e still and listen to me!"
With another shake, she quieted them; whereupon, holding each at arm's
length, she surveyed them by turns. "Oh, my soul, such little heathen!"
she pronounced. "Now what do you think I am? A fight umpire? Do you
want to damage each other for life?"

Clarence was all sniffles, and rubbed at the injured arm. But Ikey had
no mind to be blamed undeservedly. He squared about upon Sue with
flashing eye. "But, Momsey, he _did_ said it!" he repeated.

Sue tightened her grip on his cassock. "And, oh, my soul, such grammar!"
she mourned. "'He did said it!' You mean, He do said--he do say--he
done--oh, now you've got _me_ twisted!"

"Just de same, he called it to me," asserted Ikey.

"I never, I tell you! I never!"

"Ah! Ah!" Once more Sue struggled to hold them apart. "And what, Mr.
Ikey, did he call you?"

"He calls me," cried the insulted Ikey, "--he calls me a pie-faces!--Ach!"

"And what did you call him?"

"I didn't call him not'ing!" answered Ikey, beginning to wail again at
the very thought of his failure to do himself justice; "not--von--t'ing!"

"But"--with a wisdom born of long choir experience--"you must have said
something."

"All I says," chanted Ikey, "--all I says is, 'You can't sing. What you
do is----'" And lowering and raising his head, he emitted a long,
lifelike bray.

"Yah!" burst forth the enraged Clarence, struggling to clutch his hated
fellow.

"Wa-a-a-ah!" wept Ikey, who had struck out and hurt his already injured
digit. "You donkey!--donkey!"

Breathing hard, Sue managed to keep them apart; to bring them back to
their proper distance. "Look at them!" she said with fine sarcasm. "Oh,
look at Ikey Einstein!--Where's your handkerchief?"

Weeping, he indicated it by a duck of the chin.

At such a point of general melting, it was safe to release combatants.
Sue freed the two, and took from Ikey's pocket a square of cotton once
white, but now characteristically gray, and strangely heavy. "Here, put
up that poor face," she comforted. But at this unpropitious moment, the
handkerchief, clear of the pocket, sagged with its holdings and deposited
upon the carpet several yellowish, black-spotted cubes. "Dice!"
exclaimed Sue, horrified. "Dice!--Ikey Einstein, what do you call
yourself!"

Pride stopped Ikey's tears. He thrust out his underlip and waved a hand
at the scattered cubes. "Momsey," he answered stoutly, "don't you know?
Why, ever since d