"Practiced in the gym every day; did you have a good gym in your school?"

"I never went to school," Flipperty answered, looking ashamed; but brightening, "Philip did: Philip's splendid, why, he could throw a cricket-ball farther than any fellow in the college. I'm good at the long jump."

"Who's Philip ?"

"My brother; he is at the Teetulpa gold-fields; I'm going to help him to dig for gold."

"You dig for gold!" Buster interrupted with scorn; "why, you look as if you had sat on a high chair all your life and fed the poor out of a long spoon."

"Well, I just didn't, so there."

"Now, upon your solemn Dick, did you never in all your life give a thing to the poor?"

"Only once, so there," he answered, defiantly.

"What did you give them?"

"Oh, things.'

"What things?" "Sha'n't say."

"You're afraid.”

"I'm not."

"Well, say.

The blood rushed into Flipperty's face and then receded, leaving it quite white. "It was a flannel petticoat," he

answered.

"Cracky, do you wear flannel petticoats?" Buster exclaimed, too astonished for further comment. After a moment he added, "I always thought there was something odd about the look of you; I'll tell my brother, won't he laugh!"

Flipperty caught Buster by the arm and drew him nearer. "Will you keep a secret if I tell you something?" he whispered.

"Fire away; don't take your tongue for a sugar-plum and swallow it."

"What, to be a girl?"

"No; to pretend to be a boy?"

"The police will nab you as sure as an egg."

"Philip won't let them; I'm not afraid."

"They will dress you in yellow and black like a wasp, and paint you all over arrows - solemn Dick. I've seen pictures

of thieves in a book."

"I'm not a thief," indignantly.

"What are you, then?"

"I'm just a girl, who hates being a girl because girls are stupid cooped-up things; so I ran away from home, and now I'm a boy, and I will never be a girl again; so there."

"You a boy! why, you haven't any more muscle than a cat." Flipperty appeared not to hear this comment.

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Philip," she said, "is six feet high; I shall grow like him some day."

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Pooh," Buster answered, contemptuously, "you'll never reach four feet on tiptoe; you're small all over, I daresay you're deformed."

Flipperty changed the conversation. "Philip," she said, "can bowl first-rate yorkers."

"Does he know you're coming?" Buster asked.

"Yes; I wrote and told him."

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Supposing he doesn't get the letter?"

A curious scared expression crossed Flipperty's face. "He will get the letter," she answered, brusquely.

"Supposing he doesn't?"

"I sha'n't suppose anything of the kind, so there."

"Letters like that always go wrong," Buster declared with emphasis.

Flipperty's eyes filled with angry tears. "I hate you," she said, passionately, "you red-headed, mean-minded, supposing thing."

Her vehemence seemed to surprise Buster. He looked at her a moment in silence, then he took a large red apple from his pocket. "You may have two bites," he said, "as large as you can make them."

A big tear splashed down over Flipperty's face on to the deck. She covered the spot with her foot impatiently.

"Bite just

"The apple is very red," Buster remarked. there," he added, indicating the desired spot with a short dirty finger.

Flipperty took a small sobby bite.

"You may eat half," Buster said, "if you promise solemn Dick not to go over your side of the core. Come into my cabin and I'll show you things," he continued, after a pause.

"There," he said, a few minutes later, taking an old pistol from his trunk, "what do you think of that? it's real. I expect it has killed heaps of people; blew their brains out on the floor- burglars, you know."

"Will it fire off?" she asked.

“No,” he replied sadly, "it's broken; but you can pull the trigger. I tell you what," he added, drawing in his breath, "supposing I lend it to you - only supposing, you know."

"Buster, how good you are! but I don't think I shall need it."

His face brightened; he continued to press the pistol on her.

"You will be glad of it," he said, “even if it doesn't go off -sleeping at night with a nugget under your head and murder all around. Why, Flipperty, I daresay you will have to kill a man yourself."

"No," she answered with decision; "I shall let him off. But come and look at the sea, and think of sharks."

"Yes," said Buster. "I wish some one would tumble in, don't you? only a baby, you know, or the boatswain — the cross one with the swivel eye.'

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"We'd save them," cried Flipperty, flushing; "and nearly get drowned ourselves, and the boatswain would entreat us to ask questions ever afterwards."

"Yes," chimed in Buster; "and the captain would let us steer the ship, and beg us to eat more at dessert."

Then they both lapsed into silence, and watched the foam flung back by the churning of the gigantic screw.

"Flipperty," said Buster, breaking the silence, "you mustn't cry when we say good-by to-morrow, or kiss or anything." She did not answer.

"Promise, solemn Dick," he said.

"I never, never cry, so there," she answered, with an impatient little stamp of her foot; "and, Buster, if you will tell me something very manly, I'll say it."

"Well," he replied after a pause, "you'd better say 'So-la."" "So-la?"

"Yes."

"It sounds rather empty," she objected. "That's being a man," he answered. But Flipperty did not look comforted. nice seeing Philip to-morrow," she said. whole world is as good as Philip."

"It will be very

"No one in the whole,

"If he doesn't come will you go to Teetulpa to find him?" Buster asked.

"Yes," she answered.

"You'll lose yourself, as sure as an egg.

"No," she said with decision; "I shall ask questions." "Supposing your people find you and drag you home?" "I've only a stepfather, and he thinks I'm with a horrid smooth-haired girl, who likes sewing and two-and-two walks at school."

"It will cost heaps and heaps to get to Teetulpa."

"I know," she answered. "I've saved all my pennies ever since Philip went away, and my uncle gave me ten pounds on my birthday to buy a pony, and Philip gave me a whole sovereign when he said good-by.'

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"I wonder what Philip will say when he sees you?"

Her eyes filled with tears. "He will say, 'Flipperty, it would have been braver to have stayed at home.' I knew that all along. I tried and tried, because I did want to be brave and grow like Philip, only somehow I never can be brave when he's not there. Philip is quite different from you and me. He doesn't think much of big grand deeds, like the Crusades and that; he says that small, dull, stay-at-home things are harder to do, and ever, ever so much nobler. Why, he even thinks learning to sew noble if you don't like it; of course it isn't noble for the smooth-haired girl."

But Buster was not interested. the steward," he said.

"Let us steal dessert from

Early the next morning the steamer anchored opposite Glenelg, and the children watched the approaching tender that was to bring Philip - but he was not on board her.

"Philip hasn't come," Flipperty exclaimed.

"No more he has," echoed Buster; "but perhaps he's found

a nugget and is afraid to leave it."

"Yes," she answered sadly; "that must be it."

The tender bell rang, and the passengers who wished to go on shore scrambled down the long companion-ladder. "You must go now," Buster said.