.

THE WORM TURNS.
Two very superior bicycles went twinkling up the road to Plumfield one September afternoon, bearing two brown and dusty riders evidently returning from a successful run, for though their legs might be a trifle weary, their faces beamed as they surveyed the world from their lofty perches with the air of calm content all wheelmen wear after they have learned to ride; before that happy period anguish of mind and body is the chief expression of the manly countenance.
'Go ahead and report, Tom; I'm due here.

See you later,' said Demi, swinging himself down at the door of the Dovecote.
'Don't peach, there's a good fellow.

Let me have it out with Mother Bhaer first,' returned Tom, wheeling in at the gate with a heavy sigh.
Demi laughed, and his comrade went slowly up the avenue, devoutly hoping that the coast was clear; for he was the bearer of tidings which would, he thought, convulse the entire family with astonishment and dismay.
To his great joy Mrs Jo was discovered alone in a grove of proof-sheets, which she dropped, to greet the returning wanderer cordially.

But after the first glance she saw that something was the matter, recent events having made her unusually sharp-eyed and suspicious.
'What is it now, Tom ?' she asked, as he subsided into an easy-chair with a curious expression of mingled fear, shame, amusement, and distress in his brick-red countenance.
'I'm in an awful scrape, ma'am.' 'Of course; I'm always prepared for scrapes when you appear.