er, and was no comfort to himself, for he had lost his mind, but
everybody admitted that grandmother had done her duty, and the Van
Kortlandt children, grown men and women, thanked her for all her good
care.

Oh, what fun the children had on the first of April! What rags were
pinned to people--what shrieks of "My cat's got a long tail!" And there
on the sidewalk would lay a tempting half-dollar with a string out of
sight, and when the pedestrian stooped to pick it up--presto! how it
would vanish. When one enterprising wight put his foot on it and picked
it up triumphantly the boys called out:

"April fool! That's an awful sell, mister! It's a bad half-dollar."

They watched and saw him bite it and throw it down. Then they went after
it and had their fun over and over again. Stephen had given the
half-dollar to Jim with strict injunctions not to attempt to pass it or
he'd get a "hiding," which no one ever did in the Underhill family. Mrs.
Underhill declared "'Milyer was as easy as an old shoe, and she didn't
see what had kept the children from going to ruin." Joe always insisted
"it was pure native goodness."

Then they called out to the carters and other wagoners: "Oh, mister,
say! Your wheel's goin' round!" And sometimes without understanding the
driver would look and hear the shout.

They had another trick they played out in the Bowery. Boys had a
reprehensible trick of "cutting behind," as the stages had two steps at
the back, and the boys used to spring on them and steal rides. It was
such a sight of fun to dodge the whip and spring off at the right
moment. Sometimes a cross-grained passenger who had been a very good boy
in his youth would tell.

On this day they didn't steal the ride. They called out with great
apparent honesty: "Cuttin' behind, driver--two boys!"

Then the driver would slash his whip furiously, and even the passers-by
would enjoy the joke. Of course you could only play that once on each
driver.

Altogether it was a day of days. You were fooled, of course; no one was
smart enough to keep quite clear. But almost everybody was good-natured
about it. Martha found some eggs that had been "blown," and a potato
filled with ashes, and there were inventions that would have done credit
to the "pixies."

The little girl would not go out to play in the afternoon, and she
didn't even run when Jim said, "Nora wanted her for something special."
But she really had no conscience about fooling her father