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 hei 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 



