"Oh, oh," I cried, viewing the ruin that Louis had made. "Now, won't Teresa
be angry indeed!"

"Well, why should I care?" said Louis. "Why did she have to put flowers
alongside of a perfectly good wall like this? Now, hurry up and jump. We'll
fix it up and water it, and she'll know nothing about what happened."

"Oh, Louis, I'm afraid!"--Certainly the distance to the ground seemed
enormous!

"What are you afraid of? I'll catch you if you fall. Don't be a
'fraidcat!'" Just at that moment I would have done anything rather than
jump.

"I'm coming down by the ladder."

"No, you'll do no such thing! Now, come on; don't be a coward!"

Just at this moment we heard a voice calling, "Louis! Lisita!"

Louis turned to see Paula calling us from the bottom of the garden.

"And now what do you want?" cried Louis. "I thought you had gone home."

I profited by this diversion to come rapidly down the ladder.

"I was almost at the house," answered Paula, coming nearer, "but I didn't
go in because I didn't want to meet Teresa."