"Six," baby Emma guessed.
"Four," little Joe said soberly.
"Five," Carlyle hazarded.
"Nope." Alfred was shaking with suppressed mirth.
"How many do you have?" Barbara asked.
"Not any!"
Alfred burst into laughter and little Joe protested seriously, "That is
not the way to play this game!"
Emma looked brightly at Joe and he smiled back. They were still a lost
dot on a vast prairie and their situation had not changed materially
from last night's. But they were out of the mud. They had met and
defeated a slimy, vicious enemy that had done its best to drag them
down, and their spirits lifted accordingly.