but he had never climbed over the fence and approached it from the rear
before, so it took on a new aspect to him from this point of view, and
moreover the night was dark enough to deceive anybody.

If he came across an especially big melon McNutt would lug it to the
carriage and dump it in. And so angry and energetic was the little man
that in a brief space the melon patch was a scene of awful devastation,
and the surrey contained all the fruit that survived the massacre.

Beth unhitched the horse and they all took their places in the carriage
again, having some difficulty to find places for their feet on account
of the cargo of melons. McNutt was stowed away inside, with Louise, and
they drove away up the lane. The agent was jubilant and triumphant, and
chuckled in gleeful tones that thrilled the girls with remorse as they
remembered the annihilation of McNutt's cherished melons.

"Ol' Dan usu'lly has a dorg," said Peggy, between his fits of laughter;
"but I guess he had him chained up ternight."

"I'm not positively sure that was Brayley's place," remarked Beth; "it's
so very dark."

"Oh, it were Brayley's, all right," McNutt retorted. "I could tell by
the second-class taste o' them mellings, an' their measley little size.
Them things ain't a circumstance to the kind I raise."

"Are you sure?" asked Louise.

"Sure's shootln'. Guess I'm a jedge o' mellings, when I sees 'em."

"No one could see tonight," said Beth.

"Feelin's jest the same," declared the little man, confidently.

After wandering around a sufficient length of time to allay suspicion,
Beth finally drew up before McNutt's house again.

"I'll jest take my share o' them mellings," said Peggy, as he alighted.
"They ain't much 'count, bein' Brayley's; but it'll save me an' the ol'
woman from eatin' our own, or perhaps I kin sell 'em to Sam Cotting."

He took rather more than his share of the spoils, but the girls had no
voice to object. They were by this time so convulsed with suppressed
merriment that they had hard work not to shriek aloud their laughter.
For, in spite of the tragic revelations the morrow would bring forth,
the situation was so undeniably ridiculous that they could not resist
its humor.

"I've had a heap o' fun," whispered McNutt. "Good night, gals. Ef ye
didn't belong to thet gum-twisted nabob, ye'd be some pun'kins."

"Thank you, Mr. McNutt. Good night."

And it was not until well on their journey to the farm that the girl