ngled as if the next puff of wind would send them down upon the
ground with the others; and the persimmons, which hung thickly upon the
branches, did not look at all as Ruby had fancied that they would.

There were several lying upon the ground, and Ruby wondered at the
girls for picking them up so eagerly. They were all shrivelled, and
the least touch would break their skins. Indeed some of them in
falling had broken, and were lying in bunches, all mashed together.
Ruby did not want any such looking persimmons as those, and she looked
carefully about for nice round ones, that were firm and hard.

"Come over here, Ruby," called Agnes. "Here are ever so many, and such
nice ones. I am getting lots."

Ruby glanced over and saw that those in Agnes' basket were just the
kind that she did not want.

"I see some here," she answered, and so she picked up the firm, hard
fruit as quickly as she could.

Presently she wondered what they tasted like, and she put one in her
mouth.

Did you ever have your mouth puckered up by a green persimmon? If you
have, then you will know just how Ruby's mouth felt; and if you have
not, you must imagine it, for I am sure I cannot tell you about it. It
was a very green persimmon that Ruby had tasted, and she had taken such
a bite of it before she could stop herself that it seemed to her as
though she would never be able to open her mouth again. She was quite
frightened at the way her mouth felt, and her eyes filled with tears as
she went over to Agnes.

"Oh, it has done something to my mouth, and puckered it all up," she
said, trying to keep from crying. "I never had such a dreadful feeling
in my mouth. Do you suppose it will ever come out again? Oh, it is
worse than a toothache, it truly is."

[Illustration: "OH, IT HAS DONE SOMETHING TO MY MOUTH!" (missing from
book)]

"You must have eaten one that was not quite ripe," said Agnes. "Let me
see; oh, that one would pucker your mouth dreadfully, for it is n't
nearly ready to eat yet. See, it is only these soft ones that are
ripe, and the hard ones will all pucker one's mouth."

"And I thought that these soft ones were n't good," said Ruby, in
dismay, "and I have gathered only these old puckery ones. I could not
think what you picked up the squashed ones for."

How many times that afternoon Ruby wished she had known more about
persimmons, or that she had asked some of the other girls something
about them.

Her mouth seemed