"What?"

"She spanked me."

"Pooh! That doesn't amount to anything,"
sniffed Lily.

"It does if you are a boy."

"I don't see why."

"Well, I can't help it if you don't. It does."

"Why shouldn't a boy be spanked when he's
naughty, just as well as a girl, I would like to know?"

"Because he's a boy."

Lily looked at Johnny Trumbull. The great fact
did remain. He had been spanked, he had thrown
his own aunt down in the dust. He had taken ad-
vantage of her little-girl protection, but he was a
boy. Lily did not understand his why at all, but
she bowed before it. However, that she would not
admit. She made a rapid change of base. "What,"
said she, "are you going to do next?"

Johnny stared at her. It was a puzzle.