don't even eat the
watercress out of it this summer, so many folks that did eat it were
taken down. My son Sam had a spell. The doctor stuck to it it was
swimmin' but I knowed better; it was eatin' that poison watercress."

By this time Nat had followed directions and was going across the
fields as fast as his uncomfortable legs would carry him. Tavia was
running also; she felt it was her duty to stick by Nat, and get to the
road with him, in case he should need any help.

Dorothy could not hide her dismay. Nat might get cold, he certainly
had spoiled some good clothes, and the automobile ride would not be as
pleasant now. How could it be with such a soaked boy at the wheel?
And he was sure to stick to his post.

"Isn't it awful!" Dorothy remarked to Ned, as they hurried along after
Nat and Tavia, while the country woman jogged on ahead of them.

"Nothing of the sort," he contradicted her. "It will add to his
general knowledge, and what an experience it will be when it is handed
out to the fellows! Nat frequently has a way of making narrow escapes.
Chances are, some subterranean monster held him down in that spring.
Oh, that accident will just be pie for Nat," and his brother laughed at
the possible story Nat would concoct about his spring bath.

Breaking through the clump of bushes that divided the field from the
road Nat and Tavia could be seen racing up and down like a pair in
"training."

"That's right," called the woman, "just cut across there to that house.
I'll be there almost as soon as you."

And in truth the farm woman was "no slouch," as Ned expressed it, for
she tramped along at such an even pace that Dorothy found it difficult
to keep up with her on the rough roads.

The farm house was of the typical old-fashioned kind; long and narrow,
like a train of cars side-tracked, Ned thought. Vines that had become
tired creeping clung tenaciously to window sills and broken porch
rails, while clumsy old apple trees leaned lazily toward the stone
house, although they were expected to keep their place, and outline a
walk to the garden.

"Come right in the kitchen," invited the little woman. "I'll go
upstairs and get the clothes, and then the young man can wash up a bit.
Sam always keeps plenty of clean water in his room in summer
time--ain't so pertic'lar about it in winter."

Nat hesitated on the door sill. Although the place presented that
crowded and almost untidy scene, so common to back door