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           IaskedAtticuswhy,andhesaiditwasbecausetheNationalRecoveryActwasdead.Iaskedwhokilledit:hesaidnineoldmen.

           ThesecondchangeinMaycombsincelastyearwasnotoneofnationalsignificance.Untilthen,HalloweeninMaycombwasacompletelyunorganizedaffair.Eachchilddidwhathewantedtodo,withistancefromotherchildreniftherewasanythingtobemoved,suchasplacingalightbuggyontopoftheliverystable.Butparentsthoughtthingswenttoofarlastyear,whenthepeaceofMissTuttiandMissFruttiwasshattered.

           MissesTuttiandFruttiBarberweremaidenladies,sisters,wholivedtogetherintheonlyMaycombresidenceboastingacellar.TheBarberladieswererumoredtobeRepublicans,havingmigratedfromClanton,Alabama,in1911.Theirwayswerestrangetous,andwhytheywantedacellarnobodyknew,buttheywantedoneandtheydugone,andtheyspenttherestoftheirliveschasinggenerationsofchildrenoutofit.

           MissesTuttiandFrutti(theirnameswereSarahandFrances),asidefromtheirYankeeways,werebothdeaf.MissTuttidenieditandlivedinaworldofsilence,butMissFrutti,notabouttomissanything,employedaneartrumpetsoenormousthatJemdeclareditwasaloudspeakerfromoneofthosedogVictrolas.

           WiththesefactsinmindandHalloweenathand,somewickedchildrenhadwaiteduntiltheMissesBarberwerethoroughlyasleep,slippedintotheirlivingroom(nobodybuttheRadleyslockedupatnight),stealthilymadeawaywitheverystickoffurnituretherein,andhiditinthecellar.