ou
would do the same way, but I watched you from the window, while Cherry
and me were washing the dishes, and you never tried to hide a hole in
the middle at all. Here is your breakfast. Gail cooked it, else you
wouldn't have got much. It is Faith's turn to get the meals today, but
she is baking a cake for the minister's reception tonight, and is
crosser'n two sticks, so Gail fixed it.

"You see, we were all through breakfast when you got here, or you might
have had more. I don't know, though,--Faith says if she had her way
about it, she'd send every single tramp who comes here marching down the
street with the enemy in pursuit. That means Towzer, but he wouldn't
bite anyone. Faith is cross every time she makes a cake. You might have
eaten in the kitchen if it hadn't been for that. She sends us all
out-doors when she is baking, so's we won't make her cakes fall. She
does make fine things, though! Um! but they are good! Never mind, the
kitchen is hot anyway, but it's nice and cool out here under this maple.
This is my maple. Papa built that bench for me and Allee before he went
to heaven. You can sit on the ground and play the seat was your table,
or you can sit in the seat and hold this platter in your lap. Which'll
you do?"

The tramp smiled broadly, relieved the small maid of her heavy load, and
dropped wearily onto the wide bench, saying gratefully, "This will do
nicely, thank you. What a fine breakfast you have brought me! Gail must
be a good cook. Is she your sister?" As he spoke, he picked up an egg
and carefully broke it on the edge of his plate.

"Yes, Gail's the oldest of us--Oh, Mr. Tramp, just see what you have
done! I was afraid Gail hadn't given you breakfast enough and that you
might get hungry before noon, so when she wasn't looking I put on a
whole lot of extra toast and four eggs and some matches to cook them
with, and you've gone and smashed a _raw_ egg all over everything!"

He stared in dismay at the broken yolk streaming over his creamed
potatoes, and then, seeing the consternation in the big, brown eyes of
his small hostess, he laughed heartily and said, "Never mind, little
girl! I'm hungry enough for even raw eggs this morning. Doctors often
make their patients eat such things. Here goes!"

Peace watched him in silence a moment and then observed, "You don't look
like any tramps we ever had here before. They always shovel in their
food with their knives, but you use your fork. You can work, to