more jolly than the girls' party. He knew, however, that it would be
useless for him to say anything more after having offended \Si, and he
went sorrowfully home, while the other boys remained to discuss a
scheme their leader had decided upon on the impulse of the moment.

"We won't have nothin' to do with the ten-cent party," the Oracle said,
as soon as Winny
was so far away that he could not hear. "If the girls had come to us
an' asked what we
thought of it, then p'rhaps we'd gone in with 'em; but instead of that
they fixed the thing
up to suit themselves, an' then told us what they was going to do. Now
they can have their party, and Win Curtis will be the only feller
there."

It is safe to say that fully half the boys wished to go to Aggie
Morrell's, and that nearly every one would have been pleased to have
done something towards helping poor old aunt Betsey; but Si had said
that it must not be.

" But what'll we do to get even? " asked Lute Hubbard, anxiously. "We
shall have to get up something that'll be better than the party."

"I guess that won't be very hard to do," replied Si, loftily. "If I
couldn't get up a better
kind of a time than following girls 'round by their apron - strings!
We'll each of us put in
twenty-five cents to hire Grout's two-horse sleigh, an' go on a ride to
Bucksport for all day."