"Ah, that is better!" said she, when Jim returned to the dining-room,
his face at last restored to its usual sunburnt hue, and shining from
the effect of a liberal lather of soap-suds, and his hands also of a
comparatively respectable color. "Now, do tell us what you have been
attempting."

"Haven't been attempting anything," he mumbled. "Leo and I were
painting our boat, that is all. We hurried so as to finish it before
dinner. I suppose that is the reason the paint got splashed around a
little."

Jim's temper had manifestly been somewhat ruffled by the necessity of
repeating the soap and water process. He frowned like a thundercloud.

Mrs. Gordon, however, always had great consideration for a hungry boy.
Without appearing to notice that Jim was out of sorts, she merely
remarked, while helping him bountifully to beefsteak: "You have painted
the _Jolly Pioneer_? How well she must look! I believe I'll walk over
to the barn after dinner and see her."

"Will you really, mother?" he exclaimed, brightening at once.

"Yes, certainly. What color did you choose?"

"Blue, with red and yellow trimmings," answered the boy, exultingly.

His mother smiled. She had inferred so. But Jim's ill-humor had
vanished like mists before the sun. The next moment he was explaining
to her the merits of various kinds of paint, and discussing the