me, that's all."

Again William's father grunted.

"Well," he said, "if you're going for this walk up the road why on
earth don't you go, instead of standing as if you'd lost the use of
your feet?"

William's father was hanging up his overcoat with his back to William,
and the front door was open. William wanted no second bidding. He
darted out of the door and down the drive, but he was just in time to
hear the thud of a falling body, and to hear a muttered curse as the
Head of the House entered the dining-room feet first on a long slide
of some white, glutinous substance.

"Oh, crumbs!" gasped William as he ran.

The little girl next door was sitting in the summer-house, armed with
a spoon, when William arrived. His precious burden had now saturated
his shirt and was striking cold and damp on his chest. He drew it from
his coat and displayed it proudly. It had certainly lost its pristine,
white, rounded appearance. The marks of the cat's licks were very
evident; grime from William's coat adhered to its surface; it wobbled
limply over the soap dish, but the little girl's eyes sparkled as she
saw it.

"Oh, William, I never thought you really would! Oh, you are wonderful!
And I _had_ it!"

"What?"