Polly?"

Davie shivered and turned his eyes away.

"No, you must not hold him," said Polly, decisively. "If you do,
you can't sit on the step beside us."

"Then I won't hold him," said Joel, running up to them, "but
I'll have him close to me," and he laid the snake by the side of
the doorstep. "I'm going to sit here by you, Polly."

Little Davie thrust up his head and looked fearfully around
Polly.

"You can't have that snake here, Joel," announced Polly, in her
most determined tone. "Put him off on the grass in the orchard,"
as the one scraggy apple tree was called. "Now hurry, like a
good boy, and then come and tell us how you killed him."

"I can't see him good, 'way off there," grumbled Joel, and
picking up his snake he dragged him through the grass. "Just a
little bit nearer," he pleaded.

"Not a single bit of an inch nearer, Joel Pepper," said Polly,
firmly. So Joel laid the snake down and ran back and sat down on
the end of the step by Polly.

"Now begin," said Polly.

"Well, I was sittin' on the old stool," said Joel, his chubby