said a vessel got 'way
out to sea, when they found a boy had hidden himself on board, a
regular stowaway, and the first fishing smack they met, that was
heading for Cliffmore, took him aboard and brought him back, and who
do you think that was?"

"Why, how could we ever guess?" Polly asked in surprise.

"Well, that was John Selby, the grocer's boy. You know the store over
at the Center," said Sprite, "and I guess you've seen the boy. He's
'bout fourteen, and has red hair, and he's the one that helps deliver
goods from his father's store."

Yes, they remembered him.

Good-tempered, happy-go-lucky John Selby. What could have tempted him
to leave home, and become a stowaway? Sprite knew why he had done it.

"He said he didn't want to be a grocer when he grew up," she said. "He
said he loved the sea, and would rather be a sailor, so now his father
says if he'll stay at home and help in the store until he's a bit
older, he'll consent to his becoming a sailor, if he still thinks he'd
like a sailor's life."

The pronouns were a bit confused, but Rose and Polly understood.

They hardly knew whether to be sorry for John or his father.

"It seems hard for John to want to go and leave his father," Polly
said, "and it's hard that John can't be a sailor boy if he wants to."

"And you can't know which is the harder," said Sprite.

"Well, I wouldn't think any boy would run away from home when he knew
that his father and mother would grieve for him," Rose said.

"I'd think any boy would if he wanted to!" said a sharp voice.

It was Max Deland who had entered the garden, and now, with a defiant
air, stood staring at the group of playmates, as if daring them to
disagree with him.

His cap was tilted at a saucy angle, his hands were thrust into his
pockets, and his feet, wide apart, were firmly braced.

He looked as if ready to quarrel with anyone who chanced to differ
with him.

"Do you mean to say, Max, that you'd do such a thing?" Sprite asked.

"I don't say I would, and I don't say I wouldn't," Max said in a
sullen voice.

"Well, _would_ you?" Princess Polly asked, but Max looked
disagreeable, and in a few moments had turned and left them, as
abruptly as he had come.

For a moment Polly, Rose and Sprite sat very still, each looking into
the faces of the others.

"What made him so cross?" Sprite asked, "and if he _did_ feel cross,
and couldn't help it, then I should have thought he would have stayed
away."

"