[Illustration: "JUST LOOK HERE!" SAID WILLY'S SWEET VOICE.]

Everybody had stopped eating, and was staring out at Willy, who was
staring in. His happy little red face had suddenly turned sober.

"Come in, Sonny, an' we'll see what all the trouble's about, an'
straighten it out in a jiffy," spoke up Grandpa. The contrast between
Grandpa's slow tones and the "jiffy" was very funny.

Willy crept slowly down the long piazza, through the big kitchen into
the dining-room.

"Now, Sonny, come right here," said his grandfather, "an' we'll have
it all fixed up nice."

The boy kept looking from one face to another in a wondering
frightened way. He went hesitatingly up to his grandfather, and stood
still, his poor little smarting feet toeing in, after a fashion they
had, when tired, the pail full of berries dangling heavily on his
slight arm.

"Now, Sonny, look up here, an' tell us all about it. What did you do
with Grandpa's coat, boy?"

"I--didn't do anything with it."

"William," began his grandmother, but Grandpa interrupted her. "Just
wait a minute, mother," said he. "Sonny an' I air goin' to settle
this. Now, Sonny, don't you get scared. You jest think a minute.
Think real hard, don't hurry--now, can't you tell what you did with