"Oh, Neale! did you know you had a spinal cord?" demanded the smallest Corner House girl.
"No! you don't tell me? Where is it?" asked the boy, quite soberly.
"Why," explained the literal Dot, "it's a string that runs from the back of your head to the bottom of your heels."
At the shout of laughter that welcomed this intelligence, Tess said, comfortingly:
"Don't mind, Dot. That isn't half as bad as what Sammy Pinkney said to Miss Pepperill the other day. She asked us which was the most important to keep clean, your face or your teeth, and Sammy shouted: 'Your teeth, teacher, 'cause they can rot off and your face can't.'"
"And I guess that awful Miss Pepperpot punished him for that," suggested Dot, awed.
"Yes. Sammy is always getting punished," said Tess. "He never _does_ manage to say the right thing. And I think Miss Pepperill is kind of hard on him. But--but she's real nice to me."
"Well, why shouldn't she be, honey?" Ruth said. "You're not to be compared with that rude boy, I am sure," for Ruth Kenway did not much approve of boys, and only tolerated Neale O'Neil because the other children liked him so much.
"I should hope not!" agreed Agnes, who did like boys, but did not like the aforesaid scapegrace, Sammy Pinkney.
"I guess it was the sovereigns of England that makes her nice to me," said Tess, thoughtfully. "I 'spected to have an awfully hard time in Miss Pepperill's class; but she has never been real cross with me. And what do you s'pose?"
"Yes," said Tess, nodding. "She asked me if I'd seen Mrs. Eland lately, and if she'd found her sister. For you see," explained Tess, "I'd told her how poor Mrs. Eland felt so bad about losing her sister when she was a little girl and never being able to find her."
"But I had to tell Miss Pepperill that I'd only seen her the one time--when she taught me the sovereigns of England. I'd really love to see Mrs. Eland once more. Wouldn't you, Dot?"
"Dear me, yes!" agreed the smaller girl. "I wonder if she ever got those apples?"
"Of course she did," put in Neale. "Didn't I tell you I took them to the hospital myself?"
"We--ell! But she never told us so--did she, Dot?" complained Tess.
However, the very next day the children heard from the bag of apples. A delightfully suspicious package awaited Tess and Dot at the old Corner House after school. It had been delivered by no less a person than Dr. Forsyth himself, who stopped his electric runabout in front of the old Corner House long enough to run in and set the pasteboard box on the sitting room table.