Part 22 (2/2)

”Any other boy!” To his teeth ”Any boy in the whole town but that Saint Louis smarty that thinks he dresses so fine and is aristocracy! Oh, all right, I licked you the first day you ever saw this town, ain! You just wait till I catch you out! I'll just take and--”

And he went through thethe air, and kicking and gouging ”Oh, you do, do you? You holler 'nough, do you? Now, then, let that learn you!” And so the i was finished to his satisfaction

Tom fled home at noon His conscience could not endure any rateful happiness, and his jealousy could bear no more of the other distress Becky resumed her picture inspections with Alfred, but as theand no Toan to cloud and she lost interest; gravity and absentmindedness followed, and then melancholy; two or three times she pricked up her ear at a footstep, but it was a false hope; no Torew entirely miserable and wished she hadn't carried it so far When poor Alfred, seeing that he was losing her, he did not kno, kept exclai: ”Oh, here's a jolly one! look at this!” she lost patience at last, and said, ”Oh, don't bother ot up and walked away

Alfred dropped alongside and was going to try to comfort her, but she said:

”Go away and leave me alone, can't you! I hate you!”

So the boy halted, wondering what he could have done--for she had said she would look at pictures all through the nooning--and she walked on, crying Then Alfred wentinto the deserted schoolhouse He was huuessed his way to the truth--the girl had simply made a convenience of him to vent her spite upon To Toht occurred to hiet that boy into trouble without -book fell under his eye Here was his opportunity He gratefully opened to the lesson for the afternoon and poured ink upon the page

Becky, glancing in at abehind him at theherself She started ho to find Tom and tell him; Tom would be thankful and their troubles would be healed Before she was half way hoht of To about her picnic ca back and filled her with shaed spelling-book's account, and to hate hiain

CHAPTER XIX

TOM arrived at ho his aunt said to hi market:

”Tom, I've a notion to skin you alive!”

”Auntie, what have I done?”

”Well, you've done enough Here I go over to Sereny Harper, like an old softy, expecting I'e about that dream, when lo and behold you she'd found out from Joe that you was over here and heard all the talk we had that night Tom, I don't knohat is to become of a boy that will act like that It o to Sereny Harper and make such a fool of myself and never say a word”

This was a new aspect of the thing His sood joke before, and very ingenious Ithis head and could not think of anything to say for a moment Then he said:

”Auntie, I wish I hadn't done it--but I didn't think”

”Oh, child, you never think You never think of anything but your own selfishness You could think to coht to laugh at our troubles, and you could think to fool me with a lie about a dream; but you couldn't ever think to pity us and save us from sorrow”

”Auntie, I knoas mean, but I didn't mean to be mean I didn't, honest And besides, I didn't coht”

”What did you come for, then?”

”It was to tell you not to be uneasy about us, because we hadn't got drownded”

”Tom, Tom, I would be the thankfullest soul in this world if I could believe you ever had as good a thought as that, but you know you never did--and I know it, Tom”

”Indeed and 'deed I did, auntie--I wish I may never stir if I didn't”

”Oh, Tos a hundred times worse”

”It ain't a lie, auntie; it's the truth I wanted to keep you fro--that was all that made me come”