an unexpected nook.

"These will be lovely for tomorrow, and ought to sell better than the
violets would, 'cause they aren't so common," said Peace, as she looked
lovingly down at the mass of red, gold and pink.

"Ought to what?" asked Cherry.

"Oh, dear, what have I said?" thought Peace in dismay; but quickly
concealing her confusion, she replied, "They ought to look nice--make
better dec'rations, 'cause these are the first I've seen this year."

"Oh! I thought you said _sell_, and I wondered if you thought Miss
Dunbar would pay us for them."

"Oh, mercy, no!" laughed Peace, and Cherry questioned no further.

But she would have been surprised had she seen this young sister
stealing out of the house the next morning with baskets and flowers in
her arms, headed in the opposite direction from Miss Dunbar's village
home. Once out of sight of the house, Peace broke into a wild run and
never stopped until the old stone bridge was reached. Here Allee was
waiting for her--a queer little figure in a faded blue gown of long,
long ago, hatless, barefooted, but looking oh, so sweet, with her
sparkling blue eyes and her mop of tangled yellow curls crowned with a
wreath of fragrant clover blossoms. "How long you've been!" she greeted
Peace. "I thought you would never come. Where's Cherry?"

"I came as soon as I could," was the panting reply, as Peace dropped her
burden on the grass and smoothed out a rumpled pink dress of as ancient
a style as Allee's. "I had to help with the dishes, and then Faith made
me take the milk to Abbott's so's Hope could do something for her. I
didn't want Cherry. It takes such a long time to knock any sense into
her head that we never would get into town today if she had to be
coaxed. Besides, I thought if there were three of us, folks might think
the whole family was out peddling, and maybe wouldn't buy like they
would of just two. There, don't those boats look lovely? The only thing
is, our basket won't hold as many as I hoped it would. I couldn't jam in
but fifteen. That will be enough, though, if we can sell them at ten
cents each. Oh, I've got a scheme! We will lay our flowers in the basket
on the moss and hitch these horns on our dresses. I've got as many as
ten pins in my dress which I don't need for anything else." While she
spoke she emptied the birch bark boats of their brilliant cargo again,
and deftly pinned the quaint devices to their gowns, so they dangled
fantastically from their ri