Sally, 11, has been terrorizing local boys in their tree forts and on their back porches for at least a year, said sources close to the Jameson family. Redheaded Cal Mason, 12, had more specific complaints about Sally’s behavior.

"Why, just yesterday Sally beat us all at marbles," said Cal. "She shot her big ol’ cats eye right at my shooter and knocked it all to pieces. And last week she beat up Big Jack Callahan — stole his best pair of sneakers and threw ‘em in the swimming hole."

Described as "lanky and ruddy-cheeked" by her neighbors, Sally "should learn some refinement and ladylike manners," according to her music teacher, Miss Plumm. "She could be such a pretty little girl if she just wore the dresses that her mother makes for her. But she’s always running around in a pair of dungarees and her older brother’s baseball cap. She’s a regular spitfire."

Sally has regularly proved her ability to out-run, out-jump, out-throw and out-fox the boys of Smallville. She catches frogs and puts them in her sister’s bed, enjoys tree-climbing, and nearly always has a slingshot stuck in her back pocket, according to local boys.

Sally’s father, Banker Jameson, agreed. "Sal lacks deportment and civility," Jameson said from behind his enormous oak desk in his office at the bank on Main Street. "But I’ve no doubt that she’ll soon learn her manners. She’s just a little headstrong," he chuckled. "No, sir, Sally’s just fine," he said, shaking his head.

Sally’s mother, Mrs. Jameson, is not so sure. "She simply musn’t keep this up much longer!" she declared. "Sally’s quite handsome, but I have a devil of a time getting a brush through that unruly hair. With her sharp tongue and skinned knees, I fear she’ll scare the young men off for good." Mrs. Jameson speculated that someone would have to take pity on the poor thing or she’d surely never marry.

Meanwhile, Sally has her own ideas. "I can spit farther ‘n any boy," she claimed. "And I won the big scooter race just last week."

Matters came to a head last week at the traditional late-summer piano recital that Smallville residents, young and old, attend, all wearing their finest.

"She just didn’t want to go," said Sally’s mother. "Oh, what a struggle it was to get her to sit still while I hemmed her new tulle dress! And she absolutely refused to wear a hat."

"Sally was to play ‘Für Elise’ — well, just the first few bars," said Miss Plumm. "She looked uncomfortable and stiff in her new white dress. I think she was a little nervous. She missed a few notes here and there. But everyone was relieved that she had stopped being such a terror for just a few minutes."

Nobody was prepared for what happened next. "As little Joe Clemm was playing ‘Pomp and Circumstance,’" said Miss Plumm, "suddenly there was a yowling and clanking like you never heard! And then everyone started shrieking and getting up on their chairs — land, I’ve never heard such a racket! Sally Jameson had loosed a sack full of cats in the recital hall with tin cans tied to their tails."

"That Sally!" said her father.

"That Sally!" said the neighbors.