PAYING THE RENT. 173

would like a playmate sometimes. You never
play with me as Tom Mixon does with his
sister.”

“T would not be such a girl-boy as he is,
nor have you such a boy-girl as she. You are
a lady, Ada, or ought to be. How that nice
white frock you have on would look, if you
went over to the island in that nasty
boat !” |
- “J shouldn’t care. how my white frock
looked, nor what I wore, if I could only go
over and play on Bessie’s Island. I am tired
of always being dressed up, and being told,
‘Don’t go on the lawn, the grass is damp, and
you'll spoil your shoes; don’t run out without
your gloves, you'll tan your hands; don’t go
among those bushes, you'll tear your clothes.’
I don’t care for all these nice clothes. I should
like to play, and run, and jump, like Bessie
Mixon.” |

“ And be a right-down romp. I am asham-
ed of you! Remember, you are the sister of
_ George Cramer !”

Ada could with difficulty refrain from laugh-
ter at the pompous air of her brother. She