"The best of us!" growled Si Kelly. "I call it about as mean a thing as I know of."

" Is it any meaner than what we did to them?"

" Of course it is. They write as if we couldn't afford to pay ten cents to go to their old party, an' here the most of us have already given twenty-five cents for our ride. Ag Morrell can have her calico necktie back, an' I'm goin' to carry it up to her house before I'm an hour older ."

"I' wouldn't do that," squeaked Winny, who was secretly delighted at the turn in affairs. " If she gets to talkin' about the letter you sent you'll have the worst of it."

Then everybody spoke at the same time until no one could understand what the other was saying, and Deacon Littlefield rushed out of the building to save himself from premature deafness.

It was some time before anything like order was restored, and then Tom Hardy said, impatiently:

"Look .here,. fellers, it's no use for us to stand here cawing like a lot "of crows, when nobody knows what the one next to him is saying. I go in for havin' this thing done right, if we're goin' to do it at all. The girls have got the best of us now, an' if any of you think we can turn things around, let's go to work shipshape."

" I nominate Tom Hardy president of this meetin', to see how we can get ahead of the girls," squeaked Winny; and, to say the least, he was very officious in so doing, since he was a member of the "ten-centers," and really had nothing to do with the discomfiture of the sleigh-riders.

In the general excitement, however, no one seemed to remember that Winny was not one of them, and all called for Tom Hardy to conduct the meeting. Si Kelly recognized the fact that he should have been the one to occupy this proud position; but the leadership seemed to be slipping away from him, and, shout as he might, no one paid any attention to him. He had led the boys on to defeat, instead of victory, and since he could suggest no wiser plan than to return the neckties and letters, all looked to Tom Hardy for advice.

"Fellers," he said, gravely, as he seated himself in the Deacon's chair, understanding the importance of his position, "we've got to do something to get ahead of the girls, an' I go in for havin' each one say what he thinks is best. After that we can pick out a plan. Now, what do you think we ought to do, Si?"

Master Kelly was very sulky; but he managed to state, as his conviction, that they could do no less than return the neckties and letters to the senders, treating the whole matter with silent scorn, and carry out the idea of the sleigh-ride, as if such insignificant persons had never had an existence.

Joe Barr thought it best to accept the invitations given, and treat the whole matter as a good joke whereby each boy had saved ten cents. Joe, however, had not yet paid the assessment twenty-five cents for the sleigh-ride, and many ought he had proposed this plan as a way of rading any outlay of money.

Eben Coulliard was willing to do whatever the others thought best; but at the same time he reminded them that a party at Aggie Morrell's house was not a thing to be "sneezed at," and if the invitation could be accepted graciously, he thought it would be a pleasant way of spending an evening.

Dan Crockett announced that he was not afraid to say he had rather go to the party. He had already paid his quarter towards the sleigh-ride; but he was willing to look upon hat as so much money thrown away if the others would agree to go to Aggie's house. He thought that the money that the girls had spent could be returned to them in some way, and that the friendly feelings between the boys and girls of the school could be restored.

Jack Haley and his four intimate friends "did not care a cent what was done;" they would agree to anything the other fellows thought best.

Bart Carleton agreed with Si Kelly, but since it was known that he owed Si four agates and seventeen marbles, to say nothing of three tops, all believed that his debt had influenced his decision.

All, save Tom Hardy, gave their opinion, and it was found that the boys were about evenly divided; one party adopting Si's suggestion, and the other favoring the acceptance of the invitations, if it could be done so that they would not appear to be "backing down."

It "Now, see here, fellers'," said Tom, when every one looked at him as if expecting to hear what he thought, "I want you all to understand in the first place that I am willing to do what the majority think best; but I've got a little scheme that I think a good one. Let's go on the sleigh ride, an' go to the party, too."

"Then the girls would think we were smart," growled Si.

"Wait a minute, till you hear the whole of it. About half want to do one thing, and half another. Now, I say, let's each one write to the girl who has sent him a necktie, thanking her for the invitation to the party, and ask her to go on a sleigh-ride with us. We can hire both of Grout's big sleighs, an' have about as big a time as was ever seen in this town. I guess the girls won't be much ahead of us then."

