A nice sympathetic child could neither have
thought nor said such things, but it just happened
that the shock of hearing them was the best possible
thing for this hysterical boy whom no one
had ever dared to restrain or contradict.

He had been lying on his face beating his pillow
with his hands and he actually almost jumped
around, he turned so quickly at the sound of the
furious little voice. His face looked dreadful,
white and red and swollen, and he was gasping
and choking; but savage little Mary did not care
an atom.

"If you scream another scream," she said, "I'll
scream too -- and I can scream louder than you
can and I'll frighten you, I'll frighten you!"

He actually had stopped screaming because she
had startled him so. The scream which had been
coming almost choked him. The tears were
streaming down his face and he shook all over.

"I can't stop!" he gasped and sobbed. "I
can't -- I can't!"

"You can!" shouted Mary. "Half that ails
you is hysterics and temper -- just hysterics --
hysterics -- hysterics!" and she stamped each time
she said it.

"I felt the lump -- I felt it," choked out Colin.
"I knew I should. I shall have a hunch on my
back and then I shall die," and he began to writhe

[[221]]

p220 _ -chap- _ toc-1 _ p221w _ toc-2 _ +chap+ _ p222

v?