her finger in her mouth.

"Oh, well," said Margaret, "I daresay you would all be hungry before
dinner-time, so suppose we come into the pantry and see what we can
find. Will you come with me, Susan, dear?" She held out her hand, but
the little girl evaded it, and followed in the rear, holding her own
hands behind her back.

"Will you call me Cousin Margaret?" the girl went on. "And shall I call
you Susie, or do you like Susan better?"

Susan not replying, Basil replied for her. "Susan D. we call her; but
Puppa calls her Sudden Death when she acts bad; she mostly does act
bad."

"Don't neither!" muttered Susan D., scowling.

"Do teither!" retorted both brothers in a breath.

"She ain't shy!" Basil went on. "She's sulky, that's all. Merton's shy,
and I ain't. I'll tell you things, when you ask me; they won't, half the
time."

"Well, I haven't asked you anything, yet, have I?" said Margaret,
smiling, and feeling more at ease with this boy, somehow, than with
either of the others. "What can you tell me that is pleasant about
them?"

"That's so!" said Basil, and his lips parted suddenly in a smile that
positively transfigured his plain face. "Well, Mert's the best boxer,
and he can sing and draw. I'm the best runner, of course, 'count of my
legs being long, you see." He held up a long, thin leg for Margaret's
inspection. "Some fellows called me Spider once, and Susan D. scratched
their faces for 'em. She's great at scratching, Susan D. is."

"My dear!" said poor Margaret. "I thought you were going to tell me the
pleasant things, Basil."

"Ain't I?" said the boy, innocently. "She was standing up for me, you
see. She always stands up for me; Mert is a sne---- well, what I was
going to say, she's a pretty good runner, for a girl, and she can shin a
rope too, better than any of us. Mert can hang on longest with his
teeth."

"What _do_ you mean, child?" cried Margaret, laughing. Basil flashed his
brilliant smile on her again.

"Tables," he explained. "Yes, please, crackers; and quite a lot of
cheese, please."

"Greedy Gobble!" interjected Merton.

"Well, I like that!" said Basil. "Who ate my sandwich, when I was
looking out of the window? I tell you what, I'd punch your head for two
cents, young feller!"

"Boys," said Margaret, decidedly, "I cannot have this! While you are
with me, I expect you to behave decently."

"Yes, ma'am!" said both boys, with ready cheerfulness; and Basil
continued his explanation.