een so pleased to hear.

She exerted herself to do her very best, and before many minutes had
passed she clean bowled him. There could be no doubt about it this
time, for the twig on which the cap had been hung was broken by the
force of the ball, and the cap fell to the ground.

"Hurrah!" Helen shrieked, dancing about and clapping her hands. "How
about girls not being able to bowl now, Master Hal? I suppose you will
own that you really are out this time?"

[Illustration: "_I suppose you will own that you really are out this
time?_"]

Hal looked not only mortified but exceedingly angry into the bargain.

"You are a precious set, I must say," he said, looking contemptuously
at the excited capers which Helen was cutting. "One would think that
you had done something awfully wonderful by the way in which you are
going on. That is just like a girl. Let her do something which she
thinks rather clever, and there is no end to her airs."

This was really rather severe on Drusie, who had neither said nor done
anything to justify Hal's scornful remarks. But he was too annoyed to
be fair, and as a punishment for what he chose to call Drusie's
bragging, he tucked his bat under his arm, and told them that he was
not going to play with them any more.

"You can brag by yourselves," he said, "of your wonderful cricket. I
am not going to put up with you any longer. I am sick of you all. I
must say it is awfully hard on a fellow to come home and find that not
one of his brothers or sisters is worth playing with. A more
conceited, disagreeable lot I never met with."

A dismayed silence followed this abrupt departure. It was broken by a
short, quick sigh from Drusie.

"Oh dear, oh dear!" she said, looking after Hal as he marched off with
as much dignity as he could. "I do wish that I had not bowled him. If
I had guessed that it would make him so cross, I would have sent him
easy, baby-balls."

"And got told for your pains that you could not bowl," Helen said with
much scorn. "I do wonder how you can be so silly, Drusie. I think it
serves Hal quite right. But I told you how it would be. I knew we
should not get our innings. You can't say that I did not warn you."

"No, we certainly can't," Jim said with a chuckle. "You have had a
sort of 'I told you so' expression on your face ever since we began to
play. And you know, Helen, if you ask me, I think it is all your fault
that Hal went off in such a huff. He s