rry is, nor what 'this' is," said Uncle Dick,
bearing in the glass jar and setting it on the table. "It's for the
'little gals' I was told. Great Caesar! It's clams, carefully
shelled. See here, Ada, we won't have to buy any more provender this
season at this rate. When we get short of provisions we can send out
our Arabs on the road, for behold the result of their evening's
migrations."

Every one laughed at this latest gift, and it was set away for the next
day's use. But the end was not yet. On the door sill the next morning
was discovered a splint basket. To the handle was tied a scrap of
paper on which was awkwardly written: "To the little gals." Molly was
the finder of this. "Hurry down all of you!" she called to the others.
"There is a present."

"Another one?" said Polly over the baluster. "What is it?"

"I haven't looked," was the reply.

The other children, joined by Miss Ada, came down as soon as possible,
their curiosity excited. Molly lifted the wet seaweed covering the
contents of the basket and they saw a pile of shining little mackerel.

"Tinkers!" cried Miss Ada. "What a nice lot of them! Oh, and there
are some butter-fish, too. They are all cleaned beautifully, and we
must have some for breakfast; it will take only a few minutes to cook
them. Yon children can run over to Grace with her share."

This the little girls were glad to do, but returned with their platter
full explaining that smaller lot had been left at the Whartons'.

But two more conscience offerings were received after this. Four thick
braids of sweet grass were found hanging on the door-knob, and, during
the day a man delivered a mysterious box slatted across one end. This
was found to contain a beautiful kitten of the variety called "Coon."
The children were wild over this last gift, the only drawback to their
delight being the difficulty of deciding which one should take it home.
Their Aunt Ada came to the rescue by telling them not to bother about
it till the time came and then to let circumstances settle it. Her own
little cat, Cosey, was not inclined to favor the intruder at first, but
in a few days she began to mother it and they soon became good friends.

"Are you glad that the boys scared us that night?" asked Polly one day
not long after the "day of gifts" as the children called it.

Molly weighed the subject. "When I think of the dear kitten and the
salmon and the tinkers."

"And the lobster."

"