"What for? Are you hungry?" asked Alice, looking up from the first-aid-to-the-injured book that she was studying.
"No, but I'm going to feed it to those who are hungry," her brother replied.
"Do you want it for some poor persons?" asked Mrs. Keene. "I think, Bart, I can give them something better than cheese."
"No; cheese is just what's wanted," Bart answered. "You see it's a secret."
"Oh, I guess he's going to have some sort of an initiation in a secret society!" exclaimed Alice. "Tell me about it, Bart, I'll never breathe a word of it, really I won't."
"I'd like to, Sis, but I can't," Bart replied. "It's very secret."
Bart got the cheese and took it to his room. Alice tried to tease him into telling her what he wanted of it, but Bart maintained a provoking silence.
"All right!" declared Alice. "I'll never tie your hand up again, if you hurt it with your shotgun," referring to an incident when Bart had slightly injured several of his fingers by the premature discharge of his gun.
"I don't intend to get shot again," Bart made answer. "Really, Alice, I'd like to tell you about this, but you'll hear about it soon enough."
"When?"