hand and went over her with a quizzical eye, as he nearly
always did when they met.

"You haven't been up to my place to get any straw-
berries yet, Thea. They're at their best just now. Mrs.
Archie doesn't know what to do with them all. Come up
this afternoon. Just tell Mrs. Archie I sent you. Bring a
big basket and pick till you are tired."

When she got home Thea told her mother that she didn't
want to go, because she didn't like Mrs. Archie.

"She is certainly one queer woman," Mrs. Kronborg

assented, "but he's asked you so often, I guess you'll have
to go this time. She won't bite you."

After dinner Thea took a basket, put Thor in his baby-
buggy, and set out for Dr. Archie's house at the other end
of town. As soon as she came within sight of the house,
she slackened her pace. She approached it very slowly,
stopping often to pick dandelions and sand-peas for Thor
to crush up in his fist.

It was his wife's custom, as soon as Dr. Archie left the
house in the morning, to shut all the doors and windows
to keep the dust out, and to pull down the shades to keep
the sun from fading the carpets. She thought, too, that