air and himself on the ground, screaming and laughing as he rolled
over and over on the grass. Suddenly he scrambled to his feet and ran
towards home leaving the cow to take care of herself.

"Mercy!" said Miss Elizabeth, "ef that don't beat anythin' I ever heard
on! A fence that'll play a tune! A 'Yankee Doodle' fence! What ever got
into your head to git up such a thing as that? You're your father's own
son!"

By this time the cow-boy had returned with half a dozen companions, all
as excited as himself.

Miss French was now as eager for the boys to draw their sticks on her
fence as she had been unwilling before. The patriotic tune rung out
again and again. The neighbors came to the scene and looked on in
bewilderment.

"I knew that chap was up to sunthin'," Jem could hear the farmer say who
had proffered the advice on the day previous. "He's old Joe French's
boy, you know."

"You might a-known then he was smarter 'n lightnin'," said another.

"Guess I'll get him to build _me_ a musical fence," remarked a third,
"only I'll hav' 'Home, Sweet Home,' cuz that's Samanthy's favorite
tune."

"He might fence in the meetin'-house with 'Old Hundred,'" suggested
Deacon Mullen.

But the novelty soon wore away and Miss French began to tire of the
ceaseless repetition. Besides the boys were too impatient to have their
turns in playing to allow their predecessors to finish ere they
commenced. To cap the climax, one boy, having concluded, turned about
and ran the other way playing the tune backwards to the great disgust of
both the builder and proprietoress. Miss Elizabeth rushed out.

"See here," cried she, "I guess you've played that fence long enough for
one morning. Now you'd better go home. Go home, I say!"

But the boys were not to be deprived of such an amusement, and they
hammered away furiously wherever they could get a chance. Unable to make
any impression upon them Miss Elizabeth turned fiercely upon poor Jem
and said in a voice that admitted no compromise, "Take it down, I can't
abide it no longer! It's wus than the cows!" and with that she seized
one of the bars, while Jem, alarmed for his marvellous fence, gave a
great leap and sprang--out of bed, broad awake.

THE BUTTON BOY.

The wind blew as it never had blown before.

I think it blew that boy straight through the gate, up the path, through
the door, and into the back parlor where the family sat. He stopped
there, gave a little puff of spent b