"But how about their payin' for our neckties? " asked Dan Crockett.

"We'll let that go as if we was much obliged. to them; but we'll raise ten cents more apiece, an' buy aunt Betsey wood enough to last her till summer. If we pay the money now, we can each get a saw, an' have it all cut up before night. The girls won't have any the best of us then; aunt Betsey will be just that much better off; we can have our sleigh-ride, and we can go to the party as well. But if we should do simply one thing or the other, then the girls would be sure to think we had been beaten. Now, if all the fellers will agree to that, I'll get my share of the money right away, an' we'll ask Deacon Littlefield to buy the wood this morning."

Tom saw, even before he had ceased speaking, that the majority of the boys were in favor of. his scheme, since by carrying it out they would miss neither one pleasure nor the other, and would only be obliged to pay ten cents extra, and to spend a little time sawing wood.

"But we can't get both sleighs for the same price we could one," said Si; but even this objection showed that he was favorably inclined towards Tom's scheme, if it could be accomplished without too great a sacrifice.

"Yes, we can, if we don't take them till the middle of the afternoon. We will start about three o'clock, an' come back to Aggie's house in time for the party."

"But how'll you fix it about the letters?" asked Si.

"I'll send this one to Maria Gilman, for she sent me the necktie, an' you can all copy it." Then Tom read the following letter, which he had written while the others had been talking:

DEAR RIE: - I am much obliged for the invitation and the necktie. I will be there by eight o'clock if you will do a little favor for me. Us boys have been getting up a sleigh- ride for Saturday afternoon; we shall start about three o'clock from the schoolhouse, and get back to Aggie's in time for the party. Will you go?

I am sure aunt Betsey will feel grateful to you girls when she knows you each gave twenty cents towards making her comfortable, and if it had not been for the "lack of money," we boys would have paid our share.

Your friend, TOM.

"Hurrah! " shouted Dan Crockett. "I reckon that will fix things, an' when they find that we bought the wood for aunt Betsey, they can't think that they've got the right to feel very superior."

"They'll never know but that we meant all the time to do this very thing," said Tom, "an' we shall have as good a time as can be had."

There was no question but that this scheme would be carried out, for even Si Kelly came to understand that it was a very graceful way of extricating themselves from what, at one time, promised to be a decidedly disagreeable position, and he announced his decision by saying:

"Now, every feller must hurry home an' get the ten cents, so's we can buy the wood quick, an' then there won't be any chance for the girls to believe that we thought of this after we got their letters."

"Take the money you had collected for the ride, an' we will all make it up before night," suggested Tom.

In another moment Si was running at full speed towards Deacon Littlefield's house to ask him to buy the wood, and Tom suggested that each sleigh-rider sharpen his saw in order to be ready for work as soon as the fuel should be in aunt Betsey's yard.

Before night the wood had been purchased, , sawed, and split; the letters had been written and sent to the girls, and both of Mr. Grout's sleighs engaged for Saturday afternoon.

The story of the ride, and of the necktie party that followed it, would, without doubt, be interesting; but the telling of these pleasant festivities would' occupy too much space. Suffice it to say that the girls readily accepted the invitations that were the result of Tom's scheme, and although they learned from some of the more garrulous sleigh-riders under just what press of circumstances they had been given, the "ten - centers" were too generous to hint of what they knew.

Aggie's party was a dazzling success. Every one appeared to have a good time, and the pairing off of the aprons and neckties caused considerable amusement, especially when Debby Thompson, the tallest girl present, found that she must accept the smallest boy - who was Winny, of course - as an escort.

It is hardly necessary to say that Winny was allowed to become one of the sleigh-riders; and since he had voluntarily agreed to go to the party, he was obliged to pay for his necktie, as well as his proportion of the cost of the sleighride and the wood. Thus it was that his love for cake proved to be quite expensive to him, owing to the varied schemes of his friends.

The End 43