since he alone must be responsible, the old lady continued sitting in
silence. At length she spoke,--

"Here I be, an' here I'm goin' to set till the premiums is tacked on.
Them pinballs my neighbor, Mis' Dyer, made with her own hands, an'
she's bent double o' rheumatiz. An' I said I'd bring 'em for her, an'
I'd set by an' see things done fair an' square."

"There, Mrs. Blair, don't you worry," said Mrs. Mitchell, a director of
the Home, putting a hand on the martial and belligerent shoulder,
"Don't you mind if she doesn't get a premium. I'll buy the pinballs,
and that will do almost as well."

"My! if there ain't goin' to be trouble between Mary Lamson an'
Sereno's Hattie, I'll miss my guess!" said a matron, with an
appreciative wag of her purple-bonneted head. "They've either on 'em
canned up more preserves 'n Tiverton an' Sudleigh put together, an'
Mary's got I dunno what all among 'em!--squash, an' dandelion, an'
punkin with lemon in't. That's steppin' acrost the bounds, _I_ say! If
she gits a premium for puttin' up gardin-sass, I'll warrant there'll be
a to-do. An' Hattie'll make it!"

"I guess there won't be no set-to about such small potaters," said Mrs.
Pike, with dignity. Her broad back had been unrecognized by the herald,
careless in her haste. "Hattie's ready an' willin' to divide the
premium, if't comes to her, an' I guess Mary'd be, put her in the same
place."

"My soul an' body!" exclaimed another, trudging up and waving a large
palmleaf fan. "Well, there, Rosanna Pike! Is that you? Excuse me all,