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answered as she looked at her outstretched legs with disfavor.
    "I'm not through yet," she declared. "I'll fix it so my underwear won't fall down! You just wait and see."
    "What will you do?" I asked. "What if both legs had come down, clear to your shoe tops?" I shuddered to think of the awful possibility because it could happen to me. I decided to sit very still until dinnertime when I could return my underwear to its proper place.
    That afternoon when we left school, we could tell that it was beginning to warm up. Little drips of water fell from the trees, and the path was slushy. We took off our mittens and swung our scarves as we trudged toward home.
    "Have you thought of something yet?" I asked Sarah Jane. "What are you going to do to keep your underwear legs up?"
    "I'm not going to keep them up," she answered. "I'm going to cut them off?"
    I stopped and stared at her. "You wouldn't dare!" .
    "Just watch me."
    I stopped at her house, and we went directly to her room. Sarah Jane got her mother's scissors, took off her stockings, and began to cut her underwear off just above the knee.
    "Here, Mabel. You cut the back. I can't reach it."
    "Oh, I can't!" I protested.
    "Of course you can!" she replied. "After all, it's not your underwear. What are you worried about?"
    I decided she was right about that, and helped her finish the job.
    "There," she said with satisfaction. "Isn't that better?"
    I had to admit that it was. In fact, I wished mine were fixed the same way. I made the mistake of saying that out loud.
    "I'll do it for you," Sarah Jane offered. "Take your stockings off."
    "But what will happen when ma finds out?" "She doesn't have to find out. Just keep your long underwear on."
    "She'll know when she washes it," I protested. "She can't help but notice a pair of long underwear with no legs in it!"
    "That's right. I didn't think about the washing." Sarah Jane thought for a moment. "I know. Put one of your other pairs in the wash and just don't take these off at all. That's what I'll do."
    Reluctantly, I allowed Sarah Jane to persuade me, and we cut mine to match hers. I discovered that once we began the deceit, there was no alternative but to continue it. The only way to keep ma from finding out what I had done was to sleep in my long underwear. I knew that she positively forbade that, so I had an uncomfortable night for more reasons than just being too warm.
    The next morning was sunny and bright. Spring was surely in the air. I dressed quickly and got to the kitchen in time to help ma set the table.
    "We can take our long underwear off now, can't we, ma?" I asked. "The snow is melting really fast."
    "Don't get in a hurry. We may not have seen the end of winter yet. You take your scarf and mittens just as you always do. The weather can change in an instant."
    I was sure she was wrong, and so was Sarah Jane when I met her.
    "Aren't you glad we don't have to wear that hot, old underwear this morning, Mabel? We had a good idea just at the right time, didn't we?"
    I agreed happily. "Your ma didn't find out about yours?"
    "Nope. As long as we do what we planned, they'll never know."
    As far as I could see, Sarah Jane was right. But I had an uneasy feeling that since we were being deceitful, we would have to pay for it. I was not mistaken.
    Shortly after noontime, the sun disappeared. The schoolroom began to get dark. Miss Gibson looked anxiously out the window.
    "I'm afraid we're in for another storm, children," she said. "We'd better pack up our things and start for home. I'll give you your assignments; then you hurry on as quickly as you can."
    By the time we were ready to leave, the snow was falling heavily. The wind was blowing so hard we could hardly walk. We managed to trudge along for about a half mile, until the snow became so high it was above our shoe tops. I turned around looking for help and was glad to see Reuben coming up behind us.
    "You girls had better stay here out of the wind," he said. "Roy and I will go