"I've Got the Spook," Shouted Bab Triumphantly.
After a time the marshmallows began to take on a bitter taste. He did not appear to be eating them with the same relish as before.
"That stuff's no good for men," he jeered.
"Have another, Tommy," answered Bab, thrusting a blue flame into the boy's face.
"You needn't burn a fellow up," he rebuked, then swallowed the marshmallow with a gulp.
"Here, Tommy, is a nice, large one," added Mollie.
Tom's eyes were rolling. His face that had appeared very red when he first sat down before the fire, had grown several shades paler. The girls continued to feed him with marshmallows, forcing one after another upon him.
"I won't take another——" Tom did not finish what he had started to say. Olive thrust a hot marshmallow into the boy's open mouth. Tommy closed his mouth instantly, but not soon enough. The hot sweet clung to the roof of his mouth, bringing from Tommy a yell of pain.
"I'll be even with you girls for this," he howled, the tears starting from his eyes as he bounded for the kitchen for a drink of water. A shout of merry laughter followed him. Tommy felt very sick and staggered off to bed, where, half an hour later, his mother found him groaning. In response to Mrs. Presby's anxious inquiries, Tommy explained that he had an "awful stomachache."