he did not know how long.
"Shall you gather any more?"

"No; I guess there's enough. Let's count them." He stooped over on his
hand's and knees, and made as much of counting the bunches as he could.
"There's about one bunch and a half a piece. How shall we carry them? We
ought to come into camp as impressively as possible."

"Yes," said Alice, looking into his face with dreamy absence. It was
going through her mind, from some romance she had read, What if he
were some sylvan creature, with that gaiety, that natural gladness and
sweetness of his, so far from any happiness that was possible to her?
Ought not she to be afraid of him? She was thinking she was not afraid.

"I'll tell you," he said. "Tie the stems of all the bunches together,
and swing them over a pole, like grapes of Eshcol. Don't you know the
picture?"

"Oh yes."

"Hold on! I'll get the pole." He cut a white birch sapling, and swept
off its twigs and leaves, then he tied the bunches together, and slung
them over the middle of the pole.

"Well?" she asked.

"Now we must rest the ends on our shoulders."

"Do you think so?" she asked, with the reluctance that complies.

"Yes, but not right away. I'll carry them out of the woods, and we'll
form the procession just before we come in sight."

Every one on the ledge recognised the tableau when it appeared, and
saluted it with cheers and hand-clapping. Mrs. Pasmer bent a look on her
daughter which she faced impenetrably.

"Where have you been?" "We thought you were lost!" "We were just
organising a search expedition!" different ones shouted at them.

The lady with the coffee-pot was kneeling over it with her hand on it.
"Have some coffee, you poor things! You must be almost starved."

"We looked about for you everywhere," said Munt, "and shouted ourselves
dumb."

Miss Anderson passed near Alice. "I knew where you were all the time!"

Then the whole party fell to praising the novel conception of the
bouquets of blueberries, and the talk began to flow away from Alice and
Mavering in various channels.

All that had happened a few minutes ago in the blueberry patch seemed a
far-off dream; the reality had died out of the looks and words.

He ran about from one to another, serving every one; in a little while
the whole affair was in his hospitable hands, and his laugh interspersed
and brightened the talk.

She got a little back of the others, and sat looking wistfully out over
the bay, with her han