"Why?" demanded Tabitha, after a glance at Janice.

"'Cause of the airs he takes. He called me a put because
I was a bit slow--ter his mind--in learnin' the manual, an'
he's got a tongue an' a temper like a hedgehog. But the
fellers paid him off come Saturday week."

"How?" asked Janice, dropping her pose of indifference.

"He 's been expectin' ter be appointed captain of the
Brunswick Invincibles, when they was trained, but he put on
such airs, an' was so sharp an' bitin' with his tongue, that
when they voted for officers last week I'll be dinged if they
did n't drop him altogether. He did n't get a vote for so
much as a corporal's rank. He was in a stew, I tells you."

"What did he do?" questioned Tabitha.

"He was so took aback," snickered Philemon, "that he
up and says 't was the last he'd have ter do with 'em, an'
that they was a lot of clouts an' clodpates, an' they 'd got a
captain ter match."

"Was that you?" cruelly asked Janice.

"No. 'T was Joe Bagby," replied Phil, not so much as
seeing the point.

"The village loafer and ne'er-do-weel," exclaimed Janice,