em to drop that and tell him
about school. Tongues limbered up immediately at this, for each boy had
a grievance.

"You can be jolly glad you ain't there. Old Goggle-eyes gave us two
pages of Algebra--20 problems! I spent a whole hour on the first ten and
I'm shaky about them now. Oh, he's a honey, he is--the dried up old
crank. I'll bet he was old when Methuselah was born."

"Well, I'd rather tackle Goggle-eyes and minus X than write compositions
for Miss Halliday on Spring Flowers--Sper-ing Flow-ers," Carol simpered
gently, and, letting his hands fall limp from the wrists, fluttered
imaginary skirts in a fantastic promenade across the room.

"'You must cultivate the love of the be-utiful--contemplate birds--and
lovely flowers and express what they mean to you,'" he quoted in a high
pitched voice. "Holy smoke, I had a notion to tell her that spring
flowers meant digging dandelions at five cents a thousand, when I wanted
to go fishing! She might at least save 'em till the ground thaws--it's
colder than Greenland out today."

"Yes, Father says we're in for a blizzard tonight."

"You might tell her the blizzard nipped all the flowers in the bud,
Carol."

"Nope, I'll put it on the list of things I'm thankful for next
Thanksgiving, that there aren't any plaguey spring flowers in bloom to
write about."

"Say, Pat's got your seat. But he wouldn't let Old Goggle-eyes take your
things out. He said there was plenty of room for them. He's got them
stacked up in one end of the desk all ship-shape. He's going to be on
our nine next summer."

The boys were performing their mission nobly. Ernest began to feel
actually consoled for missing school.

"I won three agates and a chiny off Fatty Grover--like to froze my
fingers too. We got down behind the coal house out of the wind, but it
didn't help much."

"Thought Fatty darsent play keeps?"

"Well, I guess his dad'd lick him if he found out--s'pose he'd most have
to, being the Minister--but Fatty's game--he won't blab. Aren't they
beauties?"

Ernest gave a little gesture of impatience and Sherm suddenly remembered
the bandaged eyes.

"Oh, say, I didn't go to----" he began penitently.

Mrs. Morton appeared opportunely at this moment with a plate of hot
doughnuts, a little anxious lest the boys should fall to romping.

Poor Marian's trouble began two weeks after Ernest's and proved to be
much more serious. She had sympathized deeply with the bookloving boy in
his irks