t!"

She pulled off her shoes, rolled down her white stockings, and
then, standing up, very deliberately began unbuttoning the back
of her dress.

For the boys this was a turn of events unexpected and most
disconcerting. Not for a moment did they really want her to
accept their dare. Why, whoever heard of a girl doing such a
thing? The very thought scandalized them deeply. Indeed, they
would stop her if they could, but it was utterly beyond their
powers of expression to tell her that the dare was a mere joke, a
pleasantry that had better be forgotten. Unable to explain this,
they wriggled about uncomfortably in the water and hid their
growing confusion in half-hearted jeers.

When the dress was discarded, every little boy there hoped in his
soul that this might be all. The proprieties would not be
utterly demolished if Margery would only treat as a bathing-suit
her skimp little undervest and bloomers. But Margery would not.
She calmly proceeded to undo the buttons which made these two
garments one.

"Margery!" There was an almost agonized pleading in Willie
Jones's voice.

"Willie Jones, will you shut up! Just because you live near us
you needn't think you're my brother. 'Cause you ain't. Besides,
girls can do the same as boys."

There was a last tug; those final garments which might have
served as a bathing-suit slipped down over her feet, and Margery
stepped forth, a skinny, defiant little Venus, challenging the
world to look if it dare. It was a most embarrassing moment for
the little boys. Their faces, bobbing about nervously on the
surface of the water, blushed violently, and their jeers
dwindled down to the merest quavers.

Her independence of custom and opinion thus emphatically
established, Margery lost no time in entering the water. Sitting
gingerly on the muddy bank, she slid forward one foot, then the
other. Ugh! The bottom of the pond was soft and slimy, and
squashed up between her toes like worms. For the first time a
dreadful misgiving came over her. What if, after all, swimming
were not the delightful pastime it was cracked up to be! However,
there was no turning back now.

Sitting in the water, she propelled herself forward with her
hands, slowly and cautiously. The little boys looked on in marked
though unexpressed disapproval. Margery was putting them into a
horribly awkward position--there was no doubt about that. They
didn't like it, either. But in spite of themselves they were
beginni