THE STRAWBERRY GARDEN. 137 



1 ' I showed him the basket, and then I remembered that 

 the hulls were on. They looked pretty bad, and I thought 

 they were not worth much. The man looked at 'em, and 

 says, ' They aren't hulled.' ' No,' says I, ' they are not.' 

 'Don't want 'em,' says he. 'All right,' says I, and got 

 ready to go, when I saw a gentleman looking at 'em pretty 

 hard. Says he, ' They are much better for having the hulls 

 on. They keep longer. The best way would be never to 

 sell strawberries with the hulls removed.' ' It isn't the 

 fashion,' said the store-man, ' and they won't sell till they 

 are hulled.' ' Perhaps not,' said the gentleman ; ' but they 

 are much better so. Besides, the boy has wisely put them 

 in a shallow basket instead of those tight wooden boxes 

 sometimes used. They are probably free from all woody 

 flavor.' -' Well,' said the store-fellow, getting angry, 'I 

 don't want 'em any way.' 



" I went out, and soon came to another store. ' No, they 

 did not want 'em. They never bought berries in bulk.' 

 Then I was mad to think that I did not know enough to hull 

 and pack them before I started. I thought I'd stop some- 

 where and hull them, but I could not find a good place. 

 Then I came to another store. ' No, they did not want 

 berries/ 



" By this time the basket got pretty heavy, and I guessed 

 I'd throw it away and call it profit and loss, mostly loss." 



"Ohkyou didn't didn't you, Johnny?" exclaimed 

 Kate. 



