"We hope so, curly pate."
"By tomorrow?"
"O, dear, no! Not for—days." He could not bring himself to tell her that it might be weeks before he could even determine how badly the little back was hurt.
"Mercy!" she wailed in consternation, for bed held no charms for that active body. "And must I stay in bed all that while?"
"My dear child," he answered gravely, "do you realize that you are the luckiest girl in seven counties tonight?"
"How?" she asked curiously, forgetting her lament in her wonder at his words.
"It's a miracle that you were not killed outright."
"Well, Johnny dared me."
"And you couldn't pass up a dare?"