Page:Stanwood Pier--Harding of St Timothys.djvu/61

Rh vent him, but Herrick was strong, and held him firmly. When he had secured the pin, Herrick examined it. "What does this cheap thing stand for?"

Francis was silent.

"Not allowed to speak, eh? Some kind of a society. It can't be much if that's the best it can do in the way of a pin. SB. What do you suppose SB stands for, Harry?"

"Something Bum," suggested Harry, with a laugh; and even Stoddard's face, which had been anxious, twitched with an involuntary smile. "You say Something Bum and I say Sour Boys," said Herrick. "What do you say, Old-Stick-in-the-Mud?"

He jammed Stoddard against the wall in a way that made him gasp. But Stoddard did not speak.

"I think," said Herrick, pocketing the pin, "that we'll keep this beautiful object as a souvenir of the Somewhat Bum Sour Boys. And now maybe you'll tell me what you call it. No? Oh, I think you will."