It went wide and Fred laughed gleefully.
“Guess that dime stays right in my pocket,” he chuckled.
“Never mind, Betty,” encouraged Bobby. “You were just getting the range then. Better luck next time.”
But the next shot also failed, and Fred’s mirth became uproarious.
“I might just as well have made it a dollar,” he mocked.
But his smile suddenly faded when Betty’s third throw caught him right on the point of the nose.
Fortunately the ball was not very hard. It spread all over his face, getting into his eyes and filling his mouth, and leaving him for the moment blinded and sputtering.
The girls gave little shrieks and the boys doubled up with laughter, which increased as the victim brushed away the snow and they caught sight of his startled and sheepish face. Betty, in swift penitence, flew to his side.
“Oh, Fred!” she wailed, “I hope I didn’t hurt you!”
To do Fred justice, he was game, and after the first moment of discomfiture he tried to smile, though the attempt was not much of a success.