“He’s du-du-du-du-dead!” he wailed.
“Who’s dead, you idiot?”
“Nu-nu-nu-Nelson,” sobbed Tommy.
“No, I’m not, Tommy,” called Nelson; “here I am!”
Tom raised a wet and miserable face; then he leaped to his feet, tumbled over a branch, and fell into Nelson’s arms.
“I th-th-th-thought you were a gu-gu-gu-goner!” he cried.
“I’m all right,” answered Nelson, cheerfully submitting to Tom’s hugs. “Get your cap and come along, or we’ll be drowned.”
Tom sniffed a few times, picked up his hat, and sheepishly joined the procession that wound its way up the hill in the rain.
“Poor old Tommy!” chuckled Dan.