astonishment that Elsie and Marge both burst out laughing, whereat the
boy flushed up angrily, and seizing the reins was starting off, when the
cook called to him to wait until she had the butter-box ready for him to
take back.

"Oh!" whispered Marge, "we've hurt his feelings, Elsie; it is too bad."
Then she ran forward, and said gently: "'Tisn't anything at all strange
that you didn't know about the rolling. Elsie and I didn't until we went
to Washington to live, and saw the game ourselves, and had it explained
to us; and I'll explain it to you. We had a lot of eggs boiled hard, and
dyed all sorts of pretty flower colors and patterns; and these we took
to the top of a little hill near the White House, and each one, or each
party, started two or three or more eggs of different colors, and made
guesses as to which color would beat. After the game was over, we
exchanged the eggs we had, and gave away a good many to the poor
children. Oh, it was great fun."

The boy laughed. "Fun! I should call it baby play!" he said derisively.

"Well, _you_ can call it baby play if you like," returned Marge, with
great dignity; "but the 'baby play' has come down through a good many
years. It is an old Easter custom that was brought over from England by
one of the early settlers at Washington."

"I--I didn't mean--I'm sorry--" began Royal, stammeringly; when--

"Royal! Royal Purcel!" called out a voice; and a little fellow scarcely
more than six or seven years old came running up the driveway, and made
a flying leap into the wagon.