ut don't be in no rush.
It's too pow'ful warm to rush."

Indeed it was warm, and the girls, who had changed to some of their
summer garments, felt the truth of this.

"Oh, for a lawn waist and a white skirt, low canvas shoes and a palm
leaf fan!" sighed Mollie, as they drove beneath great trees that
tempered the heat of the sun.

"Anything else?" asked Betty with a laugh.

"Lemonade," suggested Amy. "Or, no, since we are on an orange plantation
I suppose orangeade would be more appropriate, girls."

"Anything as long as it's cool," sighed Grace. "I declare, all my
chocolates have run together," and she looked with dismay into a box of
the confection she had been carrying.

"No wonder--it's summer, and we left winter behind us," said Betty.
"You'll have to give up chocolates down here, Grace, my dear."

"Or else keep them on ice," ventured Amy.

A turn of the road brought them in full view of the orange grove in
which Mr. Stonington was interested, and at the sight a murmur of
pleased surprise broke from the girls.

"And to think of going out there and picking oranges as one would
apples!" exclaimed Amy. "Doesn't it seem odd to see oranges that aren't
in a crate, or a fruit store?"

"Some of those will be in crates 'fore night," said the driver. "We're
picking every day now. It's a good season, and we're making the most of
it," he added to Mr. Stonington.

"Glad to hear it. You'll have to ship them as fast as you can with four
orange-hungry girls on hand," and he laughed at Amy and her chums.

"Oh, Uncle Stonington!" Amy cried. "As if we could eat all the oranges
here!" and she looked over the rows and rows of fruit-laden trees.

"You ain't no idea how many oranges you can eat, when yo'all get them
right off a tree," said the driver. "They taste different from the ones
you Northerners have, I tell you!"

One of the foremen, whom Mr. Stonington had met before, came from the
grove to welcome them, and to show them the way to the bungalow they
were to occupy during their stay in the South.

"We hope you will like it here," said the overseer, a Mr. Hammond.

"I don't see how we could help it," said Mrs. Stonington. "I am in love
with the place already, and I feel so much better even with this little
taste of Summer."

"That's good!" exclaimed her husband, with shining eyes.

As the carriage stopped in front of a cool-looking bungalow, a
"comfortable-looking" colored "mammy" came to the door smiling
exp