"For begging the question, commend me to a woman," said Mr. Winton. "The
point we began at, was not what you could do in a contest with her. She
went to the swamp and brought from it some flower baskets. It is perfectly
fair to her to suppose that they are her best art. Now what we are
proposing to test is whether the finest product of our civilization, as
embodied in you, can go to the same swamp, and from the same location
surpass her work. Do I make myself clear?"

"Perfectly clear, Daddy, and it would be fair," conceded Leslie. "But it
is an offence punishable with a heavy fine to peel a birch tree; while I
wouldn't do it, if it were not."

"Got her to respect the law anyway," said Mr. Winton to Douglas. "The
proposition, Leslie, was not that you do the same thing, but that from the
same source you outdo her. You needn't use birch bark if it involves your
law-abiding soul."

"Then it's all settled. You must hurry and take me before the lovely
plants have flowered," said Leslie.

"I'll go day after to-morrow," promised Mr. Winton.

"In order to make our plan work, it is necessary that I keep these orchids
until that time," said Leslie.

"You have a better chance than the lady who drew the osier basket has of
keeping hers," said Mr. Winton. "If I remember I have seen the slippers in
common earth quite a distance from the lake, while the moccasins demand
bog moss, water and swamp mists and dampness."