"It does seem," murmured Cap'n Jonah, rather enigmatically, "that the sea and the air and the peaceful land air more to be depended on than folks. Most folks, at least. Howsomever, that there Pearly gal----" He heard her voice on the porch below his window. She must have come outside to rest and cool off after washing the supper dishes. The incense of burning tobacco rose to his nostrils, and then Tom Petty said: "Well, you needn't blame me, Pearly. _I_ didn't keep you from going along of us to that blamed cattle show. You didn't miss much. I wish I hadn't gone myself." "Why, didn't you have a good time?" Pearl Holden asked. There was weariness in her tone and not much curiosity. "By hokey!" exclaimed Tom, "there warn't nothin' there but silly gals, an' silly cows an' such, and--and cheatin' plays." "What do you mean? What kind of plays?" "All kinds of games--an' there warn't none of 'em square, I don't guess. Pop won a _se_-gar battin' a spike on the head with a maul, to show how strong he was. But when he tried to smoke the _se_-gar he mighty near smothered me and Marm and she made him throw it away," and Tom suddenly chuckled at the remembrance of his father's indignation. "But there! Considerin' some of 'em, I reckon that test-your-muscle machine was fair, _se_-gar and all. Others! Well! I made a tarnal fool of myself, Pearly, and I dunno how I'm goin' to square myself about it," he added desperately. "What did you do, Tom?" the girl asked with more interest. "Well, there was a feller in an alley there, 'twixt two buildings, and he'd got a crowd in front of him. The alley was clear behind him and had a gate at the end; but we didn't notice that at the start. Oh, he was a slick one! "Well, he had a little foldin' table, and on it he had three little tin cups and a pea. He was an awful quick movin' feller--or 'peared to be--and he told us his hands could move quicker than the eye could foller." "So can my hands," interposed Pearl. "I can count beans faster than I can see 'em." "Hoh! Listen here!" growled Tom. "It didn't look at first as though that feller could do what he said. He made some passes with his hands and said some hocus-pocus over them three cups and the pea, and then he dared any feller to say under which of the cups the pea was. A feller in a white hat and them gaiter things they wear over their shoes now, said right away he knew where it was. "'How much'll you bet?' says the feller. 'You're a sport, I can see--and you think you're smart. Say what you'll bet.' "And after a little urging the feller in the white hat bet two dollars against the other feller's two dollars, an' sure enough, he did point out the right cup where the pea was." "And won two dollars?" gasped Pearl. "Why, Tom! That's gambling--and it's wicked!" "It's wicked all right when you lose," grumbled Tom. "But we didn't lose much first along." "'We?'" cried Pearl. "You didn't bet, too, Tom?"