Hugh John stuck to it and did pretty well, though he is not a quick study. But Sir Toady boldly asserted that he was a true Mahometan, and made a green turban out of an old green baize school-bag to prove that he was a "haji and a holy man"! He had the cheek to brazen it out even when Polly's people threatened to inform his parents and have him sent home to-morrow! Bless you, Toadums wished for nothing better. He missed his fox-terrier, Boss, worse than words can tell, and his eggs and his paint-box and everything. But of course we soon saw how Polly Pretend managed. She pretended. She did not really read the books. She moved back the marker, and, if asked questions, knew all about the chapter. Even if they ticked it in pencil, there was india-rubber in Polly's pocket to rub it out. She played with beads in church--in her muff or under her cloak. And when one rolled on the floor, she said it was her collection money. She got another given her too, which was always a halfpenny saved. At least so thought Polly Pretend. And Hugh John could not make her see it was not the square thing--to buy sweets and thus defraud the Church. He is awfully armor-plated on what is "the Square Thing," my brother Hugh John. But Polly Pretend could not or would not see it. I think _could_ not. For what could be expected of any girl who had such people for parents? Then I saw clearly how well _we_ were off--whacked sometimes, of course, or Big Growly called upon to erupt (which he does very fierce for five minutes). But not expected to do anything except tell the truth and keep on telling it--not behave like reptiles--and if caught, own up prompt. Say your prayers when you feel like it. But don't do it just when you know parents and guardians will be coming into your bedroom, as Polly does--so that father or mother will say, "See how sweet and devotional our little girl is!" And Polly's father and mother thought how good she was, and told all round the countryside what little heathens we were. Not that _we_ cared for that. But Sir Toady went up-stairs to the lumber-room and got an image of some Chinese dragon which had been stowed away there ever since Uncle Peter had been home the last time. And when Polly Pretend's father and mother came to complain of us, he was down on his knees worshiping this false image on the front lawn! Awful, wasn't it? But all the same it would have made you laugh till you cried if you had seen him doing kow-tow to this false god--it was only an old cardboard dragon anyway, like what you see on the Shanghai stamps--and smelling the whole neighborhood by burning brown paper joss-sticks before it, with a penny fire-cracker at every finger-length. [Illustration: "DOING KOW-TOW TO THIS FALSE GOD"] He was had up into the study for that, though, because father said he would have no "mockery" about such things. But I don't think he got it very bad, because we all knew by the noise he made that Big Growly wasn't really very mad.