MR. AND MRS. TUMBLE-BUG 59 
sometimes have my suspicions whether she is not 
playing a prank on that unsuspecting spouse 
working so hard at her back, for he now has not 
only the ball, but Mrs. T. as well, to shove along, 
for the most that she can do is to throw the 
weight of her body forward, which in a steep up 
grade amounts to nothing as a help. 
But if she is imposing on Mr. T. in thus guid- 
ing the ball up hill, she soon gets the Roland for 
her Oliver. Mr. T. is put to great extra labor by 
this whimsical decision of hers, and woe to Mrs. 
T. when that little chance valley or inequality of 
surface is reached. Even though she can see it 
coming and holds the wheel, she rarely seems to 
take advantage of it to save herself or her ship, 
while Mr. T., going backward in the rear, of 
course cannot be expected to know what is com- 
ing, nor be blamed for the consequences. With 
kick after kick from his powerful hind feet, united 
with the push of his mighty pair in front, the ball 
speeds up the slope. Now, for some reason, he 
gives a backward shove of more than usual 
force when it was least necessary. The ball had 
chanced upon the crest of a slope, when, kick ! 
over it goes with a pitch and a bound, and Mrs. 
T. with it, though this time not on top. Happy 
is she if the ball simply rolls upon her and pins 
her down. Such, indeed, is a frequent episode in 
her experience of keeping the ball a-rolling, but 
