as. He searched every part of the girls' chamber, and
then, in his vexation, he pulled Emily's bonnet from off her head, and
tossed it out of the window into an apple-tree, in the branches of
which it lodged.

It was now Emily's turn to fly into a pet, and she availed herself of
the opportunity. Running to her mother, she reported what Jerry had
done, setting off his foolish conduct in the worst possible light.
Jerry soon made his appearance in the kitchen, and retorted upon his
sister by charging her with having hid his cap. Mrs. Preston tried to
settle the difficulty by directing Jerry to get Emily's bonnet out of
the tree, and ordering Emily to tell Jerry where his cap was, if she
knew; but Emily protested she knew nothing about the cap, and her
brother did not seem inclined to obey his portion of the decree, while
his sister failed to comply with hers. The quarrel was thus becoming
more and more complicated, when Oscar suddenly entered the room with
the lost cap in his hand.

"Here's your cap, Jerry," he said; "I found it just where you left it
last night, out in the barn. Don't you remember, you threw it at the
cat to scare her?"

"Yes, so I did, and I forgot to pick it up again," said Jerry.

"There, do you believe me now?" said Emily, with an air of triumph.

Jerry did not stop to reply; but, going into the garden, he climbed the
apple-tree, and tossed the bonnet down to Emily.

"Now I 'm ready to start, just as soon as I 've had a drink of
buttermilk," said Jerry to Oscar; "come into the buttery and get some,
won't you?"

There was only one bowl-full of buttermilk left from the morning's
churning, but Mrs. Preston told the boys they might have that. Jerry
proposed that they should "go snacks," and gave the bowl to Oscar that
he might drink his share first. The latter took one mouthful, but
quickly spit it out, and puckered his face into all sorts of shapes.

"Ugh!" he exclaimed, "you don't call that sour stuff good, do you?" and
he handed the bowl back to Jerry, with a look that would have soured
the buttermilk, if it had not already undergone that process.

As soon as Jerry could get over laughing at his cousin's grimaces, he
swallowed the contents of the bowl, and then smacking his lips, said:

"There, don't you think I like it? You just drink it a few times, and
then see if you don't like it, too. I could drink a quart of it now if
I had it."

"You may have it, for all me; I don't want a