"You don't," said Dick, warmly. "You can't parse horse. I heard you try at school once."
"I can curry him," said Bob.
"You said horse was an article."
"So he is, and a very useful harticle."
One of the girls nudged her neighbor, and in a loud whisper intimated her opinion that Bob was getting the better of Dick. At this Dick grew warmer and more boisterous, maintaining that the boys ought not to pay Bob the stipulated price since they were so late in starting.
"Hif folks haint ready I can't 'elp it," said Bob.
"Who wasn't ready?" demanded Constance Faber. "You didn't wait for me, I know."
"And you didn't wait for me or Mat Snead," added Sarah Ketchum, "because we walked down to meet the wagon."
Clara Hooks's face had grown redder and redder during the investigation; but if Clara was a put-offer, she was not a coward or a sneak.
"He waited for me," she now said, "but I think it's mean to tell it wherever he goes."