ack, and they had her to play with. They saw a great
deal of Diana, too, for they made frequent trips to see how Lady Janet
was getting on. One day Clara went with them, and she decided she must
have Topsy just as soon as she was big enough to leave home. This would
leave only two kittens for three children, but Diana said if Lady Jane
was to be hers she would let Christopher have Gretchen.

If Peggy and Alice took pleasure in the garden behind the house, this
was nothing compared with their delight in what they called the wild
garden, on the hill. The strawberries were the first of the berries to
be picked. There were not a great many of them, but as Mrs. Horton and
Mrs. Carter both wanted wild strawberry preserves, Mrs. Owen thought it
best to get what she could from her own land. So one glorious June day
she and the children started for the hill, with their luncheon, and
pails to pick the berries in. Alice picked as carefully as her mother
did, although not so fast; but Peggy put soft berries in with the good
ones, and some bits of leaves somehow got in with her berries.

"Peggy, look what you are doing," said her mother. "Those berries are
over-ripe."

"I don't see what difference it makes, mother, so long as you are going
to make strawberry jam. Oh, mother, look at that squirrel, he gave a
skip from one branch to another. See what a bushy tail he has."

"Peggy, do attend to your work."

"Mother, you can't expect me to work all the time on such a sunshiny
day. It is just as important to watch squirrels and birds."

"Well, perhaps it is for you, but not for me. I can't put up squirrels
for my neighbors by the cold-pack process."

When it came to the preserving of the strawberries, Peggy and Alice were
so interested that they went out into the kitchen so as to watch the
whole process.

"Children, you mustn't eat any more of the strawberries," said their
mother. "Remember, I am putting them up for other people."

"But, mother, you've got lots and lots of them," said Peggy. "I didn't
know we picked so many."

"I had to buy a great many more to fill my orders," said Mrs. Owen, "and
even now I shan't have as much wild strawberry preserve as Mrs. Horton
and Mrs. Carter wanted; remember the strawberries represent just so much
money."

"But, mother," said Peggy, "I think it would be so much nicer to keep
the strawberry preserve for ourselves than to have the money. We can't
eat that."

"Children, do keep out o