"Help, oh help!" cried Margery, terrified.

Harriet darted forward to her companion's assistance. She stumbled over
something that moved and tried to push her aside. Harriet thrust out both
hands and grappled with the object. She grasped a handful of hair.

"It's an animal!" cried the girl, tugging with all her might. "Quick!
Help!"

Miss Elting ran forward, now really alarmed, the frightened Tommy still
clinging to her skirts. Then came a voice, a male voice raised in angry
protest.

"Leggo my whiskers, consarn ye!" it shouted. "Leggo, I tell ye. It's
Jasper."

There followed a scuffle and a fall, as Jasper in trying to rise from the
suit cases that he had been carrying, fell over them. He landed on his
back, shouting angrily. Harriet sat down in the road overcome by a sudden
weakness, then she laughed. The other girls, now that the tension had
snapped, were laughing also, all except Tommy who was so frightened that
she could not say a word.

"Jasper, what do you mean by frightening us in this manner?" demanded Miss
Elting severely. "First, you run away from us then you frighten us nearly
out of our wits."

"Yaas. Mebby ye think it's fun to pull a man's whiskers out when he ain't
looking. I sot down here on them bags to rest. I was waitin' for ye to