Dodo's twin brother, Paul, was not with her, for together the children
were a simply unconquerable pair.

The twins had been spoiled by their widowed mother, Mrs. Billette,
even before the time when they had been kidnapped and spirited off by
a hideous Spaniard. But since their recovery, their joyful mother had
indulged them in every way until they had become well nigh
unmanageable.

Yet in spite of everything, the twins were very lovable, and every one
loved them, even those whom they annoyed most.

And now as Dodo tore up the street toward them, waving something white
in her hand, the girls instinctively glanced about to see what they
ought to put out of sight before the cyclone struck them.

"Thank goodness, Paul isn't with her," murmured Grace. "Then we would
be in for it."

"Dodo," cried Mollie as the child started up the walk, "scrape some of
that mud off your feet before you come up, You will get Betty's porch
all dirty."

"Name's Dora-- not Dodo," the little girl answered, paying not the
slightest heed to Mollie's caution about the mud. "Dodo's a baby's
name-- don't like it. Got something for you."

She stumbled heedlessly up the steps, leaving a trail of mud behind
her, and almost breaking her neck in the bargain.