was plain sailing before a spanking breeze;

"And wipe my weeping eye-eye-_eyes_!
And wipe my weeping eye-er-_ese_!
I'll bid farewell to every fear
And wipe my weeping eyes."

Like the echo of the final screech a fearsome wail arose from within the
enclosure,--a long-drawn cry, repeated while we stared into one
another's blanched faces, too affrighted for words.

Mariposa was the first to recover the use of her tongue and limbs.

"_Th' ghos' o' the little baby!_" she yelled, and took to her nimble
heels at a rate that made it impossible for the fleetest of her fellow
fugitives to overtake her.

I was left all alone.

[Illustration]

Chapter VI

[Illustration]

Leaning against the outside of the brick wall, too stunned to join in my
companions' stampede, I yet did not lose my senses. Neither did I cry
out or whimper. Children have gone into convulsions and become idiotic