hearth for Fritz.

"This is the nicest pahty I evah was at," remarked the Little Colonel,
as Walker helped her to jam the third time.

Her grandfather chuckled.

"Blackberry jam always makes me think of Tom," he said. "Did you ever
hear what your Uncle Tom did when he was a little fellow in dresses?"

She shook her head gravely.

"Well, the children were all playing hide-and-seek one day. They hunted
high and they hunted low after everybody else had been caught, but they
couldn't find Tom. At last they began to call, 'Home free! You can come
home free!' but he did not come. When he had been hidden so long they
were frightened about him, they went to their mother and told her he
wasn't to be found anywhere. She looked down the well and behind the
fire-boards in the fireplaces. They called and called till they were out
of breath. Finally she thought of looking in the big dark pantry where
she kept her fruit. There stood Mister Tom. He had opened a jar of
blackberry jam, and was just going for it with both hands. The jam was
all over his face and hair and little gingham apron, and even up his
wrists. He was the funniest sight I ever saw."

The Little Colonel laughed heartily at his description, and begged for
more stories. Before he knew it he was back in the past with his little
Tom and Elizabeth.

Nothing could have entertained the child more than these scenes he