“I just put Snapper inside the football after I put some whitewash on it, and——”
Sammy was about to say that Tess and Dot had teased him to do something “exciting,” and that this was the outcome of the idea that had come to him during the conference on his porch. But Sammy was, after all, a gentleman in his own way, and one of the articles of his creed was:
“Never tell on another.”
Therefore he said:
“Yep! I did it.”
But Tess and Dot were not proof against this chivalry and self-sacrifice. Bravely they faced the music.
“I helped blow up the bladder,” confessed Tess.
“And I—er—I helped stuff Snapper in, because he was all the time sticking his tail out, and his tail had to go in,” admitted Dot.
“Oh, you children!” sighed Ruth, hardly able to refrain from laughing.
“The puir beastie!” came from Mrs. MacCall. “’Tis a wonder he were nae smotherit in there.”