“Well, I don’t say it wasn’t a fine joke, Tom, to keep everybody suffering ’most a week so you boys had a good time, but it is a pity you could be so hard-hearted as to let me suffer so. If you could come over on a log to go to your funeral, you could have come over and give me a hint some way that you warn’t dead , but only run off.”

“Yes, you could have done that, Tom,” said Mary; “and I believe you would if you had thought of it.”

“Would you, Tom?” said Aunt Polly, her face lighting wistfully. “Say, now, would you, if you’d thought of it?”

“I⁠—well, I don’t know. ’Twould ’a’ spoiled everything.”