right after you, but it looks like Asia's the only one that ketches
yer style. Oh, must you go?" she added, as Lucy picked up her
gloves.

"Yes; I promised Mrs. Schultz to read to her this afternoon."

"Well, stop in on yer way back--I'll have a little present ready
for you." It was an unwritten law that no guest should depart
without a gift of some kind. Sometimes it was one of Asia's
paintings, again it was a package of sunflower seed, or a bottle of
vinegar, and once Lucy had taken home four gourds and a bunch of
paper roses.

"I declare I never will git no work done if this weather keeps up!"
said Mrs. Wiggs, as she held the gate open. "If I wasn't so stove
up, an' nobody wasn't lookin', I'd jes' skitter 'round this here
yard like a colt!"



CHAPTER X

AUSTRALIA'S MISHAP

"'T is one thing to be tempted,
Another thing to fall."

THROUGH the long, sunny afternoon Mrs. Wiggs sang over her ironing,
and Asia worked diligently in her flower-bed. Around the corner of
the shed which served as Cuba's dwelling-place, Australia and