of picnics," cried Ben, for in Crumville, as in many other places, shoe boxes were frequently used for packing up picnic lunches.
"Say, that puts me in mind of a story!" put in Shadow, eagerly. "A girl who was going to get married had a shower, as they call 'em. Well, a wag of the town—maybe he was sore because he couldn't marry the girl himself—told all his friends, in private, that she was very anxious to get a nice bread-box. The shower was to be a surprise, and it was, too, for when it came off the girl got exactly eleven bread-boxes."
"Oh!" came in a groan. "The worst yet."
"Not so bad," said Dave, dryly. "If she filled the boxes the married pair must have proved a well-bred couple."
"Hark to that!" roared Phil. "Say, Dave, go and take a roll!"
"When it comes to a joke, Dave is the flower of this flock," was Luke's comment.
"Anyway, he takes the cake," murmured Ben.
"Ben, say something; don't loaf on the job," came from the senator's son.
"A joke like that is pie for Roger," murmured Polly Vane.
"Even so, nobody has a right to get crusty," murmured Plum.
"Or pious!" continued Dave, and then Shadow made a pass for him with a shoe box. Then Roger
