calico sun-bonnet flying behind her, until
almost at his feet she stumbles and falls and there, sprawling on the
grass, is--Liddy.

In an instant he is at her side, and how glad he is of the chance to
help her up and soothe her fears no one but himself ever knows. She,
too, has been picking berries, and has come suddenly upon a monster
snake just gliding from a cedar bough almost over her head. When her
fright subsides he at once hunts for and kills that reptile with far
more satisfaction than he ever felt in killing one before. It is an
ungrateful return, for although the boy knew it not, the snake has done
him a greater kindness than he ever realized. Then when all danger is
removed, how sweet it is to sit beside her in the shade and talk over
schooldays while he looks into her tender blue eyes. And how glad he is
to fill her pail with berries which he has picked, and when the sun is
almost down how charming it is to walk home with her along the
maple-shaded lane! He even hopes that he will see another snake so that
he can kill that also, and show her how brave a boy is. But no more
snakes come to his aid that day and only the gentlest of breezes rustles
the spreading boughs that shade their pathway. When she thanks him at
parting, a little look of gratitude makes her blue eyes seem more
tender than ever to him and her voice sound like sweetest music.

His world has enlarged wonderfully now, for Liddy has entered into it.

CHAPTER V.

THE BOY'S FIRST PARTY.

The Stillman girls were going to give a party, and the boy was invited.
It was the first social recognition he had ever received, and it
disturbed his equilibrium. It also made him feel that he was almost a
man.

He had for some time longed to be a man, and for a year past had felt
hurt when called a boy. When the little note of invitation, requesting
"the pleasure of your company," etc., reached him, he felt he had
suddenly grown taller. He realized it more fully that night when he
tried on his best clothes to see how they would look. The sleeves of his
jacket were too short and his pants missed connections with his boots by
full two inches. The gap seemed to swell the size of his feet, also.
When he looked in his little mirror he noticed a plainly defined growth
of down on his lip, and his hair needed cutting.

Then the invitation filled him with mingled fear, surprise and
pleasure. He hardly knew, after thinking it all over, whether he wanted