“Forfeit!” cried Ward, so excited that he couldn’t keep still. “It’s noise.”
“Well, let Margy tell her own answers to her own riddles, Ward,” reproved Polly.
“How much is the forfeit to be?” asked Mr. Williamson.
“I don’t think you ought to pay any,” said Polly. “You gave us ten dollars, and that’s enough.”
“Oh, I want to pay a forfeit,” Mr. Williamson insisted. “Like my daughter, I don’t seem to be able to spell without thinking. Suppose we pay ten cents for the riddles we miss?”
The others were willing, so Mr. Williamson put ten cents on the silver tray.
“Mother,” said Ward, at a sign from Polly, “What is the difference between a schoolmaster and an engineer?”
“One trains the mind, the other minds the train,” answered Mrs. Larue, with a smile. “That was a pet riddle of mine years ago, Ward.”
“I guess you told it to me,” admitted Ward, “but I forgot.”
“Ten cents for the collection,” said Mr. Williamson, putting down a dime on the tray.