or her trick. And now to be offered a beautiful present was
astonishing, truly! The ways of grownups were surely not to be counted
upon!

With lightened spirits, then, and with sparkling eyes, Marjorie completed
her confession. "Yes," she went on, "after you said last night that you
b'lieved us children could turn your hair white in a single night, I
thought I'd make believe we did. So,--and you know, Grandma, you told me
I could stay around in your room for a while, and look at your pretty
things,--so, when I saw that queer sort of a powder-shaker I couldn't
help playing with it. And then when I saw your bed all fixed so nice for
the night, I thought it would be fun to powder your pillow. I've heard
of people doing it before. I didn't make it up myself. So I shook the
powder all over your pillow, and then of course you put your head on it,
and of course it made your hair white."

Marjorie's parents looked aghast, for to them it seemed as if she had
simply played a practical joke on her grandmother, and one not easily
forgiven, but Grandpa Maynard expressed himself in a series of chuckles.

"Chip of the old block," he said. "Chip of the old block! Just what you
would have done, Ed, when you were a boy, if you had thought of it!
Marjorie, practical jokes run in the family, and you can't help your
propensity for them! I don't approve of them, mind you, I don't approve
of them, but once in a while when one works out so perfectly, I can't
help enjoying it. What do you say, Mother?"

He turned to his wife, and to the surprise of all, she was beaming with
joy. It was not so much her enjoyment of the joke as her relief at
finding that her hair had not turned gray, and could easily be restored
to its beautiful brown.

"I'm quite sure I ought to be annoyed," she said, smiling at Marjorie.
"I'm almost certain I ought to be very angry, and I know you ought to be
punished. But none of these things are going to happen. I'm so glad that
it is only a joke that I forgive the little jokemaker, and as I promised,
I will give you a present as an expression of my gratitude."

And so the breakfast ended amid general hilarity, and afterward Grandma
took Marjorie up to her own room, and they had a little quiet talk.

"I don't want you to misunderstand me, dear," she said, "for practical
jokes are not liked by most people, and they're not a nice amusement for
a little girl. But, I'm afraid, Marjorie, that I have been too harsh and
stern