ll-joy, a character he did
not fancy. When, on his return from driving a load of tomatoes to the
cannery one afternoon, instead of finding filled crates ready for a
second trip, he discovered that neither boy had picked a tomato and
that they had broken several crates and mashed a quantity of ripe
tomatoes in good-natured tussling. Warren spoke sharply and to the
point. He sent Jack to one end of a row and Richard to the other and
kept them separated the remainder of the afternoon.

The team was another grievance. Jack was sure he could be trusted to
drive Solomon and his mate to the cannery and back and this hauling
afforded a welcome break in a monotonous day. But Mr. Hildreth flatly
refused to allow Jack to handle the horses and either he or Warren made
the twice a day trip to the Center.

"I'll quit to-morrow," said Jack desperately, night after night.

And in the morning he would decide to stick it out another day.

Twice he went to sleep in his chair on the porch of the little white
house, waking to find that Mrs. Hildreth and the girls had gone to bed
and left Doctor Hugh, reading quietly under the lamp, to keep him
company.

"Nothing to be ashamed of," said the doctor when Jack stammered his
apology. "After a day of honest toil, Nature's going to exact her
toll. You'll be as hard as nails, Jack, if you keep this up."

The girls soon accepted the idea that Jack was not free to go about
with them and made their plans without including him. Rosemary went
nearly every day to see Miss Clinton, on some pretext or other, and
Shirley often accompanied her. Rosemary was rapidly learning to knit
the blocks for a bedspread with which she intended to surprise her
mother. Sarah gave most of her time and attention to Bony, but she
also visited the Gays though, in the excitement and pleasure of having
Doctor Hugh at their beck and call, it is to be regretted that the Gay
family were left more to themselves than Rosemary or her sisters
intended.

Jack's irritation culminated in the second week of his contract. True
to her promise, Mrs. Willis had asked the three boys to Sunday dinner
and, under the mellowing influence of Winnie's best cooking and the
friendly atmosphere of the little white house, the tension had relaxed
and the afternoon spent on the porch had been restful for at least
three of the group and happy for all.

"I'm going fishing to-morrow," announced Doctor Hugh, a night or two
later. "The al