86 FARM SPIES 



for a little while and then stop, but he keeps it up 

 until at last you just have to let him go." 



"If I could spit like a grasshopper I would soon 

 stop those cats screeching below my window every 

 night/' said Freddie. 



"How would you do it?" the others asked. 



"How would I do it?" Freddie asked soberly. "I 

 would just turn over in bed with my face toward 

 the window and spit. That would settle it, because 

 it would drown every cat engaged in that choir." 

 At this they all laughed. 



Their father interrupted, "Maybe the grass- 

 hoppers are like some people. When they get nerv- 

 ous they allow their jaws to exceed the speed limit, 

 when you had better keep your distance if you don't 

 want to get into a shower-bath." 



Freddie whispered something to Willie, which set 

 the boys laughing with an uproar. 



"What are you laughing at, boys?" their father 

 asked with a knowing smile. 



Willie answered, "Freddie said that you must 

 have been thinking about old Mr. Bill Grimes down 

 by the creek." 



This created another general laugh, after which 

 they all retired. 



The next morning at about ten o'clock Mr. Blake 

 saw the boys coming from the tool-shed ; Willie car- 

 ried a spade and Freddie a pickaxe over his shoulder. 



