“Don’t say a word to anybody,” he cautioned Ted, “but just you be on hand.  This is going to be the best joke yet.”

“Maybe he’ll get mad.”

“What if he does?  He won’t know who did it.  You and I will be up in the gallery, or somewhere, and no one will see us.  I’ll bet there’ll be some fun.”

The chief trouble was, as I have pointed out before, that Bob’s ideas of fun and those of other persons did not always agree.  Boys and older folks seldom think the same on any subject, and so how can they be expected to about “jokes”?

The minister’s donation party was an annual affair in Moreville.  Rev. Daniel Blackton, who had charge of the only church in the village, did not receive a very large salary, and it was the custom to give him a “donation party” once a year to help pay him.

This usually took the form of a supper, held in the church parlors.  The women of the congregation provided the food, and a small price was charged for the meal.  Nearly every one, including the “men folks” and the children, attended, and sometimes quite a fair sum was realized in this way.

In addition, every one who could afford to was expected to bring some “donation” for the minister.  The women would knit him mittens, or slippers, or socks, they would crochet articles for the minister’s wife, or bring jars of preserves, which were very welcome at the parsonage.

The men would donate wood, garden products, or whatever they could best afford.  In this way, while the reverend gentleman’s salary was not large, he managed to obtain a comfortable living.

It was to this donation party, or supper, that Bob and Ted were going, and as they crouched in the shadow of the bushes they perfected Bob’s plan for some fun.

Mrs. Henderson was usually on the committee of arrangements for the supper, and this occasion was no exception.  For a week before she was busy making pies and cakes and getting great pans of baked beans ready, for the supper victuals were of a plain but very wholesome sort.

As Captain Spark was a guest at the Henderson home at the time the supper was to be held, he, of course, was invited to attend, an invitation he quickly accepted, for he was fond of hearty eating, and he was not ashore often enough so that such affairs as donation suppers were distasteful to him, as they are to some persons.

At last the eventful evening came.  Bob, dressed in his best suit, prepared to accompany his parents and Captain Spark to the church.

Such a thing as their son attempting a joke at the donation supper never occurred to Mr. or Mrs. Henderson.  It is true that at the affair there was more or less jollity and good-natured fun after the formal function of supper was over and the minister had asked the blessing.  But no one had ever dared play such a joke as Bob contemplated.  If his mother had in the least suspected him of even dreaming of it she would have made him stay at home.