I'll lay you a
wager, if you like, that I play a practical joke on you, that you,
yourself, will admit is clever and not unkind. That's the test of a
right kind of a joke,--to be clever and not unkind."
Patty's eyes danced. "You have the right idea about it," she said,
nodding her head approvingly. "I don't so much mind a practical
joke, if it is really a good one, and doesn't make the victim feel
hurt or chagrined. But all the same, Mr. Kit, you can't get one off
on me! I'm a little too wide-awake, as you'll find out."
"Would you take a wager?"
"I'm not in the habit of betting, but I'm willing for once. It's
hardly fair, though, for I'm betting on a dead certainty."
"You mean you THINK you are! And I think _I_ am, so the chances are
even. What are the stakes?"
"I don't care: candy or books or flowers or anything."
"Nonsense, they're too prosaic. If I win, you're to give me a
photograph of yourself."
"Oh, I almost never give my picture to my suitors. It isn't good
form."
"But, if you're so sure that you will win, you needn't be afraid to
promise it."
"All right, I promise; and, if I win, you may give me a perfectly
beautiful picture frame, in which I shall put some other man's
picture.
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