is Carol's. Mr. Lanos Bryant gave it
to him.--And we're planning to get a great deal more than twenty dollars
for it when we sell it!"

"_Eh?_" said the Old Doctor. "_What?_"

He jerked round in his chair and _glared_ at Carol.

"_This_ I'll have you understand, my Young Man," he said, "is in the
cause of Science!"

Carol looked pretty nervous. He began to smooth his hair as well as he
could without bristles. It didn't smooth much.

"Oh please, Sir," I explained, "people who write books _never_ have
smooth hair!"

"Who's talking about writing books?" roared the Old Doctor.

"Please, Sir, _we're_ trying to talk about it," I said. My voice sounded
pretty little. "It's the _back_ part of the book that's the important
part," I explained. "It's the back part of the book that we're writing!"

"_Eh?_" said the Old Doctor.

He slammed the book together. He stood up and began to look for his hat.

There didn't seem a moment to lose if we we're going to get him into our
book. I ran and caught him by the hand. Even if his face was busy his
hands always had time to be friends with Carol and me.

"Oh please--please--_please_," I besought him. "If you were a Beautiful
Smell instead of a Beautiful Doctor,--what Beautiful Smell in the whole
wide world would you choose to be?"

"What?" said the old Doctor. "_What? W-h-a-t?_" he kept saying over and
over. He looked at my Father. He looked at my Mother. My Mother told him
about our Book. He made a loud Guffaw. "Guffaw" I _think_ is the noise
he made. Carol is _sure_ that it is! He looked at Carol. He looked at
me. He began to Guffaw all over again.

"Well really, Young Authorettes," he said, "I hardly know how to answer
you or how to choose. Ether or Chloroform and general Disinfectants
being the most familiar savors of my daily life,--the only savors indeed
that I ever expect to suggest to anybody--" He looked out the window.
There was an apple-blossom tree. It made the window look very full of
June. His collar seemed to hurt him. It made him pretty serious. It made
his voice all solemn.

"But I'll tell you, Kiddies," he said quite suddenly. "I'll tell you the
Sweetest Thing that I ever smelled in my life!--It was the first Summer
I was back from College.--I was out on the Common playing ball. Somebody
brought me word that my Father was dead.--I didn't go home.--I slunk off
instead to my favorite trout-brook--and sat down under a big white birch
tree--and _cursed_!--I wa