red mitts."]

"'T ain't nothin'," disclaimed Asia, modestly. "It's jes the way maw
brought us up. Whenever we started out to do a thing she made us
finish it someway or 'nother. Oncet when we was all little we lived in
the country. She sent Billy out on the hoss to git two watermelon, an'
told him fer him not to come home without 'em. When Billy got out to
the field he found all the watermelon so big he couldn't carry one,
let alone two. What do you think he done?"

"Come home without 'em?"

"No, sir, he never! He jes set on the fence an' thought awhile, then
he took off en his jeans pants an' put a watermelon in each leg an'
hanged 'em 'crost old Rollie's back an' come ridin' home barelegged."

"I think he's the nicest boy in the Cabbage Patch," said Lovey Mary,
laughing over the incident. "He never does tease Tommy."

"That's 'cause he likes you. He says you've got grit. He likes the way
you cleaned up Miss Hazy an' stood up to Mr. Stubbins."

A deeper color than even the fresh air warranted came into Lovey
Mary's cheeks, and she walked on for a few minutes in pleased silence.

"Don't you want to wear my gloves awhile?" asked Asia.

"No; my hands ain't cold any more," said Lovey Mary.

As they turned into Terrace Park, with its beautiful grounds, its