to do me till I'm as tall as I want to be. You must take a pinch
of the seed every three hours, walking backward, and you must
never tell a soul you're taking it, or it won't work. I wouldn't
spare any of it to any one but you."

I felt deeply grateful to Billy, and sorry that I had not liked
him better. Somehow, nobody did like Billy Robinson over and
above. But I vowed I WOULD like him in future. I paid him the
ten cents cheerfully and took the magic seed as directed,
measuring myself carefully every day by a mark on the hall door.
I could not see any advance in growth yet, but then I had been
taking it only three days.

One day the Story Girl had an inspiration.

"Let us go and ask the Awkward Man and Mr. Campbell for a
contribution to the library fund," she said. "I am sure no one
else has asked them, because nobody in Carlisle is related to
them. Let us all go, and if they give us anything we'll divide
it equally among us."

It was a daring proposition, for both Mr. Campbell and the
Awkward Man were regarded as eccentric personages; and Mr.
Campbell was supposed to detest children. But where the Story
Girl led we would follow to the death. The next day being
Saturday, we started out in the afternoon.

We took a short cut to Golden Milestone, over a long, green, dewy
land full of placid meadows, where sunshine had fallen asleep.
At first all was not harmonious. Felicity was in an ill humour;