Dicky was bending over him and the
other children were standing around so that the runners as they
approached could not see what was the matter.
Mrs. Vereshchagin increased her speed, uttering sounds that fell
strangely on her listeners' ears. The group of children fell away as
their elders came near, and the Ethels, who were in front, saw that
Vladimir was pinned to a tree by Dicky's arrow which had pierced the
fullness of his rompers. He could not be hurt in the least, but the
strangeness of his position had startled and angered him and was
causing the shrieks that had frightened them all.
Fortunately for Dicky, Mrs. Vereshchagin, unlike Mrs. Paterno, had a
sense of humor, and as soon as she saw that her child was neither
injured nor in danger she burst into laughter as loud as his cries of
rage and terror. Roger quickly unfastened him from the tree to which
he was bound and handed him over to his mother, none the worse for his
experience except that his rompers were torn. Turning to Dicky, Roger
decreed that the head must be taken from his arrow.
"It's not your fault, old man," he said; "but Helen was right--this
thing is too sharp.
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