the whole I'm not sure that my wild oats weren't better than some
I've seen sowed. Anyway, they didn't cost much, and I'm none the
worse for them," said Mac placidly.

"I know what 'wild oats' means. I heard Uncle Mac say Charlie was
sowing 'em too fast, and I asked Mama, so she told me. And I
know that he was suspelled or expended, I don't remember which,
but it was something bad, and Aunt Clara cried," added Jamie all
in one breath, for he possessed a fatal gift of making malapropos
remarks, which caused him to be a terror to his family.

"Do you want to go on the box again?" demanded Prince with a
warning frown.

"No, I don't."

"Then hold your tongue."

"Well, Mac needn't kick me, for I was only..." began the culprit,
innocently trying to make a bad matter worse.

"That will do," interrupted Charlie sternly, and James subsided, a
crushed boy, consoling himself with Rose's new watch for the
indignities he suffered at the hands of the "old fellows" as he
vengefully called his elders.

Mac and Charlie immediately began to talk as hard as their
tongues could wag, bringing up all sorts of pleasant subjects so
successfully that peals of laughter made passersby look after the
merry load with sympathetic smiles.