learned a good many useful things while building a boat."




A MAY-DAY GIFT.

I.

Early on the morning of the 1st of May, Abby Clayton ran downstairs,
exclaiming by way of greeting to the household:

"A bright May Day! A bright May Day!"

"It isn't very _bright_, I'm sure!" grumbled her little brother Larry,
who clattered after her. "There's no sunshine; and the wind blows so
hard I sha'n't be able to sail my new boat on the pond in the park.
It's mighty hard lines! I don't see why it can't be pleasant on a
holiday. Think of all the shiny days we've had when a fellow had to be
in school. Now, when there's a chance for some fun, it looks as if it
were going to rain great guns!"

"Well, it won't," said Abby, pausing in the hall to glance back at him,
as he perched upon the baluster above her. "It won't rain great guns,
nor pitchforks, nor cats and dogs, nor even torrents. It's going to
clear up. Don't you know that some people say the sun generally
shines, for a few minutes anyhow, on Saturdays in honor of the Blessed
Virgin?"

"This isn't Saturday," objected Larry, somewhat indignantly.